Kingdom Centre
| Kingdom Center | |
|---|---|
مركز المملكة | |
Kingdom Centre, 2024 | |
| Alternative names | Riyadh City Center |
| Record height | |
| Tallest in Saudi Arabia from 2002 to 2012[I] | |
| Preceded by | Al Faisaliah Tower |
| Surpassed by | The Clock Towers |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Commercial offices Residential condominiums Hotel |
| Architectural style | Modernism |
| Location | King Fahad Road Saudi Arabia |
| Coordinates | 24°42′41″N 46°40′28″E / 24.7113°N 46.6744°E |
| Construction started | 1999 |
| Completed | 2002 |
| Cost | SR 1.7 billion (US$453 million) |
| Height | |
| Architectural | 302.3 m (991.80 ft) |
| Top floor | 290.4 m (952.76 ft) |
| Observatory | 290.4 m (952.76 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 99 |
| Floor area | 185,000 m2 (1,991,323 sq ft) |
| Lifts/elevators | 45 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Ellerbe Becket |
| Developer | Kingdom Holding Company |
| Engineer | Arup |
| Main contractor | EL-Seif Engineering Contracting & Salini Impregilo (Webuild) |
| References | |
Kingdom Centre (Arabic: مركز المملكة), formerly Kingdom Tower, is a 41-story, 302.3 m (992 ft) skyscraper in the al-Olaya district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When completed in 2002, it overtook the 267-meter (876 ft) Faisaliah Tower as the tallest tower in Saudi Arabia. It has since been surpassed and, as of 2021, is the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the country, whose tallest two buildings are The Clock Towers and the Capital Market Authority Tower. It is the world's third-tallest building with a hole after the Shanghai World Financial Center and the 85 Sky Tower in Taiwan. It contains the King Abdullah Mosque, which is the world's most elevated mosque from ground level.
The tower was developed by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, and designed by the team of Ellerbe Becket and Omrania, who were selected through an international design competition. It is situated on a 100,000–square-metre site and houses the 57,000-square-meter Al-Mamlaka shopping mall, offices, the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, and luxury apartments. There is a 65m skybridge atop the skyscraper.
The upper third of the tower features an inverted parabolic arch topped by a public sky bridge. The sky bridge is a 300-ton steel structure, taking the form of an enclosed corridor with windows on both sides. After paying the admission fees, visitors take two elevators to reach that level.