Fresh footage has emerged revealing the remarkable advancement being made on what will shortly become the world’s tallest structure.
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower soared beyond the 100-storey milestone back in April, propelling the mammoth structure more than 400 metres into the sky as it draws closer to a record-shattering height as the world’s first kilometre-tall edifice.
Upon completion, the skyscraper will stand at least 180 metres above Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which presently holds the accolade of the world’s tallest building at 830 metres (2,722 feet) tall.
New drone footage of the tower as of May 2026 captures the immense magnitude of the venture, displaying the vast concrete and steel core rising above the surrounding landscape just weeks after engineers marked reaching the 100-floor landmark in April.
The bold project serves as the focal point of the $20 billion (£885 million) Jeddah Economic City development, an extensive urban transformation programme intended to convert Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline into a significant commercial and business centre, reports the Mirror.
Created by celebrated architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, the streamlined glass-covered tower draws inspiration from the folded leaves of a desert plant. Its distinctive three-sided configuration is not merely visually impressive but also serves a vital function in enabling the structure to resist powerful winds at extreme elevations.
Once complete, the soaring skyscraper will accommodate a prestigious Four Seasons hotel, upmarket apartments, commercial office space and what is anticipated to become the tallest observation deck on the planet. Visitors will be treated to sweeping panoramic vistas from a breathtaking height of 644 metres above street level.
The tower will additionally boast the highest human-made viewing platform ever constructed, situated on the 157th floor. Guests will be whisked skyward in double-decker lifts capable of reaching speeds in excess of 10 metres per second.
Engineers working on the project have hailed the structure as a landmark breakthrough in skyscraper design and construction. Rather than depending upon conventional steel frameworks laden with support columns and transfer structures, Jeddah Tower employs an innovative concrete-based structural system specifically tailored to local construction methods and materials.
Its enormous weight will be borne by a vast foundation comprising a five-metre-thick concrete raft sitting atop 270 bored piles, each measuring 1.8 metres in diameter and plunging as deep as 105 metres beneath the ground.
With an estimated construction bill of approximately £885 million (USD$1.2 billion), the 530,000-square-metre tower is widely expected to cement itself as one of the most iconic landmarks on the face of the earth.
Should building work continue as planned, Jeddah Tower will not merely seize the crown as the globe’s tallest structure but will also mark the first human-made edifice ever to soar a complete kilometre skyward – an accomplishment long regarded as amongst engineering’s most formidable challenges.
