Azerbaijan takes on Burj with plan for world’s tallest tower

A developer in Azerbaijan has unveiled plans to build the world’s tallest building, eclipsing Dubai’s 828m-tall Burj Khalifa by a full 27 percent.

Property company Avesta said the 1050m superscraper would form part of a chain of 41 artificial islands in the Caspian Sea, with construction scheduled to start in late 2013.

The tower would also bypass the Prince Alwaleed-backed Kingdom Tower, the 1,000m building set to begin construction in Jeddah in the first quarter.

Avesta’s marketing director told Associated Press the tower had initially been designed at 560m, but had nearly doubled under the latest version of the development.

The superscraper will house a business centre at the heart of the Khazar Islands project, to be located 15 miles south of the Azerbaijan capital Baku, Kana Guluzade told the newswire.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, named the world’s tallest tower following its launch in 2010, has seen a number of developers announce plans to eclipse its 828m height.

The most recent, the $1.2bn Kingdom Tower, is being designed by Chicago-based design firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Smith was also the architect behind the Burj Khalifa.  

Kingdom Tower is set to be constructed in three phases over five years. It will be located in the first phase of Kingdom City, a 5.3m mixed-use development north of Jeddah, which overlooks the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.

On completion, the tower will include a Four Seasons hotel, apartments, offices, three lobbies on the upper floors and the world’s highest observation deck on the 157th level.