It's not yet official, but credible rumors are gaining momentum that the ridiculously tall skyscraper planned for Saudi Arabia which we covered last year is going ahead. If constructed, the incredibly ambitious 1.2-mile (2-km)-high building will dwarf all other man-made structures.
According to a recent report by the usually well-informed Dubai outlet MEED, the skyscraper will be part of a larger ongoing business district near Riyadh named the North Pole and is being designed by prestigious British studio Foster + Partners.
To put its height into perspective, the new tower will be around 3.5 times the height of the USA's tallest building, the One World Trade Center, and will even be over twice the height of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which is the world's current tallest building. It will also be far taller than anything else planned, including the JEC Tower, which is also in Saudi Arabia.
The challenges to overcome are immense. For example, wind loads at such heights would crush a normal building, while even the ground itself may not be able to support it. Plus there are earthquakes to consider, too. It's enough to give any structural engineer sleepless nights.
The budget is expected to be around US$5 billion, but we have no word yet on a completion date, nor even finer details on what it will even look like yet. All going well, this is definitely going to take some time and MEED says that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is financing much of the current building boom in the country, only recently invited firms to bid to handle the project management, so it's very early days yet.
If it does indeed go ahead, it will be the latest in an astonishing number of Saudi skyscrapers being built at the moment, including Mukaab and the Line.
Source: MEED
