The Clock Towers
21°25′8″N 39°49′35″E / 21.41889°N 39.82639°E
| The Clock Towers | |
|---|---|
أبراج الساعة | |
| Record height | |
| Tallest in Saudi Arabia since 2012[I] | |
| Preceded by | Kingdom Centre |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Mixed use: Hotel, Residential |
| Architectural style | Postmodern New Classical |
| Location | Mecca, Saudi Arabia |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Construction started | 2002 |
| Completed | 2011 |
| Opening | 2012 |
| Cost | US$15 billion |
| Height | |
| Architectural | 601 m (1,972 ft) |
| Tip | 601 m (1,972 ft) |
| Antenna spire | 93 metres (305 feet) |
| Roof | 508 m (1,667 ft) |
| Top floor | 494 m (1,621 ft) |
| Observatory | 484.4 m (1,589 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | main structural system: reinforced concrete (lower part), steel/concrete composite construction, steel construction (upper part); cladding: glass, marble, natural stone, carbon-/glass-fibre-reinforced plastic |
| Floor count | 120 (Clock Tower) |
| Floor area | Tower: 310,638 m2 (3,343,680 sq ft) Development: 1,575,815 m2 (16,961,930 sq ft) (389.4 acres) |
| Lifts/elevators | 96 (Clock Tower with mall included) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | SL Rasch GmbH and Dar Al-Handasah Architects |
| Structural engineer | SL Rasch GmbH and Dar Al-Handasah |
| Main contractor | Saudi Binladin Group |
| Website | |
| theclocktowers | |
The Clock Towers (Arabic: أبراج الساعة, romanized: ʾAbrāj as-Sāʿaẗ, lit. 'Towers of the Clock', formerly known as Arabic: أبراج البيت, romanized: ʾAbrāj al-Bayt, lit. 'Towers of the House'), is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, which is the Mecca Clock Royal Tower, is the fourth-tallest building and sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. According to Guinness World Records, the Makkah Tower is the tallest clock tower in the world, and the complex of seven building comprise the world's second most expensive building. The clock faces are the largest in the world, and the top four floors of the clock tower house the Clock Tower Museum.
The building complex is 300 metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company. The total cost of construction totaled US$15 billion. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the historically significant site in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked an outcry and a strong reaction from Turkey.