Mecca Clock Tower – Mecca
The Mecca Clock Tower is the tallest of the five high-rise towers in the Abraj al-Bait complex in Mecca, and at approximately 600 meters above ground, the second tallest building in the world. This clock tower has four faces – two that are square, and two that are rectangular – with a height of 43 meters. Jay Bonner was contracted to design the ornament for the clock faces, and work closely with the design and engineering team responsible for this ambitious tower project. The ornamental design included floral designs in the corners of the square and rectangular faces, the dial, the floral designs on the hands, and the exterior ornament for the domical observatory that sits above one of the clock faces. The ornament throughout each face is glass mosaic tesserae with inset LED light fixtures for nocturnal illumination. The glass mosaics are set onto rigid carbon-fiber composite, and the floral design in each corner of the face is in high relief. The style of the floral ornament is in the pan-Islamic style first developed by Jay Bonner for the Sliding Domes at the Prophet’s Mosque in Median.
Contracted in 2007: scheduled for completion in 2011.