Until now, only there was only a blur sketch that wasn’t more than a blurry pike. This image is an actual rendering of the finished tower. According to Chicago’s Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the designers of the tower, construction will begin imminently. The foundation plans are now complete and “the piling for the tower is currently being tendered” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea.
Mindblowing statistics
The Kingdom Tower’s numbers are impressive. It will cost a staggering $US1.2 billion to construct, “while the cost of the entire Kingdom City project is anticipated to be $US20 billion,” said AS+GG. The massive 1000m spire will house a 530,000sqm space and will beat the Burj by “at least 568 feet” (173m). It will have a Four Seasons hotel, a Four Seasons apartment area, office space, luxury condos and the world’s highest observatory.
There will be 59 elevators, 54 single-deck and five double-deck, along with 12 escalators. The elevators going up to the observatory deck will travel at 10m per second. That’s 36km/h. It will take you one minute and 40 seconds to reach the top of the tower.
There’s even an outdoor space at the top of the spire which will be used by the penthouse floor at level 157. You can see it sticking out in the rendering, 30m in diameter.
While it will still not reach Frank Lloyd Wright’s never-built dream of the Mile High Illinois, it hard-edged, sightly asymmetrical design reminds me more of Wright’s sketches than the rounded Burj Khalifa ever did.
Taufiq
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 8:26 AMMain contractor: Saudi Bin Ladin Group
Paul
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 9:11 AMFinally… a significant landmark that would make a perfect target for America’s revenge attacks
EckyThump
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 9:15 AMWhat now…?
wsDK_II
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 9:30 AMAre you serious?
nah, you are trolling.
cause if your serious.
ill kill you
EckyThump
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 10:14 AMLOL… #]
Captain Pajama Shark
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 10:08 AMFill it with oil too!
EckyThump
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 9:17 AMLike the ‘Burge Khalifa’ this will probably be just another giant anomaly in the desert!! #]
Aws
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 9:23 AMim not sure how accurate that image is, the Al Hamra tower in Kuwait city is 412m high so it should come right after Freedom tower
MotorMouth
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:48 AMIts not accurate at all. It doesn’t include Taipei 101, which is more than 500m.
Nathan
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 10:10 AMIt’s gunna be an awesome ghost town when the oil money runs out. Hopefully I live to see that happen. Just might.
Rick
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 10:55 AMAnyone else getting awesome half-life 2 vibe from this building? :P
TC
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:03 AMSorry, need to represent Chicago..
Where’s the Willis (Sears) tower on the graph? 442m tall!
TembaVJ
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:13 AMTC towers and buildings are not rated in the same class.
TC
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:38 AMtwo questions..
Where is that rating system published?
Why then is the Empire State Building on the graph?
Sylphier
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:19 AMAlso Taipei 101? 509m, 449m, 439m (antenna, roof, top floor)
Mav
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:35 AMInteresting how you did not mention the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur and the Taipei 101 in the graph. They are both heaps taller than the Empire States Building and Dubai tower
TC
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:50 AMI think we can agree the graph is only showing comparable heights of other random famous buildings, however, by choosing to show different heights in a graph format, it should either have a disclaimer stating random selection or be corrected to show proper decline.
RT
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 4:10 PMHard to complain about that infographic, I mean it is much more relevant than what we usually get from the Gizmodo copypasta advertorial machine.
pd
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 9:45 PMWhen will we learn to stop wasting the world’s resources on pissing contests?