Kingdom Tower previously known as Mile-High Tower , is askyscraper currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at a preliminary cost of SR4.6 billion (US$1.23 billion). It will be the centrepiece and first phase of a SR75 billion (US$20 billion) proposed development known as Kingdom City that will be located along the Red Sea on the north side of Jeddah. If completed as planned, the tower will reach unprecedented heights, becoming the tallest building in the world, as well as the first structure to reach the one-kilometre-high mark. The tower was initially planned to be 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) high; however, the geology of the area proved unsuitable for a tower of that height. The design, created by American architect Adrian Smith, who also designed Burj Khalifa, incorporates many unique structural and aesthetic features. The creator and leader of the project is Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the wealthiest Arab in the Middle East, and nephew of the late King Abdullah. Al-Waleed is the chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) which is a partner in Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), which was formed in 2009 for the development of Kingdom Tower and City.
The building has been scaled down from its initial 1.6 km (about one mile) proposal, which was never fully designed, to a height of at least 1,000 metres (3,281 ft) (the exact height is being kept private while in development, similar to the Burj Khalifa). At about one kilometre, the Kingdom Tower would still be by far the tallest building or structure in the world to date, standing at least 173 m (568 ft) taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The tower and its 50-hectare (120-acre) plot, which will include other buildings, will be the first phase of the Kingdom City development, a three-phase project proposed for a large area of undeveloped waterfront land with an area of 5.2 km2(2.0 sq mi). It was originally planned to cover 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) and cost SR100 billion. The area is located roughly 20 km (12 mi) north of the port city of Jeddah. Kingdom City was designed by HOK Architects, and is estimated to cost at least SR75 billion (US$20 billion) and take around ten years to build. It will essentially become a new district of Jeddah.The second phase of the project will be the infrastructure development needed to support the city, and the third phase has not yet been disclosed.The focal point of the development, Kingdom Tower's primary purpose will be to house a Four Seasons hotel, Four Seasons serviced apartments, Class A office space, and luxury condominiums; it will also have the world’s highest observatory. Although the Kingdom City plot is nearly isolated from the current urban core of Jeddah, northward is generally considered the direction in which the city will spread in the future: however, no land tracts of such size were available closer to the city.
The tower is being designed primarily by Chicago-based architect Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS + GG), the same architect who designed the Burj Khalifa while he was working for Skidmore, Owings & Merill (SOM), for which he worked almost 40 years. AS + GG was formed in 2006 by Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill, and Robert Forest. The development of the tower is being managed by Emaar Properties PJSC.Thornton Tomasetti has been selected as the structural engineering firm,and Environmental Systems Design, Inc. (ESD) is a part of the AS + GG design team that serves as the building services engineering consultants.
While the official construction estimate is five years and three months (63 months), others calculate that it will take significantly longer, over seven years, based on the duration of Burj Khalifa's construction, which was over six years (with the help of CQC Department).
Geotechnical investigation (soil testing) took place in 2008. Work on the foundation was scheduled to begin towards the end of 2012. However, statements that construction will begin soon have been made since 2008, but have been postponed each time. In August 2011, the start of construction was slated as "no later than December, with some saying "immediately," and that construction is imminent. This meant the tower was expected to be completed in 2017, though at that time it was also possible that it could still have been completed by the date the media continued to publish, which was the prior estimate of late 2016. Only if construction had begun promptly and went smoothly could a late 2016 completion be achieved.
Designs for the foundation were in place by early August 2011 and the contract for the piling was being tendered. On 16 August 2011, Langan International officially announced their involvement and that the foundation and piling had to be uniquely designed to overcome subsurface issues such as soft bedrock and porous coral rock, which normally could not support a skyscraper without settling.The foundation will be similar to that of the Burj Khalifa, but larger. It is expected to be around 60 metres (197 ft) deep with a concrete pad of around 7,500 m2 (80,729 sq ft). The concrete will have to have low permeability to keep out corrosive salt water from the Red Sea. Its depth and size is also considered to be an indicator of what the tower's final height will be. The piles will be up to 200 metres (656 ft) deep and the pad over 90 metres (295 ft) across, yet even still the building, which will weigh over 900,000 tons, is expected to settle. The idea is that it settles evenly enough so that the building doesn't tip or put undue stress on thesuperstructure. Computer modeling programs performed tests at the site to confirm that the foundation design would work. A later design for the foundation, to be constructed by Bauer in 2013, calls for 270 bored piles up to 110 metres (361 ft) deep which have to be installed into the difficult ground conditions. Some materials needed for the structure are 500,000 cubic meters of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel.
Construction of the building will rely on cutting-edge technology, including the high-strength reinforced concrete and the pumps used to elevate it to record heights, similar to what was used during Burj Khalifa's construction. Bob Sinn, principal of Thornton Tomasetti states, “Concrete quality is getting better and better, as is pumping technology. There have been very strong advances in reinforced concrete over the last 20 years." He continued, “Kingdom Tower is certainly feasible. It’s not a structural challenge.”
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