Construction of Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, which will become the tallest building in the world with a height of over 1 kilometer upon completion, has resumed almost seven years after work ground to a halt amid an anti-corruption probe led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
At a ceremony held on the site Wednesday (Oct.2), Kingdom Holding Company associate Jeddah Economic Company (JED), the development consortium behind the project, announced that the tower is now scheduled to finish in 2028. “We’re back” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, posted on X, sharing a mockup of the mirrored obelisk.
Contractor Saudi Binladen Group has been awarded a new contract worth for construction work on the tower. “The total value of this agreement amounts to SAR7.2 billion [out of which around SAR1.1 billion has been already paid for works previously completed on the tower], with an anticipated construction period of 42 months,” the contract details said. JEC will finance remaining construction of the tower through internal funding and banking facilities.
The architect for Jeddah Tower is Chicago-based Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill, with Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah serving as the engineering consultant. Adrian Smith, who also designed the Burj Khalifa, previously had experience designing tall buildings like the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai and the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center in Nanjing.
Jeddah Tower, formerly known as Kingdom Tower, has seen the completion of 63 floors out of the total 157. It’s set to include a five-star hotel, luxury apartments, and A-class offices, three lobbies on the upper floors and the world’s highest observation deck on the 157th level offering stunning views of Jeddah and the Red Sea. The tower’s elevator system is expected to be one of the most sophisticated worldwide, traveling at speeds of 10 meters per second.
The mixed-use building is designed to feature a sleek, glass-clad exterior with a sloped façade, drawing inspiration from the folded fronts of desert palm trees. “With its slender, subtly asymmetrical massing, the tower evokes a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground—a burst of new life that heralds more growth all around it. This symbolizes the tower as a catalyst for increased development around it. The sleek, streamlined form of the tower can be interpreted as a reference to the folded fronds of young desert plant growth. The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology” the architects said.
Located in the north side of Jeddah, it’s the centerpiece of the Jeddah Economic City, which is approximately 5.3 million sqm and is set to include offices, homes, retail and hospitality developments. Infrastructure development for the first phase which spans 1.3 million square meters, has been executed. That includes electricity, water, sewage, flood drainage networks, and high-speed internet connectivity.
Located conveniently between the two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah, with a well-planned distance from King Abdulaziz International Airport, the Jeddah Economic City is the result of a great joint venture among the pioneering construction magnates, as proven through a long history of constructional wonders. The project is part of the broader Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy beyond oil.
Jeddah Tower General Info
Architect(s): Adrian Smith https://smithgill.com/
Developer: Jeddah Economic Company https://jec.sa/
Main contractor: Saudi Binladin Group https://www.sbg.com.sa/
