A skyscraper in Saudi Arabia is edging toward a milestone no human-made structure has ever reached. The Jeddah Tower has passed the 100-floor mark and now stands more than 400 metres tall, with the goal of becoming the first building to rise a full kilometre into the sky.
New drone footage filmed in May 2026 shows how huge the project has become. The concrete and steel frame towers over everything around it, only weeks after engineers marked the 100-storey point in April.
Beating the Burj Khalifa
When it is finished, the tower will stand at least 180 metres taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. That building currently holds the world record at 830 metres, or 2,722 feet.
The tower is the centrepiece of the Jeddah Economic City scheme, a $20 billion urban renewal plan. Its aim is to turn Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline into a major centre for business and commerce.
The building was designed by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill. Its sleek, glass-clad shape was inspired by the folded leaves of a desert plant. The triangular layout is not just for looks, because it also helps the structure stand up to fierce winds at great heights.
What will be inside
Once complete, the tower will hold a Four Seasons hotel, luxury homes and commercial offices. It will also have what is expected to be the highest observation deck in the world. The tallest man-made viewing platform ever built will sit on the 157th floor, giving visitors sweeping views from 644 metres above street level.
Getting up there will be quick. Double-decker lifts will carry guests at speeds above 10 metres per second.
A different way to build
The engineers describe the design as a breakthrough in tall-building construction. Rather than relying on a traditional steel frame packed with supporting columns and transfer systems, the tower uses a concrete-based structural system. It was tailored to local building methods and the materials available in the region.
The weight of the giant structure will rest on a five-metre-thick concrete raft. Beneath that sit 270 bored piles, each 1.8 metres wide, which plunge as deep as 105 metres below the surface.
The tower covers 530,000 square metres of floor space. Its building costs are projected at around $1.2 billion, which is about £885 million.
Where things stand
The project is now moving upward again after the recent 100-floor celebration. If construction stays on schedule, the Jeddah Tower will take the title of the world’s tallest skyscraper from the Burj Khalifa.
It would also make history as the first structure built by people to climb a complete kilometre above the ground. Engineers have long seen that height as one of the toughest challenges in their field.
Image credit: YouTube
Source: The Mirror US
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