The Clock Towers

21°25′8″N 39°49′35″E / 21.41889°N 39.82639°E / 21.41889; 39.82639

The Clock Towers
أبراج الساعة
Map
Record height
Tallest in Saudi Arabia since 2012[I]
Preceded byKingdom Centre
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeMixed use:
Hotel, Residential
Architectural stylePostmodern
New Classical
LocationMecca, Saudi Arabia
CountrySaudi Arabia
Construction started2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Completed2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Opening2012; 12 years ago (2012)
CostUS$15 billion[4]
Height
Architectural601 m (1,972 ft)[5]
Tip601 m (1,972 ft)[5]
Antenna spire71 metres (233 feet)[1][2]
Roof530 m (1,740 ft)[1][2]
Top floor494 m (1,621 ft)[6]
Observatory484.4 m (1,589 ft)[6]
Technical details
Materialmain structural system: reinforced concrete (lower part), steel/concrete composite construction, steel construction (upper part);
cladding: glass, marble, natural stone, carbon-/glass-fibre-reinforced plastic
Floor count120[3] (Clock Tower)
Floor areaTower: 310,638 m2 (3,343,680 sq ft)
Development: 1,575,815 m2 (16,961,930 sq ft)[6] (389.4 acres)
Lifts/elevators96 (Clock Tower with mall included)
Design and construction
Architect(s)SL Rasch GmbH and Dar Al-Handasah Architects
Structural engineerSL Rasch GmbH and Dar Al-Handasah
Main contractorSaudi Binladin Group
Website
https://theclocktowers.com/

The Clock Towers (Arabic: أبراج الساعة, romanized: ʾAbrāj al-Sāʿaẗ, lit. 'Towers of the Clock', formerly known as Arabic: أبراج البيت, romanized: ʾAbrāj al-Bayt, lit. 'Towers of the House'), is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, which is the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, is the fourth-tallest building and sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.[7] The clock tower contains the Clock Tower Museum that occupies the top four floors of the tower.[8]

The building complex is 300 metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca.[9] The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company.[6] It is the world's second most expensive building[10] [citation needed] , with the total cost of construction totaling US$15 billion. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque.[11] The destruction of the historically significant site in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked an outcry and a strong reaction from Turkey.[12][9]

  1. ^ a b "Makkah Clock Royal Tower". Curtainwall Design Consulting. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5094808586_9d61f6fbf7_o.jpg [bare URL image file]
  3. ^ "Makkah Royal Clock Tower - The Skyscraper Center".
  4. ^ - The Clock Towers Archived 11 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Abraj Al Bait Towers, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
  5. ^ a b "Makkah Royal Clock Tower - The Skyscraper Center". skyscrapercenter.com.
  6. ^ a b c d "Makkah Clock Royal Tower, A Fairmont Hotel - The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Tallest Freestanding Structures". Skyscraper Source Media. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Clock tower museum in Makkah thrown open to visitors". Saudigazette. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  9. ^ a b Bsheer, Rosie (20 December 2020). "How Saudi Arabia obliterated its rich cultural history". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Tallest Clock Tower". Guinness World Records.
  11. ^ "Historic Fortress Destroyed". The New York Times. 9 January 2002. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Historic Makkah fortress demolished". Arab News. 9 January 2002. Retrieved 7 May 2012.