It’s not easy building the tallest building in the world, just ask Dubai, which nearly bankrupted itself trying to build the Burj Khalifa. There are countless construction and engineering challenges that need to be tackled as well to create such a landmark, but nonetheless, this has already been done multiple times in the past and will be done once again. The new tallest building in the world will be a staggering one kilometer high, dwarfing Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by quite a bit.
The new tallest building is being built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and as such has been named Jeddah Tower. It will be 3,280 feet high when it’s completed in 2018, which will not only make Jeddah Tower the world’s tallest building, but also the first building ever built that’s one kilometer high. In comparison, the Burj Khalifa will only be 2,716 feet tall.
This skyscraper has been designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and construction up to the 26th floor has already been completed. A total of 200 floors will be built housing spaces for offices, apartments, a Four Seasons hotel and much more all at a cost of $1.23 billion assuming everything goes according to plan.
Since the Jeddah Tower will overlook the Red Sea one of the challenges engineers face is countering high wind levels and saltwater, that’s one of the main reasons why the building’s foundations are 200 foot deep and an overall angular shape will ensure that the wind flows smoothly over this skyscraper.
If construction goes as per schedule the Jeddah Tower will be opened in 2018.