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Why does man have to go one better than everyone else every time? As soon as the biggest, the tallest, the highest, the something-est gets built and made, then it has to be toppled by something that is even bigger. One-upmanship is what man does best at times; going that little bit further, whether it be for good or for bad.
It’s now the Saudi Arabians in Jeddah that are starting this Sunday (April 27th) laying the foundations for the Kingdom Tower, the world’s tallest building to be! But the foundations will need to be 60 meters deep (196.85 ft).
• It will stand 1**, 000 meters** tall (3280.84 feet), which is 173 meters (over 567 feet) taller than the current title-holder, which is the Burj Khalifa, Dubai.
• Its total cost will hit $1.23 billion (although that’s the cost at the outset…since when did builders manage to stick to what the price tag said?).
• There will be 200 floors to the building.
• The architects are Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture.
But, just how do you go about building a 1-km building?
The building will have to withstand the sea water nearby and also the wind. The building will have a tapering look to it rather than just a block of concrete, meaning that it will be able to stand the wind load, with the shape changing in the building every few floors until it tapers to a point at the top.
Some architects believe today that we can design and build without too much trouble buildings of between one and even two kilometers high. Beyond that it seems that we might have some trouble going further up.
But, it’s not just building the thing that is a feat in itself; it’s also providing the equipment and the machinery to enable people to get to the top. No point in building a kilometer-high building if you have to walk to the top. There will be 59 elevators in the Kingdom Tower (including 54 single-deck and 5 double-deck elevators). There will also be 12 escalators. Speed of the elevators? 10 meters per second!
According to statistics analyzed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat:
• 2013 was the 2nd best year for the completion of buildings that are over 200 meters tall.
• The best ever year was in 2011 with 81 buildings completed around the world and 2013 saw 73 buildings of that height going up.
• It’s in the United Arab Emirates that we find three of the tallest buildings in the top five.
• It’s China that built more buildings of over 200 meters than any other country, completing last year 37 buildings in 22 different cities. That means that China built 50% of the world’s tallest building in 2013. The tallest building in China is in Changzhou: the 332-meter Modern Media Center.
• The USA only built one 200+ building in 2013 and that was the one at 1717 Broadway, New York. It measures 230 meters. But, the spire of the 541-meter One World Trade Center will only enter the figures this year (2014).
• It’s Asia that dominates the world with 73% of all completions in 2013 in that area.
• There were no megatall (600-plus meters) buildings built in 2013.
• There were 9 supertall buildings of over 300 meters, however.
• There is a forecast of approximately 65 to 90 buildings that will be over 200 meters that are on the books for 2014.
• 13 buildings that are planned for completion in 2014 will be considered supertalls.
• They include the Spine Tower in Istanbul, Turkey and the KKR2 Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
But, will people want to work and even live in the staggering kilometer-high tower? That’s another matter. But, one thing is for sure, people always get attracted to what’s the biggest, the tallest and the best. But, why aren’t we building the best in the West?
Originally posted: Kingdom Tower: World’s Tallest Building [7]
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