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Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia surpassed 80 floors in December 2025, marking a pivotal moment in the construction of what will become the world’s tallest building. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, this megatall skyscraper in Jeddah is planned to exceed 1,000 meters in height and is targeting a 2028 completion date, which would place it above the Burj Khalifa as the new global height record holder.
What Is Jeddah Tower and Why Does It Matter?
The Jeddah Tower — also referred to as Burj Jeddah and formerly known as the Kingdom Tower — is a supertall mixed-use skyscraper under construction in Jeddah Economic City along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. At a planned height of over 1,000 meters, it will be the first structure in human history to reach a full kilometer. The current record holder, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, stands at 828 meters — meaning the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia will overtake it by at least 173 meters when complete.
Beyond the headline height, the tower represents a broader ambition. It serves as the anchor of the Jeddah Economic City, a 5.2 million square meter master-planned development designed to reposition Saudi Arabia as a global hub for business and luxury tourism. The project is part of Vision 2030, the kingdom’s economic diversification plan aimed at reducing dependence on oil revenue.
📌 Did You Know?
The original proposal for this project was a mile-high tower — approximately 1,600 meters tall. Soil testing in 2008 revealed the coastal site could not support that height, which led to the current design of just over 1,000 meters. Even scaled back, it will still be roughly 173 meters taller than the Burj Khalifa.
Jeddah Tower Height and Design: The Three-Petal Footprint
The design of the Jeddah Tower, led by Adrian Smith of AS+GG Architecture, draws on a three-petal footprint inspired by the fronds of a palm tree. This shape is not purely decorative. The tapering, three-sided silhouette sheds wind vortices as the structure rises, reducing structural sway at extreme altitudes. Because wind pressure increases dramatically with height, this aerodynamic form is a structural necessity at 1,000 meters — not just an architectural statement.
The tower’s structure is built around a reinforced concrete core, with the building gently tapering as it rises rather than stepping back in distinct setbacks. This continuous taper allows for more efficient construction sequencing and keeps the floor plate geometry relatively consistent as crews move upward. The facade will be clad in glass, and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) installations are now advancing across the lower floors alongside the concrete superstructure work.
📐 Technical Note
The foundation system for Jeddah Tower consists of 270 bored concrete piles up to 110 meters deep, connected to a five-meter-thick raft foundation. The piles are drilled into coastal limestone and coral rock. At the superstructure level, construction will require approximately 500,000 cubic meters of concrete and 80,000 tonnes of steel (Jeddah Economic Company, project specifications).
Structural design services are provided by Thornton Tomasetti, working in coordination with AS+GG Architecture, Dar Al-Handasah, and Saudi Binladin Group as the main contractor. Turner Construction took over project management in March 2025 and describes the site as one of the most complex construction environments currently operating anywhere on Earth.
Jeddah Tower Progress: How Fast Is Construction Moving?
Construction of the jeddah tower in saudi arabia originally began in 2013 but stalled at the 63rd floor in January 2018. The pause lasted nearly seven years and stemmed from a combination of labor disputes with the main contractor following the 2017 Saudi Arabian purge, financial uncertainty, and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. When work finally resumed in January 2025, the project restarted at the 64th floor with a new contractor lineup and a renewed commitment from the Jeddah Economic Company.
Progress since then has been striking. By April 2025, the tower had reached its 66th floor. By August 2025, it was at 75 floors. Thornton Tomasetti confirmed in early January 2026 that the structure surpassed 80 floors in December 2025. As of early 2026, Wikipedia and Construction Week Online report the tower has reached level 91 at approximately 370 meters, with facade cladding underway and a workforce of around 5,200 on site. The construction team is completing approximately one floor every four to five days.
🔢 Quick Numbers
- 80+ floors completed by December 2025, 91 floors by early 2026 (Thornton Tomasetti / Construction Week Online, January 2026)
- 1,000+ meters planned final height — approximately 173 meters taller than the Burj Khalifa (Jeddah Economic Company)
- 270 bored piles up to 110 meters deep supporting the foundation (AS+GG Architecture project data)
- 5,200 workers on site with over 8 million work hours without a lost-time incident (Kingdom Holding Company, 2026)
To achieve this pace, the project uses multiple tower cranes and advanced pumpcrete systems that can push concrete vertically to extreme heights. Thornton Tomasetti noted in January 2026 that the structural core is performing exactly as predicted in wind tunnel testing, pairing innovation with advanced computational modeling to manage the unique wind forces expected at 1,000 meters.
💡 Pro Tip
When studying supertall construction sequences, pay attention to how projects like Jeddah Tower use sky lobbies to divide the elevator system into zones. The tower will have 59 elevators and three sky lobbies, which prevents any single elevator shaft from running the full height of the building — a key design decision that affects core sizing, structural efficiency, and usable floor area at every level.
What Will Jeddah Tower Contain When Finished?
The jeddah tower is planned as a fully mixed-use vertical development. The primary tenant will be a Four Seasons hotel, occupying a significant portion of the tower alongside Four Seasons short-rental serviced apartments. Above and below the hotel will be Class A office space and high-end luxury condominiums. The tower will also feature what is expected to be the world’s highest observation deck, positioned to offer panoramic views over the Red Sea and the Jeddah Economic City development below.
