The year 2020 will see a new attraction Jeddah Tower as world’s tallest building in 2020, replacing the Burj Khalifa of Dubai which is currently the tallest building in the world. The construction of this tower started on 1 April 2013. This is also known as Kingdom Tower and Mile-High Tower.
When opens in 2020, the 3,280-feet-tall (1,000-meter-tall) Jeddah Tower will knock Burj Khalifa off its throne as the tallest skyscraper in the world by 236 feet (72 meters). Construction of the landmark is estimated to cost $1.4 billion.
Earlier this building was to be completed by the year 2018, which was later extended to 2019.
Jeddah Economic Company owned by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is building the tower. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced the scheme in 2011. The first target was that the construction work would be completed within 36 months of the commencement of the scheme, but due to several reasons, this could not happen.
The balconies in the Jeddah Tower will be designed in such a way so that this will help protect the tower from the heat arising from the sun.
In 2014, the official Twitter handle of Jeddah Tower tweeted a photo depicting the impact of the building’s shadow on the entire city. The grandeur of the building can be gauged from this photo.
The Jeddah Tower is designed by well-known architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill. Remarkably this building is also special as the design of Burja Khalifa was also prepared by Smith. They have designed four of the top 11 buildings in the world. It also includes China’s Zifang Tower, Chicago’s Trump International Hotel Tower.
This tower will be used largely as a residential hotel. The tower will be spread over an area of 2,45,000 square meters, comprising 200 rooms for office, four season hotel, 121 service apartments and 360 residential apartments.
The design of the tower is made triangularly so that it can withstand wind velocity from any direction. The edges of the building are designed in such a way that only very few parts reach the bright sunlight.
You will be surprised to know that the Saudi bin Laden Group, the contractor of this project, suffered a huge loss in 2014 due to a decrease in oil revenue. The company was founded 80 years ago by the father of Osama bin Laden, the head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda.
