Construction
is set to begin on the soon-to-be-tallest building in the world: The
Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, will stand 3,280 feet, and was designed
by Adrian
Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture of Chicago. It is part of the larger
development, Kingdom City, and will be the first structure in the world to
reach the one-kilometer-high mark (the original design was to be one-mile-high
(1.6 km), but the geology of the area was not suitable for that height).
The project comes with a (literally) high-minded pedigree: Adrian
Smith designed Burj Khalifa while at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. And like
the Burj Khalifa, the final height of the project is undisclosed. This recalls
the height wars in New York City in the last century, when the top of the
Chrysler Building was kept hidden until its final debut, in order to beat out
the Manhattan Trust Building.
Height wars aside, we've gathered some top pieces of trivia that
illustrate why the Kingdom Tower is truly awe-inspiring, and more than
just a big building:
2. The building is so big they are unable to show it realistically in one
rendering. Only elevations and birds-eye views can contain the entire project.
Imagine those construction drawings.
3. The foundation piles are about as large as a small room at 10 feet in
diameter, and can reach up to 360 feet in length.
4. Its shape is functional. The narrowing silhouette has to fight wind as
well as gravity, so the three-sided shard is designed to be aerodynamic. The
taper also helps maximize usable/rentable area. It offsets the large core size
on the lower floors by widening the base, while the shape also narrows the core
overall, making it less space-consuming at the top.
5. Its form is interesting for a tower of its size. The "three
petal" plan allows separate extrusions to nudge against one another, while
the profile is inspired by folded fronds of young desert plant growth.
Gill-like indentations add another scale of visual intrigue.
6. It's on a plinth! But joking aside, the building does meet the
ground in a nuanced, thoughtful way. Transportation routes crisscross around
it, and the plinth melds it with its urban surroundings.
7. It has 59 elevators and 12 escalators, and five of these
elevators will be double decker. The lifts will not reach the speeds of normal
elevators, as the change in air pressure at those altitudes would cause nausea. Three sky lobbies will prevent any one elevator from having to go all the way
to the top, eliminating the need for excessively huge cables.
8. It has high-tech features. A high-performance exterior wall system,
including low-conductivity glass, will minimize energy consumption by reducing
thermal loads.
9. There are super-cool patios all along its three sides. Each side
features a series of shaded notches where outdoor terraces offer extreme views
of Jeddah and the Red Sea.
10. The massive structure will contain 80,000 tons of steel. Parts of the
core will contain concrete that is several meters thick.
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