Saudi Arabia to launch £4 billion bid for new world’s tallest building

World’s tallest ‘HORIZONTAL SKYSCRAPER’ set to open in China

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Saudi Arabia plans to eclipse Dubai’s Burj Khalifa with a megastructure of its own nearly five times the size of the Empire State Building. Officials in the Middle Eastern nation have called on architects to enter their concepts for a 2,000-metre-tall “megascraper” into a competition.

One designer will receive the opportunity to win £840,000 and have their plans turned into a £4 billion reality.

According to MEED, which first reported the plans, several would-be participants have come forward.

The competition is primarily US-based, with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture and Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) making up most of the early entrants.

MEED said the firm 10Design, part of France’s Egis, also plans to take part, as does Killa Design, a Dubai-based firm.

Whichever firm completes the project will build on a site to the west of the King Khalid International airport.

Ultimately, it will stand more than 1,000 metres taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

The current world’s tallest building stands 821 metres tall, making it well under half its Saudi competitor.

The completed building would give the Middle East the top two world’s tallest buildings.

While Dubai has the Burj Khalifa, the list of the top 10 tallest buildings is primarily dominated by East Asian nations.

The Malaysian Merdeka 118 is the second tallest at 678.9 metres, followed by China’s Shanghai Tower at 632 metres.

Aside from Saudi Arabia’s 601-metre Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower, South Korea’s 554.4-metre Lotte World Tower, and the New York-based One World Trade Center – which stands at 541.3 metres – all the remaining tallest buildings in the top 10 are hail from China.

The UK, despite boasting several world-famous skylines, doesn’t have any buildings in the top 90 tallest.

The tallest British building is Emily Moor, a transmitting station that delivers telecommunications and broadcasting from its perch in Huddersfield.

The tower stands at 319 metres, making it slightly taller than the Shard in London, which is 310 metres tall.

Most of the UK’s remaining tallest buildings are London-based.

The third, fourth and fifth tallest are the Twentytwo, Canary Wharf’s One Canada Square and Heron buildings, which stand at 278, 235 and 230 metres.

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