The Kingdom Tower is set to debut as the world’s tallest building!
Trumping its number one contender Dubai’s Burj Khalifa which stands 173 metres high, the Kingdom Tower will loom 1000 metres into the heavens with construction beginning this week.
Kingdom Tower – not for the faint of heart | picture credit: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Situated within the coastal city of Jeddah, the Kingdom Tower with a price tag of $1.23 billion will feature a whooping 200 floors held together by 80,000 tons of steel and 5.7 million square feet of concrete.
Taking on this tremendous structural feat is Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. The design company told Construction Weekly there are many difficulties in building a tower of this magnitude.
Kingdom Tower will become world’s tallest building in 5 years | picture credit: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The foundation is most important which means they’ll need to dig 60 metres deep utilizing a solid and hard-wearing concrete that must endure saltwater from the sea. Many of these concretes are being tested.
Issues such as wind become a main factor when building a structure of this scale as every few floors must be constructed to deal with the wind speed. Also, delivering the concrete to the upper levels will be a bit of a dilemma.
Kingdom Tower – don’t look down! | picture credit: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Speaking with Construction Weekly, Sang Dae Kim, director of the Council on Tall Buildings said, despite a number of structural issues, he is certain the development will get off the ground.
“At this point in time we can build a tower that is one kilometre, maybe two kilometres. Any higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework,” Kim said.
Kingdom Tower | picture credit: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The completion date is estimated at 5 years, this according to The Saudi Gazette.
