Collected Sept. 3, 2003, a natural color image from DigitalGlobe’s
QuickBird satellite features the Kingdom Centre, the largest building
in Saudi Arabia and the 25th highest building in the world. Opened in
2003, the Kingdom Center already is a distinctive focal point in the
skyline of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prince Alwaleed, grandson of King
Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, wanted the Kingdom Centre to
be a globally recognized icon for Riyadh, just as the Eiffel Tower is
a symbol for Paris. At 984 feet (300 meters), the Kingdome Centre is
the same height as the Eiffel Tower.
Designed by the Ellerbe Becket/Omrania Consortium, the mixed-use
tower accommodates different facilities, including Prince Alwaleed’s
business headquarters, a first-class hotel, the three-story Kingdom
Mall, a wedding and conference center, rentable office space, a sports
club and luxury condominiums. To conform to Saudi customs and culture,
several prayer rooms were integrated into the layout, and one entire
floor of the Kingdom Mall—reached by a separate entrance and
elevator—is reserved for women only, where Islamic veils are not
obligatory.
“If I’m going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I
don’t do it at all.”
— Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, from a Wall
Street Journal interview
