Qualla: Jeddah Tower https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Jeddah Tower https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower Jeddah Tower: Introduction https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Xtremez21, CC BY-SA 4.0. A one-kilometer building has never been built. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which currently holds the record for the world's tallest structure at 828 meters counting its antennas, comes close, but not that close. Jeddah Tower was designed by American architect Adrian Smith, who also designed the Burj Khalifa, to leap at least 180 meters beyond it. For almost five years between 2018 and 2023, the tower sat unfinished on the edge of the Red Sea, its core stalled at about the 63rd floor after a political purge and then a pandemic. Then in January 2025, cranes began moving again. By December 2025, the building had reached 81 stories. The final height remains secret. Adrian Smith once hinted in an interview that it would be a little over twice the height of the Burj Khalifa, suggesting something closer to 1,600 meters: one mile high.

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Image: Xtremez21 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Jeddah Tower: A Foundation on Coral https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Fahadharbi, CC0. The site lies about 20 kilometers north of Jeddah, on 50 hectares of waterfront that was previously undeveloped. The geology here is a problem. Beneath the surface is soft bedrock and porous coral rock, the kind of foundation that would normally settle unevenly under the weight o...

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Image: Fahadharbi | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-a-foundation-on-coral.mp3 0:06 2 full Jeddah Tower: The Architect and the Competition https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Fahadharbi, CC0. Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture won the design competition in 2010, beating out Kohn Pedersen Fox, Pickard Chilton, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Foster + Partners, and his former firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill. Smith had designed the Burj Khalifa while at SOM; he...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-the-architect-and-the-competition.mp3 0:06 3 full Jeddah Tower: A Building That Pauses https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Fahadharbi, CC0. Construction started on 1 April 2013. Pilings were complete by December, above-ground work began in September 2014. By 2017 the tower had reached 58 floors; by October 2018, the walls stood 248 meters tall with the core reaching 60 stories. Then in late 2017, both the owner of Ki...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-a-building-that-pauses.mp3 0:06 4 full Jeddah Tower: The Restart https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Fahadharbi, CC0. In September 2023, the Middle East Economic Digest reported that the project was back on. Fourteen contractors from the region, Europe, and China were invited to bid on completing construction. In May 2024, Adrian Smith confirmed the work would resume. Construction officially res...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-the-restart.mp3 0:06 5 full Jeddah Tower: A Statement in Concrete https://qualla.com/jeddah-tower/ Photo credit Fahadharbi, CC0. The estimated construction cost is around 1.23 billion dollars, less than the Burj Khalifa cost despite the greater height, partly because Saudi labor costs are lower and construction runs in three shifts. The tower's 23-hectare surrounds will include a shopping mall, public spac...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/g/jeddah-tower-wp/sggg-jeddah-tower-a-statement-in-concrete.mp3 0:06 6 full