Sayart.net - Jeddah Tower: Engineering Marvel Set to Become World′s Tallest Skyscraper, Surpassing Dubai′s Burj Khalifa

In a groundbreaking architectural competition that attracted some of the world's most prestigious design firms, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture emerged victorious with their revolutionary design for what will become the world's tallest building. Competing against industry giants including Foster + Partners, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Pickard Chilton, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Chicago-based firm won the commission to design the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – a structure that will soar over one kilometer high from the desert floor. The ambitious project, spanning a massive 530,000 square meters and carrying a hefty price tag of $1.2 billion, is poised to surpass the current record held by Dubai's Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. The competition was launched as part of the new $20 billion Kingdom City development in Jeddah, challenging renowned architects to create a high-rise mixed-use tower that would break multiple world records. The architectural brief demanded a comprehensive facility featuring a five-star hotel, serviced apartments, office spaces, and residential units, all while achieving three critical milestones: hosting the world's highest occupied floor, reaching the highest architectural top, and establishing the highest tip globally upon completion. Originally known as Kingdom Tower and later renamed Jeddah Tower, the project represents more than just architectural ambition. The client, Jeddah Economic Company, along with Saudi Arabian leadership, envisioned the tower as a symbol of the nation's potential to thrive within the international business community, demonstrating world-class hospitality and opportunities comparable to other developed nations. The project's timeline has been marked by both ambition and challenges. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture first submitted their competition entry in July 2009, later refining it according to client specifications and resubmitting by February 2010. However, various obstacles led to multiple project delays, with construction finally resuming in January 2025. The tower is now expected to reach completion by mid-2028. The design process was significantly influenced by architect Adrian Smith's previous experience at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he played a key role in designing the Burj Khalifa. This background profoundly shaped the design decisions for the Kingdom Tower, with the design team eager to learn from the Burj Khalifa's innovations while implementing necessary improvements to create the new world's tallest structure. The tower's distinctive Y-shaped footprint emerged after extensive experimentation with various geometric forms. The architects initially explored a simple square plan, but found that when extruded vertically, it failed to meet the ambitious height requirements. A circular plan was then considered, followed by a triangular footprint, but neither configuration enabled the achievement of the one-kilometer height goal needed to surpass the Burj Khalifa. The breakthrough came with the development of the scooped-out Y-shaped footprint, which allowed designers to reach the desired height of one kilometer without significantly increasing the gross floor area. Beyond its engineering prowess, the tower's design philosophy draws deep inspiration from its desert context and cultural significance. The structure, shooting skyward from its three-petal plan and tapering through its height, deliberately resembles desert flora with folded fronds that begin as a single form before branching into separate elements. This botanical metaphor extends to the tower's symbolic meaning, with the separated wings representing new growth opportunities arising from Saudi Arabia's booming technological advancements and economic diversification initiatives. Cultural sensitivity played a crucial role in the tower's orientation. One of the three branches is specifically designed to face the holy city of Mecca, respecting its proximity to this sacred Islamic site. Another wing points almost due north, strategically minimizing solar heat gain – a critical consideration in the harsh desert climate. As project architect Gordon Gill explains, the tower's design can be understood as 'a bunch of leaves soaring up into the sky, symbolic of new life and prosperity in the desert.' According to the architects, the Jeddah Tower is positioned to serve as a catalyst for Saudi Arabia's broader development and evolution. The tower will feature several record-breaking amenities that extend beyond the original brief. Most notably, it will house the world's tallest observatory at level 157, positioned 630 meters above ground. The Sky Terrace, measuring approximately 30 meters in diameter, will be open to the public upon the tower's completion, offering unprecedented views of the Kingdom City development below. This observation deck was originally planned as a helipad, but safety concerns led to the abandonment of that concept in favor of the public sky terrace, designed to give visitors 'the experience and views of a free-flying bird.' The tower also breaks conventional skyscraper design norms by incorporating extensive balcony systems throughout its height. While balconies are typically avoided in mega-tall structures due to wind and maintenance concerns, the Jeddah Tower's balconies serve multiple purposes. They emphasize the building's sleek, tapered form while adding visual depth to the facade. From a commercial perspective, these outdoor spaces represent luxury amenities that add significant value to residential and hotel units, easing marketing efforts to potential buyers and guests. Additionally, the balconies are strategically designed to work with the local climate, creating shadows