The Makkah Royal Clock Tower The biggest tower clock in the world

The idea of implementing the central skyscraper of the King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project in Mecca as the tallest clock tower in the world came about during the building of a group of seven hotel tower

The idea of implementing the central skyscraper of the King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project in Mecca as the tallest clock tower in the world came about during the building of a group of seven hotel towers at the gate to the Great Mosque.The construction calculations for the towers had already been completed when, in late 2006, SL Rasch was asked to design the huge clock add-on. The specification: the tower top was to weigh no more than 82,000 tonnes. The result is a highly complex design that combines contemporary composite materials with traditional elements of Islamic art as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The space behind the clocks contains a cosmology research centre and public exhibition rooms. The four-storey facility informs visitors about the development and construction of the clock tower, the history of Islamic time measurement and the history of the Qur’an. The “glass jewel” contains the Lunar Center and the Makkah Time Institute – one of more than 50 time institutes worldwide. The clock introduced a second time standard in addition to Greenwich Mean Time. Now Muslims in Berlin, London, New York and Jakarta know exactly when Ramadan begins as the sun rises over Mecca, when they can break their fast after sundown or when to recite their five daily prayers while facing towards Mecca.