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Al Faisaliah Tower

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Al-Faisaliah Tower
Al-Faisaliah Tower and Mandarin Oriental (left), 2023
Map
Record height
Tallest in Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2002[I]
Preceded byRiyadh TV Tower
Surpassed byKingdom Centre
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeMixed-use
Architectural style
Neo-futurism
LocationRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates24°41′25″N 46°41′07″E / 24.69028°N 46.68528°E / 24.69028; 46.68528
Named forKing Faisal
Construction started
4 March 1997; 29 years ago (1997-03-04)
Completed
14 May 2000; 26 years ago (2000-05-14)
OwnerKing Faisal Foundation
Height
Roof267 m (876 ft)
Top floor195 m (640 ft)
Technical details
Floor count44
Design and construction
ArchitectFoster + Partners
Main contractorSaudi Binladin Group

Al-Faisaliah Tower (Arabic: برج الفيصلية) is a 267-metre-high commercial skyscraper and mixed-use complex located in the Al-Olaya district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Designed by Foster + Partners, the tower is the centerpiece of the Al-Faisaliah Center development. The building's design was inspired by the form of the Umar ibn al-Khattab Mosque in Al-Jouf Province, and its lobby contains a stained-glass installation created by architectural artist Brian Clarke in collaboration with Norman Foster.[1]

Completed in 2000, Al-Faisaliah Tower was the first skyscraper built in Saudi Arabia.[2] It was the tallest building in the country between 2000 and 2002. The tower is named after King Faisal bin Abdulaziz.[3] At one point, it was ranked as the world's 325th tallest building.[4]

History and structure

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Al Faisaliah Tower at night

First appointed to the architectural practice Foster + Partners in 1994, the complex was commissioned by Abdullah Al-Faisal,[1] with construction begun in 1997. The complex is made up of the central office tower, a five-star hotel, a three-storey retail mall, and a banqueting and conference hall. The skyscraper comprises 30 floors of office space, above which, at 200 metres above ground level, an observation deck provides a panoramic view of Riyadh. The 240,000-square-metre Centre was completed in May 2000, with the skyscraper opened to the public in the same month.[5] The skyscraper, also called the Star Dome, contains one of Saudi Arabia's premier restaurants, "The Globe", located in the sphere above the observation deck, possessing 360-degree views of the city.

Stained glass

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In 1999, the artist Brian Clarke, who had formerly collaborated with Norman Foster on architectural art proposals for London Stansted and Hong Kong airports, was commissioned to design a 22,000 sq. ft. wall of glass for the modular atrial space connecting the complex's hotel, north of the tower's base, and the tower's residential and retail developments.[6] Clarke's initial designs for the project, produced in 1994 and incorporating traditionally-leaded stained glass and an interrelated glass mosaic floor for what was then known as 'The Link Building', developed in tandem with the architect's resolution of the complex,[7] and were resolved as an integral, five-storey-high glass art 'skin', considered a landmark development in the history of stained glass.[8][9]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Al Faisaliah Centre". Foster + Partners. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Jenkins, David; Baker, Philippa (2001). Foster: Catalogue 2001. London/Munich: Foster and Partners/Prestel Verlag. pp. 148–149. ISBN 3-7913-2401-2.
  3. ↑ "يقدم مفهومين الأول نموذج يحتذى والثاني إضفاء قيمة إنسانية". www.al-jazirah.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  4. ↑ "Al Faisaliah Center - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  5. ↑ "الأمير سلطان يفتتح برج الفيصلية ويسلم جائزة الملك فيصل الرياض ترسخ مكانتها عاصمة للثقافة العربية". Alhayat (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-05.
  6. ↑ Binder, George (2006). Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (ed.). 101 of the World's Tallest Buildings. The Images Publishing Group. pp. 124–125. ISBN 9781864701739.
  7. ↑ "Al Faisaliyah Center". www.brianclarke.co.uk. Brian Clarke Studio. Retrieved 8 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ↑ Faghihi, Parinaz (January 2017). "Glass art and the public realm". The impact of the evolution of modern technology on public glass art (Thesis). Conference: Public Art Colloquium in the Era of Digital Creativity. University of Lisbon: Research Unit “Glass and Ceramic for the Arts”, Faculty of Fine Arts. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Harrison, Martin; Clarke, Brian (2002). Brian Clarke: Transillumination. New York: Tony Shafrazi Gallery. ISBN 978-1-891475-22-1. OCLC 62366638.
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