After tortured beginnings that included a false start followed by a protracted design competition during which the eventual winner "gambled" $2 million, a shroud of secrecy has enveloped the planned 1-kilometer-tall Kingdom Tower, to be sited north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If built, the estimated $1.2-billion megatower would replace the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. It would also owe the burj a major debt. The design team, many of whom worked on the burj, is applying lessons learned in Dubai to the Kingdom Tower in a concerted effort to simplify design and construction of the concrete structure.
Currently, there is no mention of the Kingdom Tower—the pet project of a Saudi prince named Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz—among the projects listed on the website of the skyscraper's general contractor and part owner, the Saudi Binladin Group. SBG is mute on the subject. The developer, Kingdom Holding Co.'s Jeddah Economic Co., has muzzled the entire design team. The Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat lists the building as proposed, though pile construction was scheduled to begin last month. Reports that the work has begun could not be confirmed, but sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity, do confirm that design development continues.