that reduce direct solar radiation on the tower's main structure. The Y-shaped footprint addresses one of high-rise design's most persistent challenges: maintaining optimal lease-span depth while positioning the structural core efficiently. The architects cleverly positioned the core at the intersection of the three wings and scooped out underutilized 'dead areas,' creating the distinctive Y-footprint that optimizes the distance from core to external walls. This configuration successfully maintains lease-span depth while achieving an impressive 10:1 height-to-width ratio throughout the building's height. The three-pronged design enables simple, efficient distribution of units along both sides of each branch, with emergency staircases positioned at the end of each wing. Beyond aesthetic considerations, this layout delivers practical benefits for occupants. The 120-degree separation between wings ensures that all units enjoy expansive views of Jeddah while maintaining privacy between residential spaces. This thoughtful arrangement addresses key challenges in super-tall building design, including privacy concerns and equitable access to views across all units. The tower's structural approach represents a significant evolution from its predecessor, the Burj Khalifa. While both buildings feature three-winged footprints that reduce in size with height – a strategy essential for managing wind loads at extreme altitudes – the Kingdom Tower employs a fundamentally different method for this reduction. The Burj Khalifa's design features a stepped form with 27 distinct tiers, each with gradual setbacks from the floor below. While visually striking, this approach created complex construction challenges, requiring sophisticated structural systems including outrigger transfers and belt trusses. Learning from these complications, the Kingdom Tower architects adopted a simpler yet more efficient strategy: continuous tapering throughout the building's height. Rather than sharp setbacks, the tower gradually reduces its footprint as it rises, eliminating the structural complexity while improving constructability – a goal established from the project's inception. This continuous tapered approach proved especially efficient for formwork operations, allowing for the use of an efficient jump form system and enabling reuse of formwork for floor slabs throughout construction. The repetitive nature of the tower's geometry further streamlines the construction process, reducing both time and costs while maintaining structural integrity. The tower's foundation system combines pile and raft foundations designed to anchor the massive structure securely. The one-kilometer-tall building is supported by a raft foundation reinforced with bored circular piles extending approximately 2.5 meters underground. To optimize construction conditions, the tower's base was raised, altering the site's topography to reduce dewatering requirements during excavation and construction of lower levels. Reinforced concrete serves as the primary structural material, particularly well-suited to the tower's continuous tapered form without setbacks. The structure relies on cast-in-place reinforced concrete walls, coupling beams, and reinforced flat plate concrete floor framing, notably eliminating the need for outriggers or wall-to-column transfers that complicated the Burj Khalifa's construction. Various concrete strengths are specified throughout the building, ranging from 60 to 80 MPa compressive cube strength for most applications. Special attention is dedicated to concrete mix designs and advanced pumping technology to ensure high-strength concrete not exceeding 115 MPa compressive cube strength can be successfully placed at the tower's highest levels – a significant technical challenge given the extreme height. The tower's structural stability derives primarily from its Y-shaped footprint and extruded tapered form, a design that effectively manages both lateral and gravity loads. Wind loads represent the most significant challenge for any mega-tall structure, and the Kingdom Tower's configuration addresses this through intelligent geometric design. The Y-shaped floor plan functions similarly to wide-flanged steel beams, with thick reinforced concrete shear walls forming the corridors and core (equivalent to a beam's web) while the wing ends provide structural resistance (similar to beam flanges). This configuration effectively manages wind-induced bending loads and torsion forces that would otherwise compromise structural integrity. The project raises broader questions about the role of super-tall mixed-use buildings in contemporary urban development. As structures like the Kingdom Tower and other record-breaking buildings continue to emerge globally, they spark debate about whether such projects truly represent technological advancement and economic prosperity, or primarily serve as symbols of national prestige and architectural ambition. The Jeddah Tower stands as a testament to both engineering innovation and cultural expression, combining cutting-edge construction technology with deep respect for local context and Islamic traditions. Its completion will mark not only a new world record but also a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia's broader Vision 2030 initiative, aimed at diversifying the kingdom's economy and establishing its position as a global business and tourism destination. The project details reflect the scale of this undertaking: the Kingdom Tower (Jeddah Tower) is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture for client Jeddah Economic Company. The tower represents a convergence of architectural ambition, engineering innovation, and cultural significance that will reshape both Jeddah's skyline and global perceptions of super-tall building design. Upon completion, it will stand as the world's tallest structure, a fitting symbol of human achievement rising from the Saudi Arabian desert toward the sky.