THE record for the world's tallest tower is set to be broken yet again... this time by the Bin Laden family.
The new skyscraper will measure one kilometre high and will be
located in Saudi Arabia. The tower will outdo Gulf neighbour Dubai,
which inaugurated its own record-breaking skyscraper the 828m Burj
Khalifa less than two years ago.
The Saudis awarded a more than $1
billion contract for a spire, to be named the Kingdom Tower. It will
have a Four Seasons hotel, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and
offices, encompassing, in all, about half a million square metres.
Kingdom
Holding Co, the investment firm headed by billionaire Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal, said it signed a $1 billion deal with the Saudi Binladen
Group to build Kingdom Tower on the outskirts of the Red Sea city of
Jeddah.
The Saudi construction giant is owned by the family of Osama bin
Laden. The family disavowed the slain al-Qaeda terror group leader years
ago.
"We intend Kingdom Tower to become both an economic engine
and a proud symbol of the Kingdom's economic and cultural stature in the
world community,'' Talal Al Maiman, a board member of KHC and the
Jeddah Economic Co, a KHC-affiliate that signed the deal with the
Binladen Group, said.
"We envision Kingdom Tower as a new iconic
marker of Jeddah's historic importance as the traditional gateway to the
holy city of Mecca.''

The tower, designed by Chicago-based Adrian
Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture, is the first phase of the planned
Kingdom City, a sprawling, $20 billion, two-square mile urban
development project first announced in 2008 as the global financial
crisis was squeezing world markets.
It is one of several ambitious mega-ventures in the kingdom.
In
June 2009, KHC signed a deal with Dubai-based Emaar Properties to
develop and oversee the construction of Kingdom City and Kingdom Tower.
Emaar, which is partly owned by Dubai's government, is the developer of
the tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa.
Alwaleed's
proposed skyscraper would shatter the record for Burj Khalifa, which has
160 livable floors and includes a boutique Armani hotel.
At 828
metres, Burj Khalifa is not only the tallest building but also the
tallest free-standing structure in the world. By comparison, the tallest
building in the US, the Willis Tower in Chicago, stands at 442 metres,
although counting its antenna towers it rises to 527 metres. The One
World Trade Centre tower being built in New York will measure 541 metres
with its antenna spire (417m without). It's due for completion in 2013.
The
Binladen company is developing a seven-tower complex in the holy city
of Mecca that includes what is billed as the world's largest clock, set
on a four-faced tower.