New drone footage has revealed the remarkable progress on Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, which is set to become the world's tallest building and the first human-made structure to reach a full kilometre in height. The tower recently surpassed the 100-storey mark in April, soaring more than 400 metres into the sky as it edges closer to its record-breaking target.
When completed, the skyscraper will tower at least 180 metres above Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which currently holds the title of the world's tallest building at 830 metres. The Jeddah Tower forms the centrepiece of the £885 million ($1.2 billion) Jeddah Economic City development, a vast urban regeneration scheme designed to transform Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastline into a major commercial hub.
Designed by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, the sleek glass-clad tower takes inspiration from the folded leaves of a desert plant. Its distinctive three-sided design helps the building withstand powerful winds at extreme heights. The tower will house a luxury Four Seasons hotel, high-end apartments, office space, and what is expected to become the highest observation deck in the world, located at 644 metres above ground level on the 157th floor.
Engineers have described the structure as a major breakthrough in skyscraper design, using an innovative concrete-based structural system tailored to local construction techniques. Its immense weight is supported by a five-metre-thick concrete raft resting on 270 bored piles, each 1.8 metres in diameter and extending up to 105 metres into the ground. Double-decker lifts capable of travelling at speeds exceeding 10 metres per second will transport visitors skywards.
If construction remains on schedule, the 530,000-square-metre tower will not only claim the title of the world's tallest building but will also achieve a feat long considered one of engineering's greatest challenges: rising a full kilometre above the ground.
