Foster + Partners plans to design a 2 km-tall skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to the Architects’ Journal. The AJ reveals that the plan reported to be supported by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia will be more than twice the height of the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, completed in 2010, making it the world’s tallest building.
The 2 km-high skyscraper will also break the record of Foster + Partners’ current tallest design by being four times higher than the 423 m-tall JPMorgan Chase World Headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, New York. It will also be the Saudi capital’s tallest structure, PIF Tower, designed by HOK and local architecture and engineering firm Omrania, with a height of 385m. Meanwhile, the construction of Kingdom Tower, which was planned to be the first 1km tall building in Jeddah, is on hold, and it is not known when it will be completed.
According to AJ’s sources, alongside firms like Foster + Partners and SOM, several other renowned international design names have been contesting for the mega-tall project, which is slated to be located in the northern part of the Saudi capital.
Saudi Arabia has recently been making headlines with numerous mega-projects such as The Line, Trojena, Oxagon, and Mukaab Tower. Among these mega-projects, alongside the Riyadh tower poised to become the world’s tallest tower, Foster + Partners is also involved in the massive expansion project of the King Salman International Airport. After their competition win for this 57km² development in late 2022, the firm is currently engaged in the design of at least three airports in Saudi Arabia.
It is known that NEOM has already collaborated with British architects, such as Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid Architects, and David Adjaye. The controversial $500 billion smart city project encompasses The Line, a 170km-long, 500m-tall linear city. Zaha Hadid Architects, on the other hand, is working on the Discovery Tower project, a crystalline skyscraper intended for the Trojena, a new year-round tourist destination that includes a ski village, ultra-luxury family and wellness resorts, a wide range of retail stores, and restaurants. The Oxagon, a port and logistics hub for the larger NEOM project. With being part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan as a renewable energy-power region.
