Construction on Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, which will be the world’s tallest building upon completion, is approaching a major new milestone, accelerating toward its uppermost levels, the engineer behind the tower told Newsweek.
Once completed, the structure is expected to exceed 1,000 meters (around 3,281 feet), surpassing Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building, which stands 828 meters (2,717 feet) high.
The tower is designed by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, the co-founders of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), with Smith also known for designing the Burj Khalifa while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
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Engineer John Peronto, managing principal at Thornton Tomasetti and project manager for the Jeddah Tower, told Newsweek that the team is pushing “very aggressively” toward completing the upper observation level around the 160th floor, known as the “sky terrace.” He said the project is roughly “60 weeks out” from reaching that point, describing it as a “major milestone” expected in the near future.
The building has already reached significant heights, with Peronto noting it is “pretty close” to the 104th floor, at just over 400 meters (around 1,312 feet). He said construction is moving at an estimated rate of about 4 meters per week, putting the project on track to reach the 500-meter mark in roughly 25 weeks. “I’m sure we will celebrate as a team when we get to 500 meters,” he said.
As construction of the Jeddah Tower accelerates toward its latest milestone, the project sits at the center of a wider debate over the environmental cost and long-term value of supertall buildings.
In an interview with Newsweek, Gordon Gill, the architect behind the Jeddah Tower, warned about the importance of “refreshing” older buildings and maintaining their longevity and relevance. Noting that the Jeddah Tower is “extremely efficient” and is “achieving greater heights with greater efficiency,” Gill said sustainability is the next architectural benchmark that matters most to him.
Research has shown that reusing existing buildings can avoid 50 to 75 percent of the carbon emissions associated with new construction, reinforcing the growing appeal of preservation‑led development, according to the American Institute of Architects.
The Jeddah Tower’s progress comes amid Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 initiative, aimed at diversifying the national economy beyond oil. Jeddah Tower is the centerpiece of the Jeddah Economic City, a 5.3 million-square-meter urban development currently under construction.
However, other major projects in the kingdom have faced delays or uncertainty. NEOM, a vast multi-region development that includes the linear city known as The Line and the floating industrial hub Oxagon, has seen its timelines shift.
A report by Semafor in May said that funding for The Line has been suspended until at least 2030, as the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, prioritizes infrastructure such as ports and data centers. Some construction contracts tied to NEOM, including those for the Trojena ski resort, were previously reported to have been canceled.
At the same time, officials have insisted projects remain active. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF, told Al Arabiya Business in April that “no project in NEOM has been canceled,” explaining that some have been delayed because they are not on the critical path.
Other developments, including the Mukaab—a proposed cube-shaped skyscraper reportedly large enough to contain 20 Empire State Buildings—have also encountered setbacks. Planned construction of the Mukaab was previously reported to have been suspended. However, the project is reportedly now moving forward, with contractor proposals expected by 2027, according to a report this month by Construction Week. Newsweek has contacted the PIF via email, as well as the NEOM project and New Murabba, the subsidiary of PIF and developer of the Mukaab via their online contact forms for comment.
Rapid Progress on ‘Groundbreaking’ Tower
Jeddah Tower appears to be at the most advanced stage among Saudi Arabia’s flagship megaprojects, and the building is on track for its projected completion date of August 2028, Peronto told Newsweek.
The construction pace has picked up considerably compared to earlier phases of the project. The engineer said progress is now moving “much faster than it ever did,” adding that the team has been averaging roughly one floor per week on the central core. Although holidays and wind conditions have caused short delays, he described the overall pace as strong, saying “the momentum is high right now.”
The tower is expected to rise to at least 167 stories. While Peronto said he could not recall the exact number of occupied floors, he confirmed it would be “definitely more than 130 floors” and ultimately “in the 160s [floor level].” Near the top, the design incorporates a “sky raft”—a structural transition zone that supports the shift toward the building’s spire, Peronto explained.
The tower’s unprecedented height presents significant engineering challenges, particularly in terms of construction logistics. Peronto said one of the most “groundbreaking” aspects of the project is the need to pump concrete to a height of one kilometer—something never previously achieved on this scale.
“We will be pumping the highest concrete pump of any building on the planet,” Peronto said, explaining that advances in technology now allow the team to pump concrete the full height of the tower using a single system, rather than multiple staged pumps as originally anticipated.
He emphasized that designing an efficient and workable system for such extreme conditions has been one of the project’s most complex tasks.
“You have to be able to first design a system that works, design it efficiently so that you can afford it, and then make sure that it’s highly effective and buildable,” Peronto said.
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Update 6/18/26, 9:47 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
