Here’s the first set of images of the Kingdom Tower, about to begin
construction in Jeddah and set to be the world’s tallest building at
over 1000 metres.
The design is by Chicago firm
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.
Smith also worked on
Dubai’s 828 metre-tall Burj Khalifa, which opened last year and is currently the world’s highest tower, while working at
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The project forms part of a 23-hectare waterfront district, masterplanned by the same studio.
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is pleased to announce that
it is designing Kingdom Tower, to be the world’s tallest building, in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea.
At over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) and a total construction area of
530,000 square meters (5.7 million square feet), Kingdom Tower will be
the centerpiece and first construction phase of the Kingdom City
development on a 5.3 million-square-meter site in north Jeddah. The
tower’s height will be at least 173 meters (568 feet) taller than the
world’s current tallest building, Dubai’s 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa,
which was designed by Adrian Smith while at Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill. Kingdom Tower will feature a Four Seasons hotel, Four Seasons
serviced apartments, Class A office space, luxury condominiums and the
world’s highest observatory.
Design development of the tower is under way, with construction to
begin imminently. Foundation drawings are complete and the piling for
the tower is currently being tendered. Kingdom Tower will cost
approximately $1.2 billion to construct, while the cost of the entire
Kingdom City project is anticipated to be $20 billion.
AS+GG is leading an interdisciplinary design team that also includes
building services engineering consultants Environmental Systems Design,
Inc. (ESD) and structural engineering consultants Thornton Tomasetti.
The developer of Kingdom City, Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), selected
the AS+GG scheme after a lengthy competition process in which SOM,
Pickard Chilton, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Pelli Clarke Pelli and Foster +
Partners also participated.
“Our vision for Kingdom Tower is one that represents the new spirit
of Saudi Arabia,” said Smith, whose experience in supertall tower
design at SOM also includes Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, Nanjing Greenland
Financial Center in Nanjing, China, the Trump International Hotel &
Tower in Chicago and Pearl River Tower, now in the late stages of
construction in Guangzhou, China. “This tower symbolizes the Kingdom as
an important global business and cultural leader, and demonstrates the
strength and creative vision of its people. It represents new growth and
high-performance technology fused into one powerful iconic form. ”
The project was announced today by His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed
Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah
and chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, which is a partner in Jeddah
Economic Company along with prominent Jeddah businessmen Samaual Bakhsh
and Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly and Saudi Binladin Group (SBG). SBG is
also the contractor for Kingdom Tower.
“Prince Alwaleed, Mr. Bakhsh, Mr. Sharbatly and I were impressed by
the boldness and simplicity of the AS+GG design,” said Talal Al Maiman,
Executive Director, Development and Domestic Investments, a Board member
of Kingdom Holding Company and a board member of JEC. “Kingdom Tower’s
height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will
not depend solely on that aspect. Its form is brilliantly sculpted,
making it quite simply one of the most beautiful buildings in the world
of any height.”
In addition to its status as an architectural landmark and economic
symbol, Kingdom Tower will enjoy great cultural significance. “We
envision Kingdom Tower as an iconic new marker of Jeddah’s historic
importance as the traditional gateway to the holy city of Mecca,” Al
Maiman said. He noted that the southeast leg of Kingdom Tower’s tripedal
base is on a direct line with the Ka’ba in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.
AS+GG’s design for Kingdom Tower is both highly technological and
distinctly organic. “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,” Smith said.
The sleek, streamlined form of the tower was inspired by the folded
fronds of young desert plant growth, Gordon Gill added. “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,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be working with His
Highness and Jeddah Economic Company to help define this path for the
Kingdom.”
While the design is contextual to Saudi Arabia, it also represents an
evolution and a refinement of an architectural continuum of skyscraper
design. The three-petal footprint is ideal for residential units, and
the tapering wings produce an aerodynamic shape that helps reduce
structural loading due to wind vortex shedding. The Kingdom Tower design
embraces its architectural pedigree, taking full advantage of the
proven design strategies and technological strategies of its lineage,
refining and advancing them to achieve new heights.
The result is an elegant, cost-efficient and highly constructible
design that is at once grounded in built tradition and aggressively
forward-looking, taking advantage of new and innovative thinking about
technology, building materials, life-cycle considerations and energy
conservation. For example, the project will feature a high-performance
exterior wall system that will minimize energy consumption by reducing
thermal loads. In addition, each of Kingdom Tower’s three sides features
a series of notches that create pockets of shadow that shield areas of
the building from the sun and provide outdoor terraces with stunning
views of Jeddah and the Red Sea.
The great height of Kingdom Tower necessitates one of the world’s
most sophisticated elevator systems. The Kingdom Tower complex will
contain 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck
elevators, along with 12 escalators. Elevators serving the observatory
will travel at a rate of 10 meters per second in both directions.
Another unique feature of the design is a sky terrace, roughly 30
meters (98 feet) in diameter, at level 157. It is an outdoor amenity
space intended for use by the penthouse floor.
AS+GG also designed the master plan for the 23-hectare Kingdom Tower
Waterfront District, which surrounds the tower and which will include
residential and commercial buildings, a shopping mall, high-quality
outdoor spaces and other amenities. The Waterfront District provides a
cohesive and pedestrian-friendly setting for Kingdom Tower while
creating a pleasant neighborhood experience along the Kingdom City
lakefront.
The district encompasses a high-end shopping mall designed by AS+GG,
plus additional development parcels that accommodate commercial and
high-density residential uses, offices, two luxury hotels and
high-quality open spaces, including the central Tower Plaza. A serene
waterfront promenade connects Kingdom Tower, the various development
parcels, the open space areas and the mall together. The result is an
exciting mixed-use area that offers a concentrated and comprehensive
experience including vibrant shopping, entertainment and open-space
amenities. The Waterfront District also provides an array of connections
to other areas within Kingdom City’s overall master plan, designed by
HOK Architects.
Source: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/08/02
