JEDDAH TOWER
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA
Upon completion, Jeddah Tower will be the world’s first 1 kilometer tall building. This soaring, mixed-use development will feature residential, office and hotel spaces. Forcade was commissioned to provide site-wide signage and wayfinding for this historic project, with a planned 5,500 signs over nearly 6 million square feet.
A development of this immensity can be difficult to bring down to size for its inhabitants. Our signage and wayfinding package design was inspired by the dynamic curvilinear elements within the building’s architecture. While beautiful in form, these elements also a provide natural flow throughout the property, eloquently guiding people from one area to the next.
We designed the primary exterior pylons with a narrow base that curves elegantly outward on both sides to form large, yet approachable wayfinding. They are clad in powder coated aluminum with pearlescent flakes and both backlit and side lit to match the grandeur of the building. We even designed the simple interior room signs with a curvilinear shape made from attractive cold pressed rolled aluminum.
The sheer magnitude of this development provided an enormity of signage and wayfinding challenges. Three entrances, stringent security guidelines and 59 elevators are just a few of the complex design complications we needed to overcome. It took a monumental level of masterplanning to develop journeys that were purposeful and easy for people as they navigate this extensive space.
Technology played an extremely important role in our solution. It enabled us to integrate dynamic messaging into all areas of the site and building, ingeniously meeting both security requirements and user needs.
Jeddah Tower is still under construction. Once complete, Forcade’s design plan will span the building exterior, base building, parking, digital and hotel, office and residential spaces. The world’s tallest building will perhaps have the world’s most extensive signage and wayfinding system.
