New Administrative Capital, Egypt

Iconic Tower is one of several Dubai-style megaprojects being built in Egypt’s new as-yet-unnamed administrative capital 45 kilometers east of Cairo.

Designed by Dar al-Handasah Shair & Partners for Chinese developers China State Construction Engineering Corporation(CSCEC), when completed, Iconic Tower will stand as the tallest building in Africa, though several other taller buildings are being proposed elsewhere on the continent including a new tower by Zaha Hadid in Cairo.

The new administrative capital is one of several mega-projects launched by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi since he became president in 2014 in an effort to stimulate the economy of the most populous Arab nation.

The project is on a land area of around 700km2 – around 12 times the size of Manhattan Island– and located between Cairo and the Red Sea.

The new Cairo development project, developed by the Egyptian Ministry of Housing and represented by the New Urban Communities Authority in cooperation with the CSCES, shows that the entire site will eventually hold a total of 20 skyscrapers including Iconic Tower, 60 residential buildings, offering 1,840 fully finished apartments, alongside 98 villas, divided as townhouses, twin houses, and standalone units.

The $3b three-phase project aims to transform a 700-square-kilometer area of the desert into a modern hub for government buildings, foreign embassies and major companies, easing pressure on traffic-choked Cairo, which is home to 23 million people.

Dar al-Handasah Shair & Partners are also the urban planners for the administrative complex.

Several buildings were inaugurated earlier at the beginning of 2019 including the vast Middle Eastern Coptic Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ.

The new 80-story Iconic Tower stands at 385 m / 1,263 ft and is planned and inspired by the shape of a pharaonic obelisk with a glass exterior.

Although, construction of the Iconic Tower is not finished yet, 49 floors out of 80 (250 meters (820 ft) have already been built as of December 2020, already making it officially the tallest building in Egypt and Africa.

Architects: Dar al-Handasah Shair & Partners
Developers: China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC)