Finnish elevator supplier Kone says it is now working on site at Saudi Arabia’s under-construction Kingdom Tower.

Kone Areeco, which is the joint venture involved in the planning and implementation of all vertical transportation for the project, arrived on site last January and is currently working on the pre-installation activity for the tower’s lift system.

At a media briefing held in Dubai on 10 May, Johannes de Jong, Kone’s head of technology, said the lift system will include the firm’s new double-decker installation, which will travel at 10 metres a second.

The 1-kilometre Kingdom Tower (1,008 metres), which is being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), was designed by US firm Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill.

Mounib Hammoud, JEC’s CEO, also told MEED that the local Saudi Binladin Group is the main contractor working on the project, with completion expected in 2018.

In February 2013, a joint venture of the UK-based EC Harris and Mace was awarded the project management contract to oversee the development of the tower.

Kingdom Tower will be the centre of a new commercial district to the north of Jeddah. The first phase will be 1.4 million square metres and will include the tower, a mall and a large mosque for 12,000 worshippers, together with other residential and commercial buildings.

Jeddah Economic Company was formed in 2009 to finance Kingdom City. It is made up of stakeholders comprising Kingdom Holding Company, Abrar Holding Company, a businessman named Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly and Saudi Binladin Group.