Jeddah Tower

Jeddah
Height
1
To Tip:
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
1,000+ m / 3,281+ ft
2
Architectural:
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."
1,000+ m / 3,281+ ft
1 2 Jeddah Tower
  Floors
Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).
167
Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.
2
Height 1,000+ m / 3,281+ ft
Floors 167
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Jeddah Tower

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Kingdom Tower

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

On Hold

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Saudi Arabia

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Jeddah

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Residential / Serviced Apartments

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

All-Concrete

Official Website

Jeddah Tower

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

1,000+ m / 3,281+ ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
1,000+ m / 3,281+ ft
Observatory
652 m / 2,139 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

167

Floors Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.

2

# of Apartments
Number of Apartments refers to the total number of residential units (including both rental units and condominiums) contained within a particular building.

439

# of Hotel Rooms
Number of Hotel Rooms refers to the total number of hotel rooms contained within a particular building.

200

# of Parking Spaces
Number of Parking Spaces refers to the total number of car parking spaces contained within a particular building.

2205

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

59

Top Elevator Speed
Top Elevator Speed refers to the top speed capable of being achieved by an elevator within a particular building, measured in meters per second.

10 m/s

Tower GFA
Tower GFA refers to the total gross floor area within the tower footprint, not including adjoining podiums, connected buildings or other towers within the development.

243,866 m² / 2,624,952 ft²

Construction Schedule

2011

Proposed

2013

Construction Start

Owner/Developer
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Architect of Record

Usually takes on the balance of the architectural effort not executed by the "Design Architect," typically responsible for the construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc. May often be referred to as "Executive," "Associate," or "Local" Architect, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Architect of Record" exclusively.

Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Peer Review

The Peer Review Engineer traditionally comments on the information produced by another party, and to render second opinions, but not to initiate what the design looks like from the start.

MEP Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Peer Review

The Peer Review Engineer traditionally comments on the information produced by another party, and to render second opinions, but not to initiate what the design looks like from the start.

Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Damping
Façade Maintenance
Geotechnical
Landscape
Quantity Surveyor
Wind
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).

Cladding
Elevator
Formwork
Owner/Developer
Jeddah Economic Company; Kingdom Real Estate Development
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Architect of Record

Usually takes on the balance of the architectural effort not executed by the "Design Architect," typically responsible for the construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc. May often be referred to as "Executive," "Associate," or "Local" Architect, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Architect of Record" exclusively.

Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Peer Review

The Peer Review Engineer traditionally comments on the information produced by another party, and to render second opinions, but not to initiate what the design looks like from the start.

MEP Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Peer Review

The Peer Review Engineer traditionally comments on the information produced by another party, and to render second opinions, but not to initiate what the design looks like from the start.

Project Manager

The CTBUH lists a project manager when a specific firm has been commissioned to oversee this aspect of a tall building’s design/construction. When the project management efforts are handled by the developer, main contract, or architect, this field will be omitted.

EC Harris; Mace Limited
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.

Saudi Bin Laden Group
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Damping
Façade Maintenance
Geotechnical
Landscape
Quantity Surveyor
Security
Aegis Defence Services Limited
Vertical Transportation
Fortune Shepler Consulting
Way Finding
Forcade Associates
Wind
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).

Aluminium
Aluminum Products Company
Cladding
Dow; Guardian Glass; Jangho Group Co., Ltd.
Crane
Liebherr
Elevator
Formwork

CTBUH Initiatives

The Middle East: 30+ Years of Building Tall

28 November 2018 - CTBUH Research

CTBUH Study Examines Tallest Buildings with Dampers

22 August 2018 - CTBUH Research

Videos

30 October 2017 | Jeddah

Quay Quarter Tower: Humanizing the High-Rise

Quay Quarter Tower (QQT) will create a stunning new building on the Sydney skyline that sets new benchmarks in office tower design globally and creates...

Research

22 December 2023

Remembering Charles H. Thornton, 2012 Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Charles Thornton & Richard Tomasetti

This edition of Talking Tall is an interview from the CTBUH archives. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat would like to remember Charles...

Global News

15 September 2023

Firms Race to Finish the World’s Tallest Tower in Jeddah

The company responsible for constructing the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia has restarted work on the project and has compiled a list of contractors who...

