Jeddah Tower Passes Petronas Height, Still Not Halfway Done

I came across this today and had to double check the numbers, because they sounded almost too big to be real. Jeddah Tower, the skyscraper Saudi Arabia has been building on and off for over a decade, has now reached 113 floors. That’s roughly 454 metres off the ground. And here’s the part that stopped me: it’s still not even halfway to its final planned height.

If you’ve ever driven past the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and thought that was as tall as buildings get, this project is aiming to make that look almost modest by comparison.

So how tall is this thing actually going to be?

Jeddah Tower was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the same firm behind some of the world’s most recognisable megatall buildings. The plan has always been for it to pass the one-kilometre mark, a height no building on Earth has come close to yet.

To put that in perspective: the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building at 828 metres, would sit more than 170 metres below Jeddah Tower’s planned peak if the project is finished as designed. That’s roughly another 40-storey building stacked on top of the Burj Khalifa’s tip.

Why did construction stop for so long?

The project had gone quiet for years before builders picked it back up again in 2025. The source doesn’t go into detail on the reasons for the earlier pause, so I’d treat that part as background rather than confirmed fact until we hear more from the developers themselves.

<p>[EDITOR NOTE: your take on why Gulf megaprojects like this get paused and restarted, or your own visit to Jeddah if relevant]</p>

Why should someone in Kuwait care about a tower in Jeddah?

It’s a fair question. You’re not going to live or work in this building any time soon. But Jeddah Tower is part of a bigger regional story: Gulf states pouring money into landmark projects that double as statements of ambition. Kuwait has its own tall building history, and projects like this one tend to shape what people expect from skylines across the GCC, from tourism campaigns to where regional investment flows next.

For anyone who travels to Saudi Arabia for work, Umrah, or family visits, it’s also just a striking thing to see rising out of Jeddah on your next trip, even half-finished.

Quick answers