JEDDAH | Kingdom Tower | 3,303 FT / 1007 M | ON HOLD - Page 44

BrandedCow · #**861** Posted **Jan 25, 2016, 2:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The North One

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlw777

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

What purpose does this thing serve? Honest question.

Both the Burj and Kingdom tower are attempts at creating an international hub the likes of which doesn't currently exist in the middle east and also they are attempts at diversifying these countries economies. Dubai 15 years ago was a tiny fishing village nobody had every heard of and UAE was a place thought of only in connection to oil. Now Dubai is advertised around the globe as a tourist destination.

Yes, because building a massive tower in order to garner international recognition worked so well for Dubai...

- I believe it did work for Dubai. Before they build all those towers, nobody ever heard of it. Now they Dubai is recognized in movies and pop culture. Yes, my wife still cannot find it on a map, but she also cannot find Hong Kong and still knows of its existence.

MolsonExport · #**862** Posted **Jan 25, 2016, 6:06 PM**

the strategy worked out extremely well for Dubai. It may be a gamble (certainly far from being a sure thing) for Jeddah, but time will tell. Obviously it takes more than having the world's tallest building to make a city great, but symbols are important too.

scrapin · #**863** Posted **Jan 29, 2016, 7:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

What purpose does this thing serve? Honest question.

Wut purpose does anything in this life serve? its pretty cool having a building this tall, or a newest fastest car, if u dont understand this then i question ur thinking skills.

Alx99 · #**864** Posted **Jan 30, 2016, 4:03 AM**

by Abdullah-atta 27.1.2016

Design-mind · #**865** Posted **Mar 20, 2016, 7:39 PM**

Quote:

World's tallest tower 20% complete in Jeddah

Quote:

Jeddah Tower which was earlier named Kingdom Tower is now 20% complete and is slated for completion in 2018 according to developers Jeddah Economic Company. When complete, the tower will be 1 km tall and will be the tallest man-made structure on earth. A livecam screengrab shows that construction is in full swing.

The tower is one-third owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding. Although the number of floors has not yet been disclosed, the tower is expected to have 167 floors and the entire area around it - called the Jeddah Economic City - will become the centre of attention in Jeddah.

http://www.irhal.com/Travel-News/Gen...in-Jeddah.html

Crawford · #**866** Posted **Mar 20, 2016, 8:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

the strategy worked out extremely well for Dubai. It may be a gamble (certainly far from being a sure thing) for Jeddah, but time will tell. Obviously it takes more than having the world's tallest building to make a city great, but symbols are important too.

I think this is highly debatable.

Yes, Dubai is much better known than before (because no other city in world history built so much extreme architecture in so little time) but I don't think the Burj Khalifa is particularly well known, outside of skyscraper geeks. People just know that Dubai has built a crapload of aggressively tall, architecturally unique towers, among other things. I don't think too many people could identify a picture of Burj Khalifa, or would recognize it by name.

And there's almost no chance of the same thing happening in any Saudi city, given the gigantic cultural/legal differences between the UAE and Saudi. You could never replicate something like Burj Khalifa, as much of its uses are illegal and morally out of the question in the Saudi framework. Can't have social mixing, music, alcohol, movies, unaccompanied women, etc. Can't even have non-Muslims in parts of Saudi. And Saudi actively discourages international tourism as they don't want societal tensions.

I would guess that the Kingdom Tower, assuming completion as planned, would be a highly prominent national attraction, but wouldn't have much global recognition, and wouldn't have many international visitors, unless there's some radical change in Saudi society.

Wormbait Blues · #**867** Posted **Mar 20, 2016, 10:12 PM**

Yeah there's no way anywhere in Saudi Arabia is going to be a tourist destination unless they start loosening modesty and religious laws right now. It has too much of a well-deserved reputation for most people to go on vacation there, even with the world's tallest tower. Seems like a straight-up ego project to me.

Tom In Chicago · #**868** Posted **Mar 21, 2016, 4:08 PM**

^Welcome to the forum. . . thanks for your input. . .

[MODERATOR NOTE]. . . please keep the discussion related directly to the Kingdom Tower. . . everyone's opinions about whether this will be a successful building because Saudi Arabia blah blah blah has been discussed ad-nauseum and is considered OFF-TOPIC. . . any further posts will be removed without warning. . .

