Nakheel Tower (Arabic: برج نخيل ‎) is a planned skyscraper on hold in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by developer Nakheel.The project was previously called Al Burj (Arabic: البرج ‎ "The Tower").. Doherty did not respond to NewsChannel 5's questions about the photos. Designed by Swiss-Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, it will feature The Pinnacle Room — an observation point offering 360-degree views of the emirate — and public vertical gardens, while 18 to 20 floors have been reserved for homes, restaurants, … Saudi construction sector 8 months ago Kingdom building: Sixteen of the top projects currently shaping Saudi Arabia. A series of fires in the past few years, including a blaze that tore through a luxury skyscraper on the Palm Jumeirah artificial island in Dubai this month — have called into question the quality of some towers, and their fire-proofing. The elevators will reach a record height of 2,165 feet (660 meters), while the double-decker lifts that take visitors directly to the observation deck from Level 1 of the building can travel at 12.5 miles per hour. Other facilities include a five-star Four Seasons Hotel and 97 affiliated serviced apartments, including seven duplexes. Binladin did not immediately reply to a request for comment but a spokesman for the company has said: “As a principle, the group doesn’t comment on its financial issues, or relationships with other business partners. Jeddah Economic Company, the developer behind the skyscraper, however, has confirmed to CNN that the project will be completed by 2020, as scheduled. And today, Jeddah is going to have a building which, many generations to come will talk about it.". “Basically, it was a financial problem. “We can certainly learn from that experimentation.”, All rights reserved, Al-Masry Al-Youm. NewsChannel 5 Investigates captured a screenshot of that rising tower and ran it through Google's image search. Visualisations by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture/Jeddah Economic Company. But it’s got competition. He said that the challenges in building such a structure had been immense – it will contain enough steel for eight Eiffel Towers, and enough concrete for six Hoover Dams. In his speeches, Doherty has claimed to be funding research through the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) on new piezoelectric technologies where, as people move over a special material, they generate electricity. Skyscraper experts Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill established their firm in 2006. ", Likewise, a spokesperson for the engineer Thornton Tomasetti said, "We have no knowledge of the individual or the company.". Jeddah Tower. In April 2018, right before Nashvillians began voting on former Mayor Megan Barry’s proposed transit plan, Swope introduced Doherty at a news conference to lay out a vision for an alternative plan using autonomous, self-driving vehicles. Hisham Jomah, chief development officer at JEC, confirmed to the Times of Oman that technical issues with the concrete had meant that alterations to the design had to be made, which had delayed construction. But NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered evidence that many of Doherty's incredible stories are riddled with incredible questions. It was at that conference in China where Swope claimed he met Doherty, "who is one of the most brilliant architects and furturists in the world, and we became fast friends and we partnered our companies.". ", But that didn’t stop Doherty from writing an article for an obscure trade magazine, claiming his plan had "captured the imagination of the people of the fast-growing city. His descriptions of his role would expand dramatically in the years ahead. Doherty, in various speeches and interviews, has claimed that he and The Digit Group have been key players in the construction of Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, which aspires to be the tallest building in the world, calling it in one speech: "our tower. Georgia Tech provided the following statement: "Paul Doherty has been a good partner in spreading the word and driving interest in piezoelectric technology. Dezeen Daily is sent every day and contains all the latest stories from Dezeen.