Abraj Al Bait Towers

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the “Mecca Royal Clock Hotel Tower” is a complex under construction in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The building holds and will break several world records in the construction world, including: the tallest hotel in the world, constructed with the tallest clock tower in the world and displaying the world’s largest clock face,the world’s largest building floor area, and will become the second tallest building in the world upon completion, surpassed only by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The building complex is meters away from the world’s largest mosque and Islam’s most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram.

Upon completion, the tallest tower in the complex would stand as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, and the tallest and largest hotel in the world, with a planned height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). It is the fourth tallest building under construction. Upon completion, the structure would have the largest floor area of any structure in the world with 1,500,000 m² (16,150,000 sq ft) of floor space. This is the same as Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates which is also under construction. It will also surpass the Emirates Park Towers in Dubai as the world’s tallest hotel.

The site of the complex is located across the street to the south from an entrance to the Masjid al Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba. In order to start construction, the historic Ottoman Ajyad Fortress had to be first completely demolished. To accommodate worshipers visiting the Kaaba, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a large prayer room capable of holding nearly ten thousand people. The tallest tower in the complex will also contain a seven-star hotel to help provide lodging for the over five million pilgrims who travel to Mecca annually to participate in hajj.








In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a four-story shopping mall and a   parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles. Residential towers will house permanent residents while two heliports and a conference center are to accommodate business travelers. In total, up to 100,000 people could be housed inside the towers. The project will use clock faces for each side of the hotel tower. The highest residential floor will be at 450 meters (1,480 feet), just below the clocks. The clock faces will be 43 × 43 m (141 × 141 ft), the largest in the world. The roof of the clocks will be 530 metres (1,740 feet) above the ground, making them the world’s most elevated architectural clocks. A 71 meters (233 feet) tall spire will be added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 meters (1,972 feet), which will make it the second tallest building in the world when completed, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan.


The tower will also include an Islamic Museum and a Lunar Observation Center which will also be used to sight the    moonduring the holy months.
The complex is being built by the Bin Laden Group, Saudi Arabia’s largest construction company. The clock tower is being designed by the German company Premiere Composite Technologies, the clock by the Swiss engineering firm Strained. According to the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowments, the project will cost $800 million.