Thanks for your cooperation[/rhetorical]

. . .

Flyers2001 · #**869** Posted **Mar 21, 2016, 6:22 PM**

Are there any updated renderings of what the land around the Tower will look like? I skimmed through the thread and didn't see any.

drumz0rz · #**870** Posted **Mar 22, 2016, 3:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

the strategy worked out extremely well for Dubai. It may be a gamble (certainly far from being a sure thing) for Jeddah, but time will tell. Obviously it takes more than having the world's tallest building to make a city great, but symbols are important too.

Is working well... I'm still not convinced the city is sustainable. Most of the real estate is being purchased by investors. Oil is still propping up the economy, despite this current glut. If oil prices stay low for another 5-10 years, and the rise of alternative clean fuel sources grows resulting in reduced oil demand, I think we'll see the Dubai bubble pop and it will then be a real test to see if the oasis in the dessert can survive.

Back on topic though, I was always under the impression that what we're seeing rise was just a concrete core. Is there no steel frame going up around this? The building while tall, is going to awfully tiny floor plans then throughout. Even if this is it in terms of supporting structure, I think calling it "20% complete" with a target date of 2018 completion is a bit ambitious. Maybe top out by 2018 but there's no way I can see them completing all of work in less than 2 years.

Ryanrule · #**871** Posted **Mar 29, 2016, 8:50 PM**

A timelapse I made.

• Video Link

Labridniv · #**872** Posted **Mar 29, 2016, 11:58 PM**

Quote:

Are there any updated renderings of what the land around the Tower will look like?

http://www.jec.sa/en/3_53/portal/Live_Cam_Feed/

Click on the word "menu" in the top right corner then click on the words "the city". That is the best I know of it.

That link is probably already buried in this thread somewhere. I check it regularly.

I wonder how much it will sway in the wind when finished.

If you type "Jeddah city renderings" on Google images you will get a better idea as well.

Aaronaa4 · #**873** Posted **Apr 6, 2016, 3:08 AM**

Hey everyone,

I made an April update on the Jeddah Tower!
Enjoy the video

• Video Link

chris08876 · #**874** Posted **Apr 15, 2016, 11:22 PM**

James Fortune, "Elevator Designs for The Kingdom Tower"

• Video Link

HiRiser · #**875** Posted **Apr 19, 2016, 12:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris08876

Credit: alsaif2012

After viewing that video in the previous post I was compelled to go back to Chris's sectional drawing to demonstrate what was mentioned in that it is no way a 240 or 250 level building!! It is 166 levels with 336 meters of concrete spire making up 1/3rd of the buildings height. How can they classify a concrete spire as floor levels? Blatant falsifying of facts.

Design-mind · #**876** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 8:48 PM**

http://vk.com/club68724777?z=photo-6...12715730%2Frev

Posted by Jeddah Tower.

photoLith · #**877** Posted **Apr 26, 2016, 3:42 AM**

Im sure this observation has been made before but this looks just like Frank Lloyd Wrights design for a mile high tower in Chicago. Even the helipad is in pretty much the same location.

sketch_1
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...61728552590266

scrapin · #**878** Posted **Apr 26, 2016, 7:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

this looks just like Frank Lloyd Wrights design for a mile high tower in Chicago. Even the helipad is in pretty much the same location.

omg...no way...

Skyguy_7 · #**879** Posted **Apr 26, 2016, 3:09 PM**

^He prefaced his comment with "I'm sure this observation has been made before.." which I, and apparently everyone but you, felt would be enough to avoid snarky comments such as yours. . . Cmon man!

At any rate, how cool to see a FLW inspired mega-tall coming to life so long after his passing.

skyscraper · #**880** Posted **Apr 26, 2016, 4:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^He prefaced his comment with "I'm sure this observation has been made before.." which I, and apparently everyone but you, felt would be enough to avoid snarky comments such as yours. . . Cmon man!

At any rate, how cool to see a FLW inspired mega-tall coming to life so long after his passing.

I wish this, or some building, would take more inspiration from Wright's Mile High. The main thing to take from his vision is the cantilevered floors projecting from the concrete core. That would be so much more freeing in terms of layout deisgn, without having to worry about column placement. etc. The Jeddah's tripod tubular structure is extremely stable and makes all the sense in the world, but I would love to see someone try the full cantilevered floors on even a smaller scale just to try it out.