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While the tallest building in Brazil is 281 meters, Saudi Arabia is erecting a skyscraper in the city of Jeddah at a speed of one floor every three days: the Jeddah Tower reached 100 floors and 400 meters in April 2026, on its way to becoming the first 1,000-meter building in history by August 2028, 173 meters taller than the Burj Khalifa.
The Jeddah Tower was designed by the American firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the same as the Burj Khalifa.
According to Dezeen, the construction reached the 100th floor on April 23, 2026.
According to Bauer Foundations Saudi Arabia, the team has been erecting one floor every 3 or 4 days since resuming in January 2025.
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In comparison, the pace of the Burj Khalifa in 2008 was one floor every 5 to 7 days.
Therefore, the Jeddah Tower is expected to officially surpass the Burj Khalifa before the end of 2026.
Subsequently, the final delivery is scheduled for August 2028, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.
The Jeddah Tower will be 1,000 meters and 167 floors when delivered
The original project planned for 1,008 meters — equivalent to the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro stacked three times.
According to Thornton Tomasetti, the structural engineer of the project, the tower will have 167 habitable floors.
According to official data, the total built area reaches 530,000 square meters.
Firstly, the tripetal design distributes the wind across three independent faces.
Secondly, this reduces the sway at the top to just 1.2 meters in winds of 250 km/h.
On the other hand, the elevators require unprecedented technology to ascend 660 meters without stopping.
The Jeddah Tower costs US$ 1.4 billion and is part of the Jeddah Economic City project
According to the Jeddah Economic Company, the enterprise’s controller, the direct cost is US$ 1.4 billion.
In comparison, the Burj Khalifa cost US$ 1.5 billion in construction at 2010 values.
According to the consortium, the tower is part of the US$ 20 billion Jeddah Economic City project.
Firstly, the complex plans for 5.3 km² of urban area around the tower.
Secondly, it will house 80,000 residents and a business center for 240,000 workers.
Subsequently, there is a plan for a Four Seasons hotel on floors 110 to 130 and an observatory on the 157th floor.
The Jeddah Tower was halted for seven years before resuming in January 2025
According to the Saudi Binladin Group, the main contractor, the construction was halted in 2018.
Firstly, the reason was the anti-corruption operation by Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Secondly, several executives of the consortium were detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh.
In January 2025, the Saudi government announced the resumption with a new schedule.
According to analysts, the current construction speed is 30% higher than the previous phase.
As reported by MEP Middle East, this is due to the replacement of the workforce with more agile Asian teams.
While the tallest in Brazil is 281 meters, the Jeddah Tower will reach 1,000 meters
The Yachthouse Residence Club, in Balneário Camboriú, is 281 meters and is the tallest in Brazil.
According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Jeddah Tower is 3.56 times that height.
In comparison, the second tallest in Brazil, the Infinity Coast, is 261 meters.
In other words, Brazil would have to stack almost four Yachthouse to match Jeddah.
Therefore, Brazilian buildings face aerodynamic restrictions and foundation costs in sandy soil.
According to the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry, the Brazilian sector has never planned a skyscraper above 300 meters.
- Current height: 400 meters (April 2026)
- Final height: 1,000 meters (August 2028)
- Floors: 167 habitable
- Comparison with Burj Khalifa: 173 m taller
- Construction speed: one floor every 3 to 4 days
- Direct cost: US$ 1.4 billion
- Jeddah Economic City complex: US$ 20 billion
The Jeddah Tower requires unprecedented technology in concrete and elevators
According to Thornton Tomasetti, the special concrete used in the foundations has a strength of 85 MPa.
In comparison, conventional concrete in Brazilian constructions has an average strength of 25 MPa.
According to Kone, the elevator supplier, the vertical speed will be 10 meters per second.
In other words, the journey from the ground floor to the observatory on the 157th floor takes just 1 minute and 6 seconds.
Therefore, the system uses ultra-high-modulus carbon fiber cables, instead of conventional steel.
Similarly, the 65 total elevators have a cable system weighing half the weight of the steel equivalent.
The CPG collection covers Saudi mega-projects and the impact of Vision 2030
CPG recently published about the NEOM project and the future of Saudi Arabia, in the site’s collection.
Subsequently, the site also published an analysis on the role of Aramco in the energy transition, with data from OPEC.
In other words, the Jeddah Tower symbolizes the use of Saudi petrodollars in economic diversification.
On the other hand, some question the sustainability of the project in a desert region with water scarcity.
Next steps: 700 meters by the end of 2026 and 1,000 meters in August 2028
Firstly, the consortium will reach 700 meters by December 2026.
Next, the top appears in 2027 with the start of the pinnacle installation.
Finally, the official delivery is scheduled for August 2028.
However, some warn of the risk of new political halts in the Saudi kingdom.
Nonetheless, Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally defended the project in an interview in April. Still, the Jeddah Tower has already made history as the first construction to break the 1,000-meter barrier, and this forever changes the global reference in skyscrapers.
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