HUGE, Billy Fucillo style, proposed sky scraper

Mile-high tower: Saudi prince promises £5bn desert spire TWICE as tall as nearest rival being built

On a clear day, the view from the top will take in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Ocean - providing you’ve a head for heights.

Plans for a mile-high tower in the Saudi Arabian desert have been unveiled by the billionaire owner of London’s Savoy Hotel.

At 5,250ft, the £5billion project, masterminded by two British engineering consultancies, will be twice as high as its nearest rivals, skyscrapers under construction in Dubai and Kuwait, and almost seven times as high as the Canary Wharf tower in London’s Docklands.

It is being planned for a new city near the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Behind the scheme is 51-year-old Prince al-Walid bin Talal, who bought the Savoy for £1.25billion in 2005.

The plan gives the Middle East a clear lead over Asian countries and the U.S., who have vied in the past to construct the world’s tallest buildings.

None of the other skyscrapers under construction, including New York’s Freedom Tower on the World Trade Centre site, will exceed 2,296ft.

The prince’s company, Riyadh-based Kingdom Holdings, has set up a joint venture with the London firms Hyder Consulting and Arup.

Experts say the technical challenges are enormous. Much of the lifting will be carried out by helicopters, which will also be used as commuter transport for builders.

The tower will have to be capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures, with its top baking in the desert sun by day but dropping to well below freezing at night.

To resist the strong winds prevalent in the area and stop it swaying, giving its occupants a form of high-rise seasickness, it will be fitted with a giant computer-operated damper.

Two “mini-towers” - both taller than Canary Wharf - will be built on either side of the main tower.

Linked to it by elevated walkways, they will anchor it and act as stabilisers.

Until recently, the still-under-construction Dubai Tower was expected to be the world’s tallest building.

Plans have changed several times to make it higher, but the final version is expected to be 2,300ft with 160 storeys.


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Absolutely insane :wow

Eventually the idea will exceed the technological limitations and something bad will happen.

I have a bad feeling about this one.

How are they going to afford to heat and cool the place, much less maintain it?

simple were crash there planes into it. that will heat it for a lil while!!!

okay, so a corvette is like 15 feet that compensates for a 3-4 inch penis, how TINY is this dude? :haha :crackup

I think the real problem is going to be rapidly cooling/heating the top floors, they are going to see 100 degree temperature swings every day. Not to mention metal expands and contracts with temperature swings like that, which can’t be good for structural integrity. I’m not afraid of heights but I won’t be visiting the top floors of that building.

:lmao Hank! haha

I am glad we helped pay for this shit.

were still paying, Shawn

On a clear day, the view from the top will take in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Ocean

:wow I would assume it’s somewhere close to 1000 miles, even though you really won’t see anything solid except for very distorted general shapes, it’s just insane.

Being in what used to be the middle of the desert can’t help matters any either, the desert its self already goes through astonishing temp swings over the course of the day at sea level.

cool must mean you can see suicide bomers gettin blow’d up ::slight_smile:

well thats an incredibly intelligent statement

that is a very good question…maybe he has a vagina and doesn’t want anyone to know… :crackup

i say we crash big R/C planes into it…f*ckers