Design Jeddah Tower

detailed rendering of jeddah tower cut out show floors

the triangular footprint , sloped exterior of jeddah tower designed reduce wind loads; high surface area makes ideal residential use. overall design of tower, located near both red sea , mouth of obhur creek (sharm ob hur) widens meets red sea, having frontage on man-made waterway , harbor built around it, intended desert plant shooting upwards symbol of saudi arabia s growth , future, add prominence jeddah s status gateway holy city of mecca. designer s vision 1 represents new spirit in saudi arabia (smith). 23 hectare (57 acre) area around jeddah tower contain public space , shopping mall, other residential , commercial developments, , known jeddah tower water front district, of which, tower s site alone take 500,000 m (5,381,955 sq ft). many other tall skyscrapers, including kingdom centre in riyadh, considered have sparked recent significant commercial developments around in district of olaya, of intention of jeddah tower symbolic raise surrounding land value rather own profitability. effect, tower s architect, adrian smith, said tower evokes bundle of leaves shooting ground–a burst of new life heralds more growth around . smith states tower create landmark in , surrounding jeddah economic city interdependent. talal al maiman, board member of jeddah economic company, said, jeddah tower landmark structure increase value of hundreds of other properties around in jeddah economic city , indeed throughout north jeddah. concept of profitability derived building high density developments , malls around such landmark taken burj khalifa, has proven successful, surrounding malls, hotels , condominiums in area known downtown dubai have generated considerable revenue out of project whole, while burj khalifa made little or no profit.

a rendering showing bottom of unique, glass-floored, circular sky terrace overlook red sea on 610 metres (2,000 ft)



the large, outdoor sky terrace overlook red sea , have area of on 697 square metres (7,500 sq ft)

the building have total of 59 elevators, 5 of double-deck elevators, 12 escalators. have highest observation deck in world, high speed elevators travel @ 10 metres (33 feet) per second (slightly on 35 km/h (22 mph)) in both directions. elevators cannot go faster because change in air pressure @ such rapid speed cause nausea; @ 914 m (3,000 ft), air pressure on 10 kpa (1.5 psi) lower @ ground level (a 10% reduction in air pressure). must efficient cables not unbearably heavy. jeddah tower have 3 sky lobbies elevator transfers can made, , no elevator go bottom highest occupied floor. no official floor count has been given; however, smith stated in television interview 50 floors more burj khalifa, has 163 occupied floors, leading inference jeddah tower have on 200 floors. tower feature large, 30 m (98 ft) diameter outdoor balcony, known sky terrace, on 1 side of building private use penthouse floor @ level 157; not observation deck. intended helipad, revealed unsuitable landing environment helicopter pilots. building s large notches serve shaded terraces other areas of tower , exterior of building use low-conductivity glass save on cooling costs reducing thermal loads. in addition, lower air density, exacerbated thin desert atmosphere, cause outdoor air temperature towards top of tower lower ground level air, provide natural cooling. there more air flow (wind) @ heights, strong @ 1 kilometre , had large impact on structural design of tower. burj khalifa takes in cooler, cleaner air top floors , uses air condition building. jeddah tower oriented such no façade directly faces sun; use condensate water air conditioning system irrigation , other purposes throughout building.

chicago-based environmental systems design, inc. provide mechanical, plumbing, electrical , fire protection engineering, teledata, audio/visual, security systems , acoustics. langan international responsible geotechnical engineering ground level site work such transportation engineering , parking, including design of proposed 3,000–4,700 car underground parking garage located near, not under tower terrorism reasons. langan designed tower s foundation, has able support tower despite less optimal subsurface conditions, such soft rock , permeable coral, cause piles settle. thornton tomasetti has provided structural engineering 2 of previous world s tallest building title holders, petronas towers in kuala lumpur, , taipei 101 in taiwan, under construction ping finance centre in shenzhen, second tallest building in china after completion. saudi binladin group largest construction firm in middle east, on 35,000 workers , hundreds of projects. constructed topped-out 601 m (1,972 ft) abraj al-bait clock tower in mecca, tallest building in saudi arabia , third tallest in world, largest skyscraper in world floor area , volume. aside buildings, firm has constructed many major infrastructure projects, such king abdulaziz (jeddah) international airport expansion , 775 km (482 mi) 6 lane al qassim expressway through saudi arabia. saudi binladin group owned family of late al-qaeda leader osama bin laden. result, has sparked minor media buzz. when asked thoughts in interview, adrian smith stated largest construction firm in middle east, significant work in saudi arabia done them, , large family shouldn t stereotyped 1 of members. furthermore, in january 2012, new york city judge george b. daniels ruled no charges filed against sbg repay victims of 9/11 there no evidence of construction firm financially supporting bin laden after removed shareholder following 1993 world trade center bombing.

