Emeka Nweze
From Apple headquarters to a nuclear reactor facility to resorts, and a mosque, here are the 10 most expensive buildings in the world.
1. Great Mosque of Mecca
Location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Cost: $100 billion
The Great Mosque of Mecca, also known as the Haram Mosque, is the largest mosque in the world, and most expensive building ever constructed. The Great Mosque is a mosque that surrounds the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is a site of pilgrimage for the Hajj, which every Muslim must do at least once in their lives if able. The Great Mosque includes other important significant sites, including the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills Safa and Marwa. It is open, regardless of date or time. The Great Mosque and has undergone major renovations and expansions through the years.
2. International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
Location: Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, France
Cost: $25 billion
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering mega-project, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment. It is an experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor that is being built next to the Cadarache facility (largest technological research and development center for energy in Europe) in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, in Provence, southern France. The building is set to be completed by 2025.
3. Abraj Al Bait
Location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Cost: $15 billion
The Abraj Al-Bait is a government-owned megatall complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The central hotel tower, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, A Fairmont Hotel, has the world’s largest clock face and is the third-tallest building and fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.
4. Olkiluoto 3
Location: Eurajoki, Funland
Cost: $6 billion
In February 2005, the Finnish cabinet gave its permission to Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), a Finnish nuclear power company to construct a new nuclear reactor, making Finland the first Western European country in 15 years to order one. The construction of the unit began in 2005. The start of commercial operation was planned for 2010, but has been pushed back several times. At the moment, regular production is estimated to begin in July 2020.
5. Marina Bay Sands
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Cost: $5.5 billion
Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore, owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000-square-metre The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, “celebrity chef” restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, art-science exhibits, and the world’s largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340-metre-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150 m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67 m.
6. Apple Park
Location: Cupertino, California, USA
Cost: $5 billion
Apple Park is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located at 1 Apple Park Way in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway. Its research and development facilities are occupied by more than 2,000 people. It superseded the original headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, which opened in 1993.
7. Resorts World Sentosa
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Cost: $4.9 billion
Resorts World Sentosa is an integrated resort on the island of Sentosa, Singapore. The key attractions include one of Singapore’s two casinos, a Universal Studios theme park, Adventure Cove Water Park, and S.E.A. Aquarium, which includes the world’s second largest oceanarium. The building was opened in 2010.
8. Wynn Palace
Location: Cotai, Macau
Cost: $4 billion
Wynn Palace is a luxury resort located in the Cotai Strip area, it features a 28-story hotel with 1,706 exquisitely furnished rooms, suites and villas, versatile meeting facilities, over 106,000 square feet of luxury retail, 11 casual and fine dining restaurants, Macau’s largest spa, a salon, a pool and approximately 420,000 square feet of casino space. The resort also features a variety of entertainment experiences, including the 8-acre Performance Lake with a choreographed display of water, music and light, the unique SkyCab, spectacular, large-scale floral displays by renowned designer Preston Bailey and an extensive collection of art works by some of the world’s leading artists.
9. The Cosmopolitan
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Cost: $4 billion
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a luxury resort casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort opened on December 15, 2010, and is located just south of the Bellagio on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard. It consists of two highrise towers, the Boulevard Tower and the Chelsea Tower, both of which are 603 ft tall. The project also features 3,027 rooms, a casino, retail and restaurant spaces, a spa and fitness facility, a 3,200-seat theater, and 150,000 sq ft of meeting and convention space.
10. One World Trade Center
Location: New Yory City, USA
Cost: $3.8 billion
One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Standing at 1,776 feet, WTC is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center.