 

About Jeddah Tower

At the forefront of worldwide skyscraper activity, Jeddah Tower represents an unprecedented exercise that dares to go beyond the one kilometer threshold, a height that seemed only to exist in fantasy just years ago. Inspired by a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground, it is meant to emanate the growth, prosperity, and regional emergence of its homeland on the global stage, a role that many of the world’s tallest buildings have played in their respective locales.

The multivariate form of the tower is rationalized by a “Y”-shaped plan and a continuously smooth taper, which will significantly reduce structural loads by obviating the need for the complicated outrigger transfers and belt trusses required in a setback approach. Furthermore, each wing of the tower will terminate at different heights, allowing them to taper at different rates and establish a distinct three-part spire. The supporting structure for the building is comprised entirely of cast-in-place reinforced concrete walls, coupling beams, and conventionally reinforced plate concrete floor framing. Due to the continuous and uninterrupted vertical nature of the walls, a highly efficient jump form system is utilized that will permit a continuous and uninterrupted construction process.

A series of balconies interrupt the smooth exterior, serving to provide both a cool outdoor element for occupants and shading for the tower’s surface, reducing direct solar radiation. Inside the tower, office floors are located at the bottom to take advantage of larger floor plates. These are followed by hotel, serviced apartments, and residential units of different sizes. At the very top, a massive penthouse will allow a tenant to reside at the crown of the building. Originally designed as a helipad, a circular sky terrace protrudes from one of the top levels, a feature that will be the highest of its kind in the world.

30 October 2017 | Jeddah

Quay Quarter Tower: Humanizing the High-Rise

Quay Quarter Tower (QQT) will create a stunning new building on the Sydney skyline that sets new benchmarks in office tower design globally and creates...

16 March 2017 | Jeddah

Building Tall Skyscraper Lecture Series: How High Can We Go?

Thursday, March 16, 2017. Chicago, United States of America. Hosted in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the first lecture of the series Building Tall...

16 March 2017 | Jeddah

How High Can We Go? (Highlight)

Thursday, March 16, 2017. Chicago, United States of America. Hosted in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the first event in the Building Tall lecture...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

CTBUH 2016 China Conference - Panel,"Tall Buildings and Context: How High Can We Go and Why Should We?"

Tuesday, October 18, 2016. Shenzhen, China. Ron Klemencic, Magnusson Klemencic Associates; Karl Almstead, Turner Construction Company; Andrew Nicholson, CBRE; Jon Pickard, Pickard Chilton; Ian Smith,...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

CTBUH 2016 China Conference Jeddah City & Jeddah Tower Q&A

Tuesday October 18, 2016. Shenzhen, China. Julian Chen, Henning Larsen Architects; Mounib Hammoud, Jeddah Economic Company; Denis Valode, Valode & Pistre Architects; Piere Marcout, Prisme...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

CTBUH Video Interview – Mounib Hammoud

Mounib Hammoud of Jeddah Economic Company is interviewed by Chris Bentley during the 2016 CTBUH China Conference. Mounib discusses the Jeddah Economic City development centered...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

Jeddah Mall: The Connection Between Jeddah Tower and the Urban Environment

The Jeddah Economic City Mall and Exhibition Center is a multi-functional installation that rises up to the challenge of making the city walkable around the...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

Lighting the Next Tallest Building in the World, the Jeddah Tower

Following experience around the world with tall buildings and monuments, Pierre Marcout has sought to transmit his passion for highlighting monuments for new constructors and...

18 October 2016 | Jeddah

Saudi Arabia, Jeddah City and Jeddah Tower

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious project to construct the world’s tallest building, Jeddah Tower. Surrounding the kilometer-plus building will be...

17 October 2016 | Jeddah

Mega Size Mixed-Use Projects: Redefining Vertical Urbanism

Monday October 17, 2016. Shenzhen, China. Dennis Poon of Thornton Tomasetti, presents at the 2016 China Conference Session 4c: Structural & Geotechnic Engineering. As the...

22 December 2023

Remembering Charles H. Thornton, 2012 Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Charles Thornton & Richard Tomasetti

This edition of Talking Tall is an interview from the CTBUH archives. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat would like to remember Charles...