A cantilevering steel balcony measuring approximately 30 meters in diameter will project from one of the upper penthouses at around 600 meters above ground — roughly 70 meters above the top of the Burj Khalifa’s roof. The building’s vertical transportation system will include two-story elevators traveling at approximately 10 meters per second, divided across three sky lobby zones to eliminate the need for cables long enough to span the full structure.
For a broader look at how the Jeddah Tower fits within the global context of supertall design, our article on skyscraper design trends in modern architecture covers the engineering and sustainability principles shaping this generation of towers. The Shanghai Tower case study also provides useful technical context, as both buildings use advanced wind-load management strategies in their structural systems.
🎓 Expert Insight
“Construction activities have ramped up, and the atmosphere on site is robust. The entire team is committed and focused on realizing this iconic structure for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” — Robert Forest, Partner, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
This statement, made to Newsweek in August 2025, reflects the genuine shift in momentum on a project that had been idle for nearly seven years. The partnership between AS+GG and Thornton Tomasetti — who worked together on the structural design — is the same team responsible for supertall precedents like Central Park Tower in New York.
Jeddah Tower Completion Date and What Comes Next
The projected jeddah tower completion date remains 2028, as confirmed by Jeddah Economic Company CEO Talal Almaiman. Based on current pace, Wikipedia reports the tower is expected to reach its 100th floor by April 2026, with construction projected to top out at 135 floors by the end of 2026. The remaining work on upper floors, MEP installations, facade cladding, and interior fit-out would then carry through to the 2028 target.
When complete, the saudi jeddah tower will officially end the Burj Khalifa’s 18-year reign as the world’s tallest building — a title the Dubai tower has held since 2010. It will also become the centerpiece of the broader Jeddah Economic City development, a 5.2 million square meter urban district being built alongside the tower along the Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia’s appetite for landmark height does not stop here. A separate project, the Rise Tower in Riyadh, is in the planning phase and aims to become the first two-kilometer-tall structure in history. Meanwhile, Jeddah itself is slated to host an additional supertall development. For reference on the broader history of record-breaking buildings, our guide to the tallest skyscrapers in the United States illustrates how supertall engineering has evolved decade by decade. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) maintains the official global rankings and technical standards that will govern the Jeddah Tower’s eventual height classification.
⚠️ Common Mistake to Avoid
Many sources still refer to this project as the “Kingdom Tower,” its original name. The building was officially renamed the Jeddah Tower when the broader Jeddah Economic City development was formalised. Some newer sources also call it the “JEC Tower” in reference to the Jeddah Economic Company. All three names refer to the same structure, and the CTBUH-recognised name for official rankings purposes is Jeddah Tower.
How the Jeddah Tower Compares to the Burj Khalifa
The comparison between the jeddah tower and the Burj Khalifa is inevitable, not least because the same architect — Adrian Smith — designed both. Smith led the Burj Khalifa design at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill before founding Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which took on the Jeddah Tower commission. The structural logic of both towers shares DNA: a reinforced concrete core, a tapering form to manage wind, and a buttressed or petalled floor plan that provides lateral stability.
Where the Jeddah tower in saudi arabia diverges is in scale. The Burj Khalifa has 163 floors and reaches 828 meters to its architectural crown. The Jeddah Tower is planned for at least 157 usable floors, but with a total level count reaching 252 when mechanical and sky lobby floors are included, and a height that will exceed 1,000 meters. The observation deck at Jeddah Tower is planned at 630 meters — already above the Burj Khalifa’s roof. For a detailed breakdown of how today’s tallest structures compare, visit our article on the tallest buildings in the world.
💡 Pro Tip
When comparing tall building heights for academic or professional purposes, always clarify whether you are measuring to the architectural top, the occupied floor height, or the tip (including antenna). The CTBUH uses architectural height as its standard — meaning spires count but antennas and flagpoles do not. This distinction matters when comparing Burj Khalifa’s 828-meter height to the Jeddah Tower’s 1,000+ meter target.
✅ Key Takeaways
- The Jeddah Tower surpassed 80 floors in December 2025, with the structure reaching level 91 and approximately 370 meters in height by early 2026.
- Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the same lead architect behind Burj Khalifa, the tower uses a three-petal footprint engineered to shed wind loads at 1,000 meters.
- Construction restarted in January 2025 after a seven-year pause, and the project is now advancing at roughly one floor every four to five days.
- At over 1,000 meters, the completed tower will be the first human-made structure to reach a full kilometer and will overtake the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building.
- Completion is projected for 2028, as confirmed by the Jeddah Economic Company — though the final height has not been officially disclosed by the developers.
For further reading on the engineering behind the world’s tallest structures, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat publishes detailed technical papers on supertall performance and classification. The project architects at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and structural engineers at Thornton Tomasetti have both released technical updates on the 2025 construction progress. Additional coverage from Dezeen and ArchDaily tracks the architectural significance of the project within the broader global context of contemporary skyscraper design.
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