Saudi Arabia rebuilds the world’s tallest building

At a ceremony held at the construction site on October 2, the development corporation in charge of the project, Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), announced that the Jeddah Tower is currently scheduled for completion in 2028. This is the third time The completion of the 1,000 m high skyscraper has been delayed.

In 2017, a number of key figures including the chairmen of both the main contractor and the corporation in charge of funding the project were arrested in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anti-corruption campaign. Construction continued after the arrests, although it slowed in early 2018. In January of that year, with concerns growing about the economic impact of the purge, JEC said construction would continue. progress, but then construction activities still paused for a year. Disruption due to Covid-19 also delayed the restoration of operations.

One of the key figures arrested in the anti-corruption move is Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the skyscraper’s main contractor, Saudi Binladen Group. The construction tycoon was released in 2021. His family’s company was hired to complete construction of the Jeddah tower. Saudi Binladen Group’s new contract is worth $1.9 billion, of which $290 million is paid for the completed portion. Currently, 63 of the tower’s 157 floors have been built.

The ceremony on October 2 marked the first official announcement of the reconstruction, but satellite photos taken by US company Maxar Technologies two months ago showed construction work was ongoing. In September 2023, Dubai MEED magazine reported that JEC had invited contractors to bid for the project.

Previously named Kingdom Tower, the skyscraper project broke ground in 2013 and was initially expected to be completed in 2020. The tower will be 152 meters taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the tallest building in the world. . Overlooking the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia’s commercial capital, Jeddah, the building will include office, retail and residential space. Plans first announced in 2011 show that the Jeddah Tower will have a hotel, shopping mall and the world’s tallest observation deck.

The tower was designed by American architect Adrian Smith. Smith uses a 3-blade leg design and tapered aerodynamic shape to overcome the technical challenge of such high altitudes. According to his company Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, the tower’s shape is reminiscent of a leaf branch rising from the ground. Jeddah Tower will be equipped with 59 elevators, one of the most complex elevator systems in the world. The project will be the center of an urban area called Jeddah Economic City worth 20 billion USD and measuring 5.3 million square meters.