Mohammed VI Tower
برج محمد السادس
Former namesBMCE Tower
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural styleModern
LocationSalé, Morocco
Address34°01′44″N 6°49′07″W / 34.02894°N 6.81853°W / 34.02894; -6.81853
Construction startedJuly 2017
Completed2023
Cost3.5 billion MAD
Height250 metres
Technical details
Floor count55
Floor area102,800 m²
Lifts/elevators40
Design and construction
Architect(s)Rafael de la Hoz
Main contractor

The Mohammed VI Tower (Arabic: برج محمد السادس; French: Tour Mohammed VI) is a 55 storey, 250m skyscraper in the city of Salé, bordering Rabat, the capital of Morocco. It will be the third tallest building in Africa. It is a project by the Moroccan businessman Othman Benjelloun and led by the company O'Tower.[1]

History

It is a project launched by billionaire Othman Benjelloun, chief executive officer of BMCE.

In 2013, the BMCE group signed an agreement with the Anfa urbanization and development agency (AUDA) to construct the tower in the new Anfa business district.

In 2014, Benjelloun presented the model of the BMCE tower:

“A tower that I wanted represented by a rocket. This rocket will carry thousands of executive members and employees of the BMCE group to space. This Rocket will be ready for take-off from a Launch Pad, also represented in this project."[2]

Its objective was to build a rocket-shaped tower in Casablanca that will house the new headquarters of the banking group.[3] Benjelloun claims that the rocket shape would be inspired from his experience in the United States:

“This particular shape is inspired by my visit to the NASA space agency, at Cape Canaveral in Florida in the USA, where I was invited to participate in a spaceflight simulation, in 1969, in company of the astronaut Pete Conrad, prior to the launch of the actual flight of Apollo 12 to the moon in November of the same year."[4]

Originally planned for Casablanca Finance City, the initial plan for the bank's headquarters was slated to be 135 meters high and completed in 2016. Benjelloun then decided to take the project to 190 meters high.

In March 2016, 10 additional floors were added to the plan and it was announced that the tower would instead be built in the city of Salé. The building, now renamed the Mohammed VI Tower, would house a mix of components for hotel use, offices, residential and retail. The project began on 9 March 2016, when King Mohammed VI laid the first stone of the new skyscraper, at a cost of 357 million euros.[5]

Construction is being carried out by the Moroccan company TGCC,[6] a national leading in public works and buildings, the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCCI) and Belgian group BESIX, which built the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The architects of the tower are Spanish architect Rafael de la Hoz and Moroccan architect Hakim Benjelloun.

Started in July 2017, its completion is announced for 2023. It will measure 250 meters and will be the second tallest tower in Africa. It is designed to be visible from a distance of 50 kilometers all around.[7] Its budget is 3.5 billion MAD.[8] With 55 floors, it will include a luxury hotel, offices, high-end apartments and an observatory located at the top of the tower. The south facade of the tower houses photovoltaic panels.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tour BMCE de Rabat Bouregreg : Le contrat de construction finalisé". www.bankofafrica.ma (in French). 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  2. ↑ MATIN, LE. "La maquette du futur siège dévoilée". lematin.ma (in French). Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  3. ↑ "Comment la fusée de Benjelloun a décollé de CFC pour atterrir à Salé". Le Desk (in French). 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  4. ↑ "Othman Benjelloun:"La Tour Mohammed VI, un rêve qui se matérialise"". www.babmagazine.ma. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  5. ↑ "Mohammed VI Tower is already the tallest building in Africa". Atalayar. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  6. ↑ "Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca". tgcc.ma. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  7. ↑ "Rabat: Mohammed VI tower reaches final height becoming the tallest tower in Africa". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  8. ↑ desertme (2022-03-09). "Mohammed VI tower Rabat". Desert Merzouga Tours. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  9. ↑ "Advanced Vision Morocco". Retrieved 2023-01-18.
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