Jeddah Tower, originally named Kingdom Tower, will serve as the central landmark and the initial construction phase of the $20 billion Kingdom City project in Jeddah
Expected to cost $1.2 billion to construct, Jeddah Tower will be a mixed-use building featuring a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums, and the world’s highest observatory. It will be at least 173 meters (568 feet) taller than Burj Khalifa, which was designed by Adrian Smith while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
AS+GG’s design for Jeddah Tower is a harmonious blend of technology and nature. With its slender, subtly asymmetrical massing, the tower evokes a cluster of leaves shooting up from the ground—a burst of new life that symbolizes the tower as a catalyst for increased development all around it. This design element is not just a visual representation, but a powerful message of growth and development.
The sleek, streamlined form of the tower can be interpreted as a reference to the folded fronds of young desert plant growth. 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.
While the design contextualises 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. Jeddah Tower’s design embraces its architectural pedigree, taking full advantage of its lineage’s proven design and technological strategies, refining and advancing them to achieve new heights.
The result is an elegant, cost-efficient and highly constructible design that is both rooted in tradition and forward-looking. It leverages new and innovative thinking about technology, building materials, life-cycle considerations and energy conservation. For instance, the project will incorporate a high-performance exterior wall system that minimizes energy consumption by reducing thermal loads.
Additionally, each of Jeddah Tower’s three sides features a series of notches that create pockets of shadow, shielding areas of the building from the sun and providing outdoor terraces with breathtaking views of Jeddah and the Red Sea, demonstrating the tower’s commitment to sustainability.
The Jeddah Tower’s impressive height necessitates one of the world’s most advanced elevator systems. The Jeddah Tower complex will house 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, showcasing the tower’s cutting-edge technology.
Another unique feature of the design is a sky terrace at level 157, roughly 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter. When opened, the sky terrace will be open to the public and will be considered the world’s highest observatory. Standing over 1 kilometer tall, Jeddah Tower will surpass the Burj Khalifa upon completion. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, this iconic structure is set to make a significant economic impact on Saudi Arabia by 2030, marking a new era of architectural and economic advancement for the region.