A HOTEL complex under construction in Saudi Arabia will become the world’s second-tallest building on completion, topped by a clock six times the size of the London’s Big Ben, the hotel’s general manager said.

The concrete structure of Makkah Royal Clock Tower will stand at 662 m (2,171 feet) with a 155 m (508-ft) crescent-topped metal spire, Mohammed Al Arkubi said.
Both parts of the tower in Makkah would be only roughly 11 m (36 ft) shorter than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower at 828 m (2,717 ft).
The concrete portion of the Makkah Royal Clock Tower would be taller than the current second-tallest building in the world, the 508 m (1,676 ft) Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
“The first part of the hotel will open at the end of June, while the clock will begin operating at the end of July, ahead of Ramadan, which is expected to begin around August 10,” Arkubi said.
The German-made clock, billed as “the largest in the world,” will be 45 m (147 ft) wide and 43 m (141 ft) tall, facing on all four sides of the tower, according to him.
He added that it will be visible from a distance of 17 km at night and 11 to 12 km during the day.
“Putting the Makkah time in the face of the Greenwich Mean Time, is the goal,” Arkubi said.
He said the $3 billion, seven-tower complex of hotels, called Abraj Al Bait Towers, will contain 3,000 rooms and suites, the majority of which will overlook the Grand Mosque.
The complex is being constructed by the Binladin Group on behalf of the Saudi government, he said.
The hotel will be managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and its revenue will be placed in a ‘waqf’ or Islamic trust, devoted to the development and maintenance of Muslim holy sites, Arkubi said.