Third Tallest Building in the World - Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower

Conco is currently providing concrete services on a landmark project in downtown Los Angeles where the tallest building in the U.S. west of the Mississippi is currently being constructed.  The Wilshire Grand Center will earn a place in the record books which got us thinking about other skyscrapers.  For our blog series regarding super tall buildings, we discover that the third tallest in the world is the Abraj Al-Bait Tower, which is also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower. 

The Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and was completed in 2010.  The Tower and the surrounding complex of six additional buildings are all owned by the government with the Tower standing well above all of the other buildings.  The official height of the tower is 1952 ft. including a 233 ft. sphere, which makes it the tallest building in Saudi Arabia and the second tallest building in the Middle East after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  It has occupied space up to 1,833 ft. with an observatory deck at that level.  On the building’s façade is displayed the world’s tallest and biggest clock face.

The hotel was built to accommodate the many Muslims who make yearly pilgrimages to the mosque at Makkah, which is located directly across the street.  The Tower contains a 4-story shopping mall with regional and themed Arabian items for sale and a garage that can hold over a 1,000 cars.  The Tower and the surrounding residential buildings were all a part of the King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project and are designed to be the iconic symbol of hospitality in the Holy City.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States and is once again involved in doing concrete work for a major landmark project. The new Wilshire Grand Center will reshape the Los Angeles skyline as the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  As a part of the project, Conco successfully poured the largest continuous mat foundation ever done in the U.S. on February 15, 2014.