Skyscrapers

The US$1.2 billion (RM4 billion) project has been plagued by setbacks since it was first proposed in 2011, but above-ground work on the Jeddah super skyscraper will commence next month, Building reports.

Saudi Bauer Foundation Contractors has completed foundation construction for what will be the tallest building in the world, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Previously known as 'Mile-High Tower', the $1.23bn (SR4.6bn) will be the centrepiece and is the first phase of a $20bn (SR75bn) development known as Kingdom City, located along the Red Sea on the north side of Jeddah.

The UAE has the "vainest" skyscrapers in the world, a report measuring the extent of spires and other height-boosting additions to the top of buildings has said.

The Saudi prince currently developing the world's tallest tower has invited the Dubai developer Emaar to help develop an even higher building - a mile high - in one of the world's largest cities.

Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture has unveiled plans for Imperial Tower, which would become Mumbai's tallest building and surely one of the world's most slender skyscrapers, should it come to be built.

The 75-storey copper-coloured tower under construction in Moscow’s business centre now has a final height of 338.82m following modifications earlier this year to add five floors and more than 50m. The Shard is 310m tall.

Bauer has been appointed to construct the foundations for Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, which at 1,001m will be the first building in the world to be taller than 1km. The Kingdom Tower, which is being constructed by Saudi Binladin Group, will take the title of the world’s tallest building from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

A mile-high skyscraper — almost double the height of today's record-holder — might be a reality by 2025 as developing countries lavish cash on an ego-fueled race to put up the world's tallest building. “If you have enough money, I'm sure the human mind can create a lot higher,” said Timothy Johnson, chairman of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, widely recognized as the world's arbiter of tallest structures.

Financing for the kilometre-high Kingdom Tower is complete, Talal Al Maiman, chief executive officer and managing director of Kingdom Real Estate Development Co., said in an interview in Shanghai on Friday. The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will eclipse today’s highest skyscraper — the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai — when completed in 2018. The tower is expected to cost $1.2 billion to build, with construction expected to be concluded in about five- and-a-half years, the company has said.