16 May 2023

The Economics of Record-Breaking Height

Jason Barr & Peter A. Weismantle

This paper reviews the development history of record-breaking skyscrapers to better understand their economics. Given how tall they are, the supposed reason for their construction...

22 August 2022

Structural Design of Iconic Tower, Egypt: Culmination of a Concrete Optimization Process

Tarek Hassan, Yehia El-Ezaby & Charles Malek, rector Dar Al Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners)

This paper presents an overview of a process of optimizing concrete mixture for tall buildings, culminating in the design of the Iconic Tower, the key...

25 June 2020

Curtain Wall Façades on the New Generation of Supertall Buildings Present and Future Directions

Sae Hwang Oh, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Beginning in the late 19th century, construction of skyscrapers spread throughout Chicago, New York City, and then the world as demand of space in buildings...

20 March 2020

Interactive Study on The Tallest 20 in 2020: Then and Now

CTBUH Research

This research paper undertakes a review of the 2012 report by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, “Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the...

28 December 2019

Tall Buildings of the Future as Seen From the Present

SawTeen See, Robert Bird Group Pty Ltd

Aerodynamic damping through the use of vertical long slots reduces the dynamic component of the wind loads on the building. Seminal examples include the three-legged...

28 October 2019

Fifty Years of Fire Safety In Supertall Buildings

Peter Weismantle, AS+GG; James Antell, Telgian Engineering & Consulting

As international design teams participated in the development of high-rise structures around the world, many of the concepts of fire-safe design first introduced in the...

20 October 2018

The Middle East: 30+ Years of Building Tall

CTBUH Research

The Middle East region is hosting its first CTBUH International Conference since 2008. In that year, there were 119 completed buildings of 150 meters or...

01 March 2018

Challenges in the Architectural Technical Design of the New Generation of Supertall Buildings

Peter A. Weismantle, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

The design of a supertall building poses many challenges to the architect and engineer. Using Jeddah Tower as a case study; this paper intends to...

01 March 2017

Vertical Shortening Considerations in the 1 km Tall Jeddah Tower

John Peronto, Robert Sinn & Matthew Huizinga, Thornton Tomasetti

Jeddah Tower will be the first man-made structure to reach a kilometer in height upon its completion in 2019. From conception, it was clear that...

28 November 2018

The Middle East: 30+ Years of Building Tall

CTBUH has released a Tall Buildings in Numbers (TBIN) interactive data study examining the relationship between high-rise growth and population in the Middle East.

22 August 2018

CTBUH Study Examines Tallest Buildings with Dampers

CTBUH has released a Tall Buildings in Numbers (TBIN) interactive data study on the world's tallest buildings with dampers.

31 January 2018

CTBUH Team Travels to Dubai

CTBUH Executive Director Antony Wood and Events Manager Jessica Rinkel-Miller traveled to Dubai in preparation for the 2018 Middle East Conference.

17 January 2018

2018 Tall Building Predictions

Check out all of our 2018 Tall Building Predictions, and dive into the full 2017 Tall Building Year in Review data report.

12 September 2017

Vertical Transportation: Ascent & Acceleration

CTBUH partnered with Guinness World Records to identify the commercial building with the fastest elevator speeds and longest vertical runs.

20 June 2017

Canada Event Considers “The Story of Marketing Tall Buildings”

Building up momentum for the CTBUH 2017 Conference in Australia, the CTBUH Canada Chapter held its most recent event at the University of Toronto Faculty Club.

24 May 2017

Partnered Event Explores High-Performance Skyscraper Design

CTBUH, ComEd, and Seventhwave partnered to host a breakfast seminar focused on high-performance building envelope design with the goal of identifying opportunities for energy savings.

14 May 2017

Council Visit Reveals Insights on “World’s Next Tallest Tower"

CTBUH Executive Director Dr. Antony Wood recently visited the construction site of Jeddah Tower, poised to become the world’s tallest tower and the first 1,000-plus-meter structure.

16 March 2017

First CAF-CTBUH Lecture Series Draws Crowd, Rave Reviews

The CTBUH, in conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), held the first of the four-part “Building Tall” lecture series at the CAF lecture hall.

19 December 2016

Top 12 Happenings of 2016, Month-by-Month

Check out the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's top stories of 2016 for each month and take a look ahead with the Council’s monthly predictions for 2017.