UK pair to project manage world’s tallest skyscraper

An EC Harris and Mace joint venture has won the $1.2bn (£780m) contract to project manage construction of the 1km-tall Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The dart-shaped mixed-use scheme is being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) and will soar higher than the world’s current tallest tower, Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828m), and will be three and a half times the height of The Shard in London (308m).

The EC Harris/Mace team fought off bids from 15 other firms to win the contract to provide project, commercial and design management services. They will work alongside US-based architect Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, main contractor Saudi Binladin Group, US-based engineer Thornton Tomasetti, and piling contractor Saudi Bauer.

Developer JEC also confirmed it is close to appointing a quantity surveyor consultancy, which will also be a UK firm.

Work on the 500,000 m² tower is expected to begin on 1 April and will take just over five years to complete, ready for a 2018 opening. The building will house a five-star luxury Four Seasons hotel, Four Seasons serviced apartments, office space, luxury apartments and the world’s highest observation deck.

Kingdom Tower will form the centrepiece of JEC’s US$20bn (£13bn) Kingdom City development located to the north of Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea, which will comprise over 5.3 million m² of urban development including residential, commercial, hotel, office, retail, and educational buildings set amongst large inland water features.

Keith Brooks, head of property and social infrastructure at EC Harris, said: “The Kingdom Tower is a landmark building that will clearly demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to the world. We have a world-class team in place and I am confident that our integrated approach to project, design and construction management will help deliver a safe and successful project.”

Mark Reynolds, chief executive of Mace, said: “Kingdom Tower is a project of international importance and immense ambition… As the client’s project manager, I am confident we will deliver a development exemplary in innovation and approach.”

JEC is made up of four partners, the Kingdom Holding Company with a stake of 33.35%, SBG (16.63%), Abraar International Holding Company (33.35%), and prominent Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly (16.67%).