Developers of Jeddah Tower – what will be the world’s tallest building – have selected Guardian Glass to supply the façade glass for the project’s over one-kilometer-high landscape. Guardian Glass is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of float and high-performance energy-efficient coated glass products.
Jeddah Tower (also known as Kingdom Tower) is an unprecedented project that dares to go beyond the one-kilometer threshold. The over $1.2billion USD (£800million) supertall building structure, to be completed in 2019, will cover an area of 5.3 million square meters and include 439 apartments, 200 hotel rooms, 59 elevators and 2,205 parking spaces. It is set to break new world records for tallest building, highest occupied floor, highest architectural top, highest tip and highest sky terrace.
“Guardian Glass will provide more than 400,000 square meters, the area of approximately 55 football fields, of aesthetic and functional glass panels that meet the iconic landmark’s complex energy and performance requirements”.
The glass chosen for the massive structure is a custom-made, double-pane glass system combining Guardian Glass’ popular SunGuard® Silver 20 and SunGuard® Neutral 60 coated glass products. The robust technology is made to withstand a 2.5-meter radius sway without breakage or leakage.
As a high-performance, solar-reflective coated glass, the exterior SunGuard® Silver 20 pane will help block daytime heat yet allow for abundant natural light and provide a luxurious silver-green aesthetic. The interior pane, with SunGuard® Neutral 60, will help protect against indirect nighttime heat. The skyscraper’s unique, circular, glass-floored sky terrace, located more than 610 meters (2,000 feet) above ground level, will also be supplied by Guardian Glass. Once completed, the new world’s highest sky terrace will overlook the Red Sea.
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
“The unprecedented size and height of the Jeddah Tower required us to carefully work with the business team to select a glass system that offers a balance between energy savings and light transmission. For that reason, we have combined two of our most popular and reliable Guardian SunGuard products that we are confident will offer the best performance without compromising aesthetics.”
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
“Guardian Glass was specified by Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architects. I have worked on the Burj Khalifa, and the Guardian Glass team was there every step of the way, from glass manufacturing to technical support. Guardian Glass provides more value in comparison to other glass suppliers.”
The glass will be manufactured at the Al Jubail Guardian plant, then delivered to UAAC factory in Jeddah, where the glass will be processed into double glazed units, structurally glazed to the frame with high-performance secondary structural sealant applied. The fully assembled curtain wall system will then be delivered to site for installation.
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Guardian’s trained and certified Technical Advisory Center (TAC) team of experts will be available to provide around-the-clock support on the project to optimize results. An onsite team will work closely with UAAC to provide consistent supervision, maintenance and long-term post-project service.
“Our commitment to a project extends well beyond the production and supply of glass through processing, fabrication and cladding until the project is complete, We are pleased to be the supplier of choice for this landmark project.”
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Jeddah Tower will be an exciting addition to Guardian Glass’ extensive portfolio of iconic landmarks and developments in hospitality, retail, residential, corporate and institutional properties in the Middle East and around the world.
News via Guardian Industries
From the Architects | Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
At over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) and a total construction area of 530,000 square meters (5.7 million square feet), Jeddah Tower— formerly known as Kingdom Tower—will be the centerpiece and first construction phase of the $20 billion Kingdom City development in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea.
(Video) Jeddah Tower on CNN
Expected to cost $1.2 billion to construct, Jeddah Tower will be a mixed-use building featuring a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and the world’s highest observatory. Jeddah Tower’s height will be at least 173 meters (568 feet) taller than Burj Khalifa, which was designed by Adrian Smith while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
AS+GG’s design for Jeddah Tower is both highly technological and distinctly organic. With its slender, subtly asymmetrical massing, the tower evokes a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground—a burst of new life that heralds more growth all around it. This symbolizes the tower as a catalyst for increased development around it.
The sleek, streamlined form of the tower can be interpreted as a reference to the folded fronds of young desert plant growth. The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology.
While the design is contextual to Saudi Arabia, it also represents an evolution and a refinement of an architectural continuum of skyscraper design. The three-petal footprint is ideal for residential units, and the tapering wings produce an aerodynamic shape that helps reduce structural loading due to wind vortex shedding. Jeddah Tower’s design embraces its architectural pedigree, taking full advantage of the proven design strategies and technological strategies of its lineage, refining and advancing them to achieve new heights.
The result is an elegant, cost-efficient and highly constructible design that is at once grounded in built tradition and aggressively forward-looking, taking advantage of new and innovative thinking about technology, building materials, life-cycle considerations and energy conservation. For example, the project will feature a high-performance exterior wall system that will minimize energy consumption by reducing thermal loads. In addition, each of Jeddah Tower’s three sides features a series of notches that create pockets of shadow that shield areas of the building from the sun and provide outdoor terraces with stunning views of Jeddah and the Red Sea.
© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The great height of Jeddah Tower necessitates one of the world’s most sophisticated elevator systems. The Jeddah Tower complex will contain 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators, along with 12 escalators. Elevators serving the observatory will travel at a rate of 10 meters per second in both directions.
Another unique feature of the design is a sky terrace, roughly 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter, at level 157. The sky terrace will be open to the public and will be considered the world’s highest observatory when opened in 2020.
Stay tuned for the release of IGS Spring Issue 2018 for more on this magnificent project. The issue will be available in our free members area in the next coming week.
1 comment
Absolutely fantastic……love Guardian products ….