Kingdom Centre, Modern skyscraper in Al-Olaya district, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom Centre is a 302-meter building in the Al-Olaya neighborhood of Riyadh and carries a parabolic arch at the top that links two sections through a glass-enclosed skybridge. Visitors who ride up reach a viewing level from which the city and surrounding areas spread out below.
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bought the site in 1990, and the tower was completed in 2002, surpassing the 267-metre Faisaliah Tower as Saudi Arabia's tallest. Ellerbe Becket and Riyadh-based Omrania won an international competition to design it, with Bechtel Arabia as project manager and Al-Saif Engineering Contractors as builder.
The mosque inside sits at an elevated spot and shows how prayer spaces fit into modern Saudi buildings today. Visitors notice that places of worship now share floors with offices, shops, and hotels and remain part of daily routines.
The tower holds 35 elevators and 22 escalators, plus parking for 3,000 cars. To reach the skybridge observation deck, visitors pay admission and take two elevators. The mall's third level is reserved for women, and the podium's west wing holds event and celebration space seating 3,000.
The opening lets the tower exceed the 30 occupied floors allowed by local law, and the building is nicknamed the "bottle opener" for its shape. The 300-ton steel skybridge spanning the arch is 65 meters long.
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