in addition primary functions, building slated include significant amount of retail wide variety of other unique amenities intention functions self-sustaining entity, approaching concept of vertical city . building s design has been applauded simplistic , buildable, yet bold, brilliantly sculpted, , high-tech, + gg describing elegant, cost-efficient , highly constructible design. estimated construction cost of us$1.23 billion, less of burj khalifa (us$1.5 billion), can attributed cheap labor in middle east, particularly saudi arabia, , 3 shifts work around clock expedite process. construction costs have declined since global financial crisis.

in july 2011, report consultancy ec harris found saudi arabia cheapest country in middle east build in, half expensive bahrain, , 34% cheaper united arab emirates, burj khalifa located. future towers site located in close proximity king abdulaziz (jeddah) international airport, runways align towers site, have effect on airspace. while skyscraper experts have stated towers on 1 kilometre, 2 kilometres (6,562 feet) high, technically buildable, physical sustainability , practicality issues come play in towers of height. real estate perspective, considered virtually impossible create enough demand justify such tower, @ point great excess of money anyway. physical restraints, bart leclercq, head of structures wsp middle east said, believe 1 mile—1.6 kilometres—is within range. on that, may possible if there improvements in concrete quality. 2km big figure –it s step far @ moment.

sustainability of such tall building include issues such vertical transportation limitations, elevators being able go far, building sway, caused wind, , supercolumn settling, occurs because concrete tends shrink hydrates , settles under load, whereas steel dimensionally stable, thereby causing floors become unlevel. additionally, large core size required in tall buildings support structure house large number of elevators needed. core size consumes significant amount of space on lower , middle floors. 1 of ways jeddah tower attempts overcome these issues smooth, sloped-exterior design, which, although more expensive build, offers superior aerodynamic performance on stepped designs such burj khalifa, allowing have more conservative core overall. determined wind tunnel tests performed @ burj khalifa. jeddah tower utilize copious stiffening materials prevent excessive sway otherwise make occupants of upper floors nauseated on windy days, including high strength concrete several metres thick in parts of core. this, along highly integrated steel frame , shear walls, intended prevent catastrophic failure of structure in event of terrorist attack. traditionally, space consumed elevators considered make building become increasingly less profitable past 80 floors or so. more recently, has been advent of mixed-use design such shanghai tower , burj khalifa, improved building technology, have outdated rule of thumb, applied single use buildings.

both towers share similar three-petal triangular footprint stability , tapering form, sheer height , wind being biggest structural design challenge. smooth, sloped façade of kingdom tower particularly induces beneficial phenomenon known wind vortex shedding, whereas when wind swirls around leeward side of building, rushing in both sides fill low pressure zone, create tornado-like vortices, rock building side side due variations in pressure, direction, , velocity, dynamic façade of kingdom tower creates infinite timing differential (whereas burj khalifa limited number of steps) in air pressure exertion in 1 particular direction, creating more stable structure, there no broad area of outstanding pressure or depression @ given time. put simply, smooth taper more aerodynamic irregular or jagged taper, while both advantageous on rectangular geometries. @ jeddah tower s height, considered unfeasible use traditional square design.

to overcome elevator issues, tower use large number of efficient elevators 3 sky lobbies, allows transfers made between elevators serving specific area no elevator being overburdened. learned burj khalifa helped design of jeddah tower not structurally, in methods designing practical mechanical, electrical, , plumbing (mep) systems, adhering local regulations , international building codes. despite physical challenges, adrian smith states practicality still greater challenge on structural durability, in such super-tall designs, , buildings, jeddah tower s form derived respective of building s uses be, in accordance structural factors have considered deliver it.