There are buildings, and then there are declarations. The Mohammed VI Tower, inaugurated on April 23, 2026, in Salé, Morocco, belongs strongly in the second classification. Rising 250 metres throughout 55 floorings on the east bank of the Bouregreg River, it is now the tallest building in Morocco and the third tallest on the African continent. It did not get here quietly. Visible from 50 kilometres in every direction, the tower has currently redrawn the horizon that was when specified by centuries-old turrets.
The story behind it is as cinematic as the structure itself. Othman Benjelloun, the 93-year-old billionaire and chief executive of the Bank of Africa, developed the idea years ago after checking out a NASA facility ahead of the Apollo 12 mission. Standing before the Saturn V rocket, he saw not just a machine however a metaphor. That image, a rocket braced on its launchpad and all set to ascend, became the architectural soul of the tower. Spanish designer Rafael de la Hoz and Moroccan architect Hakim Benjelloun translated that vision into steel, glass, and concrete, producing a shape that checks out like liftoff frozen in time.
Designer: Rafael de la Hoz and Hakim Benjelloun
< img src= "// www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201280%20960%22%3E%3C/svg%3E"data-src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/04/mohammed-vi-tower/morocco_tower_yanko_design_02.jpg"alt= ""width="1280"height="960"/ > The tower is even more than its form. Across its 102,800 square metres of flooring area, it houses a Waldorf Astoria hotel, premium workplaces, high-end residential homes, retail spaces, and a panoramic observation deck at its crown. Interior design was handled by Pierre Yves Rochon, with furnishings and fittings curated by FLAMANT. The facade spans 70,000 square metres and integrates photovoltaic panels, while a tuned mass damper ensures stability at height. The building holds both LEED Gold and HQE sustainability accreditations, setting a criteria for green building throughout the continent.
Building began in July 2017 and was delivered by BESIX in a joint endeavor with TGCC, Six Construct, and the China Railway Building Corporation, with an overall expense of 3.5 billion Moroccan dirhams, approximately $700 million. The job forms the centrepiece of the Bouregreg Valley Advancement, a wider effort to transform Rabat into a city of worldwide standing ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host.
Not everybody is commemorating at the same elevation. Critics explain that significant financial investment continues to focus along Morocco’s Atlantic passage, while inland regions compete with high joblessness and irregular public services. The tower, they argue, is a monolith to aspiration that has yet to equate into equity.
Still, as an act of architecture, the Mohammed VI Tower is difficult to argue with. Rafael de la Hoz and Hakim Benjelloun have provided Morocco something rare: a building with a founding myth, a strong type, and the scale to match both.
< img src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/04/mohammed-vi-tower/morocco_tower_yanko_design-05.jpg" alt ="" width="1280" height="960"/ > < img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201280%20960%22%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/04/mohammed-vi-tower/morocco_tower_yanko_design-05.jpg" alt ="" width="1280" height="960"/ >