JEDDAH — The piling contract valued at SR152, 856,091 million for the planned construction of the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah was awarded to Saudi Bauer, under the supervision of Saudi Bin Laden Group (SBG), the main contractor, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) said in a statement Sunday. under the supervision of Saudi Bin Laden Group Saudi Bauer was selected based on its expertise and renowned worldwide specialization in this field, the statement added. The announcement was made following the third meeting in Jeddah presided by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, chairman of KHC, with the Jeddah Project partners Saleh Bin Laden, Samaual Bakhsh and Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly. The meeting was also attended by Eng. Talal Al Maiman, Executive Director, Development and Domestic Investments, Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Real Estate Development Company (KRED), a board member of Kingdom Holding Company and Jeddah Economic Company (JEC); Shadi Sanbar, KHC's CFO; Eng. Waleed Batterjee, Chief Executive Officer (JEC); and Husam Hamdy, general manager of Saudi Bauer; and Nabil Batrawi, Project Director, SBG. During the meeting, Alwaleed and partners discussed the latest developments and progress being made with the mega Jeddah project. Alwaleed said: “Jeddah tower is on a solid strategic path.” Al Maiman said: “The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to Prince Alwaleed, who was closely involved in the selection of the scheme currently under design.” He added “the decision of the partners to build the world's tallest building further demonstrates their belief in investing in this nation.” The previous meeting was held in Riyadh. The partners had discussed the commencement of the construction of the project, strategic support and marketing strategy. In April 2012, Alwaleed, who initiated and has been the driving force behind the decision to build the world's tallest tower in Jeddah, announced the investment of SR1.5 billion from the SBG for a 16.63 percent stake in JEC, owner of the Jeddah mega project that includes the world's tallest tower -Kingdom Tower - with a height of over 1,000 meters with a total cost of SR4.6 billion. The Kingdom Tower will be the centerpiece and the first construction phase of Jeddah City. The overall estimated cost of the entire Kingdom City project is anticipated to be SR75 billion ($20 billion). JEC has new urban development of more than 5.3 million sqm of land in the north of Jeddah overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek. The partners of JEC are Kingdom Holding Company with a stake of 33.35 percent, Saudi Bin Laden Group with a 16.63 percent stake, Abraar International Holding Company represented by Samaual Bakhsh, with a stake of 33.35 percent, and Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly with a stake of 16.67 percent. The final license to construct the tower was formally received from the Jeddah municipality in February 2012. Batterjee said: “Jeddah Economic Company board (members) are keen on the selection process for the piling contractor, as there was a demonstration to the engineering consultants of the equipment which was specifically designed for this project.” He added “this project alone will further attract the worlds interest in Saudi Arabia and in Jeddah specifically.” “We are confident that upon completion, Kingdom Tower will become one of the world's great tourist destinations as well as one of the most attractive places to live and work in the region,” Sharbatly and Bakhsh said in a joint statement. “In the meantime, we believe this project will create thousands of jobs, spurring the local economy.” Yahya Bin Laden said: “SBG will provide all necessary technical and logistic support to Saudi Bauer to successfully complete the piling phase.” An interdisciplinary team led by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), based in Chicago, created the design of the Kingdom Tower. The team also included building services engineering consultants, environmental systems design and structural engineering consultants Thornton Tomasetti, engineer of three of the world's top 10 tallest buildings. Jeddah Economic Company selected the AS+GG scheme after a lengthy competition process in which SOM, Pickard Chilton, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Pelli Clarke Pelli and Foster + Partners also participated. With a total construction area of over 500,000 square meters, the soaring Kingdom Tower will be a mixed-use building featuring a Four Seasons Hotel, Four Seasons serviced apartments, first class office space, luxury condominiums and an observatory that will be higher than the world's current highest observation deck. — SG
