We could be seeing the world’s tallest skyscraper in Riyadh: British architecture studio Foster + Partners is reportedly working on designs for a 2 km tall skyscraper in Riyadh in what could be the world’s tallest building to beat Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, Architects’ Journal reported in an exclusive yesterday. The multi-bn USD project will be built at a site near the capital’s King Khalid International Airport.

Beating Burj Khalifa: The project, which is reportedly backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), would be twice as tall as the world’s current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which stands 828 meters tall. Sources told the publication that global architectural and engineering giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and other global design houses had been working on designs for the project. SOM designed Burj Khalifa which was completed in 2010.

And the PIF’s own tower: Riyadh’s current tallest building is the 385 meter PIF Tower located in the King Abdullah Financial District. It was designed by local architecture and engineering firm Omrania and US-based architecture and engineering house HOK.

Setting a record for Fosters itself: The planned tower would beat Foster + Partners’ current tallest design, the 423m-tall JPMogran Chase World Headquarters in New York.

And that’s not all for the design house: Foster + Partners is also working on a number of other projects, including expansions at the capital’s airport. It was tapped last year to design a new terminal for Abha International Airport as a stone village.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *