Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) has announced the signing of a contract to construct the country’s tallest building.
Construction of the Kingdom Tower, which will measure over 1,000 metres in height, will begin imminently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the company said.
The building is set to be the centrepiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City, Jeddah Economic Company’s new urban development of over 5.3 million square metres of land in North Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.
With a total construction area of over 500,000 square metres, the Kingdom Tower will be a mixed-use building featuring a Four Seasons hotel, Four Seasons serviced apartments, office space, luxury condominiums and an observatory that will be higher than the world’s current highest observation deck.
The overall construction cost of the tower is SR4.6 billion (approximately €863 million), with the estimated cost of the entire Kingdom City project anticipated to be SR75 billion (approx. €14 billion).
The Kingdom Tower complex will contain 59 lifts, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck lifts, along with 12 escalators. Lifts serving the observatory will travel at a rate of 10 metres per second in both directions.
Five contractors were invited to submit proposals for the Kingdom Tower, with a shortlist of three firms submitting final offers for the tower construction. The Saudi Bin Laden Group (SBG) was chosen on the basis of having the most attractive price, quality and schedule.
The area surrounding the tower is known as the Kingdom Tower Waterfront District, a 23-hectare pedestrian-friendly area that will encompass a shopping mall, commercial and high-density residential uses, offices, two luxury hotels and open spaces. A waterfront promenade will connect the Kingdom Tower, the various development parcels, the open space areas and the mall together.
Commenting on the news, Talal Al Maiman, executive director of Development and Domestic Investments at KHC, said: “We intend Kingdom Tower to become both an economic engine and a proud symbol of the Kingdom’s economic and cultural stature in the world community.
“Kingdom Tower will be a landmark structure that will greatly increase the value of the hundreds of other properties around it in Kingdom City and indeed throughout North Jeddah.”
KHC is one of the world's largest private investment companies with holdings in a large number of Saudi Arabian, Middle Eastern and international companies. In particular, KHC is one of the world's leading hotel investors, with a portfolio of hotels and majority interests in international hotel management companies.
