Middle East Development, a Dubai-based company, has announced plans to build Africa's tallest skyscraper. Designed by Paris-based Valode & Pistre, Al Noor Tower will be built in Casablanca, Morocco, and will include a five-star hotel, offices, business center, and shopping mall, according to ArchDaily.
Al Noor will stand 540 meters tall, more than double the height of Johannesburg's 223-meter Carlton Center, currently the tallest building on the continent.
The $1 billion tower will have 114 stories, alluding to the 114 chapters of the Koran.
On the project's website, the development team describes the design inspiration:
"The design of Al Noor Tower is elegant and gives the feeling of a wedding dress. From the side, the tower look like a fountain pen, which is the tool that Sheikh Tarek [Chairman of Middle East Development] is using to design the future. The height of the tower is 540 meters to remind us that Africa has 54 countries. Everyone in Africa will feel part of that tower."
The tower is slated for completion in 2018.
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | Nov 1, 2016
Winthrop Square will give rise to Boston’s second tallest building
The building will become the tallest residential tower in the city.
Building Team | Oct 31, 2016
The world’s 100 tallest buildings: Who owns and has developed the most?
All but four owners/developers on the list are located in the United Arab Emirates, China, or Hong Kong.
High-rise Construction | Oct 28, 2016
The world’s 100 tallest buildings: Which contractors have worked on the most?
Only one firm has worked on more than 10 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings.
High-rise Construction | Oct 27, 2016
The world’s 100 tallest buildings: Which MEP engineers have worked on the most?
The top firm worked on over three times as many of the tallest buildings as the second place firm on the list.
High-rise Construction | Oct 26, 2016
The world’s 100 tallest buildings: Which structural engineers have worked on the most?
The top firm has worked on almost one-fifth of the 100 tallest buildings in the world.
High-rise Construction | Oct 25, 2016
That sinking feeling: Millennium Tower San Francisco is beginning to worry residents with its sinking, leaning [Updated]
Residents are beginning to question if the tower, which exists in a major earthquake fault zone, is safe.
High-rise Construction | Oct 21, 2016
The world’s 100 tallest buildings: Which architects have designed the most?
Two firms stand well above the others when it comes to the number of tall buildings they have designed.
High-rise Construction | Oct 14, 2016
Perkins+Will-designed residential towers would transform the Seattle skyline
The towers thrive on ‘creative tension’ and lean farther away from each other the higher they climb.
Wood | Oct 13, 2016
Concept from Perkins+Will could become the world’s tallest timber tower
River Beech Tower is said to be a part of a masterplan along the Chicago River.
Resiliency | Oct 5, 2016
San Francisco’s 181 Fremont will become the most earthquake-resilient building on the West Coast
The building has achieved REDi Gold Rating, resilience-based design guidelines developed by Arup that establish a new benchmark for seismic construction.
