10 of the world's tallest Buildings in 2012

 

 

 

10 of the world’s tallest buildings 2012 - Architects are continually vying to design a structure that will break records as the world’s tallest building. From the United States to Asia and the Middle East, there are some impressive super-skyscrapers across the globe. Here is a run-down of the top-ten tallest towers in the world.

10. Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong

Completed in 2003, the Two International Finance Centre in Hong Kong is a stunning postmodern skyscraper with a futuristic glass façade. Standing at around 1,352 feet, it is one of only a handful of structures in the world housing double-decker elevators.

9. Willis Tower, Chicago

Previously known as The Sears Tower, The Willis Tower in Chicago is the tallest building in the United States, standing at a height of 1,353 feet. The foundation stone of this 110-storey tower was laid in August 1970 and building was completed in 1973. On the 103rd floor is a skydeck with unique protruding ledges which allow visitors to look down over the city of Chicago.

8. The Trump International Hotel, Chicago

The Trump International Hotel in Chicago is a sleek glass structure measuring an impressive 1,362 feet. Comprising 92 storeys, it became the world’s second-tallest building when it was topped out in 2009.

7. The Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China

The Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, China, replaced King Tower as the tallest structure on the Shanghai skyline upon its completion in 1999. Measuring around 1,380 feet in height, this office, hotel and leisure complex has 88 storeys served by 130 elevators.

6. Guangzhou West Tower, China

Standing at 1,444 feet tall, Guangzhou West Tower in Guangzhou, China, is a 103-storey super-skyscraper housing offices, hotels and a conference centre. Opened in 2010, the tower is to form part of the Guangzhou Twin Towers Complex when it is joined by Guangzhou East Tower, due for completion in 2016.

5. Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China

Looming large over the skyline of Nanjing, the Greenland Financial Center in Nanjing, China, is a vast 1,476-feet-tall structure with 71 floors. Construction of this glass-clad building began in 2005 and was completed in 2010, when it was opened to the public as a hotel and office complex.

4. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Measuring over 1,483 feet, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were completed in 1998 and held the record for the world’s tallest skyscraper until 2003. Connected by a skybridge weighing a massive 750 tons on the 42nd and 43rd floors, the Petronas Towers remain the world’s tallest twin towers.

3. Shanghai World Financial Center, China

At 1,614 feet, the Shanghai World Financial Center in China was envisaged to be a record breaker, surpassing the Petronas Towers to become the world’s tallest skyscraper. Construction of the building began in 1997 but was interrupted for several years due to funding problems. By the time the structure was completed, work had already begun on Taipei 101, relegating the Shanghai World Financial Center to second place in the list of the world’s tallest buildings.

2. Taipei 101, Taiwan

Located in the Hsin Yi district of Taipei in Taiwan, Taipei 101 broke the record for the world’s tallest structure in 2003 when an additional spire was fitted, completing the 1,676-foot Financial Center. With 91 floors, the building comprises offices, shops and is home to the world’s two fastest elevators.

1. Burj Khalifa, Dubai

January 2010 saw the opening of the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai. Measuring an impressive 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa currently holds the title of the worlds tallest building. The skyscraper has 160 floors and is home to luxury apartments and hotels and fine restaurants, as well as offices and corporate suites. Boasting both the tallest service elevator and the highest observation deck in the world, the Burj Khalifa is a real record breaker.

Tall Buildings of the Future

Proposals for new skyscrapers to be built in Eurasia and the Middle East may strip the Burj Khalifa of its status as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. Let’s take a look at two of the latest contenders for the world’s tallest building.
Saudi Arabia is due to top the charts for the tallest building when The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is completed. The proposed skyscraper is likely to measure around 3,280 feet in height, well over 550 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa. The Kingdom Tower is set to have an immense 275 floors and 59 elevators.
It looks as if The Kingdom Tower will not enjoy its status as the world’s tallest skyscraper for long. In January 2012, it was revealed that plans are afoot for an immense tower, measuring over 1km tall, to be constructed as part of a new development on the Khazar Islands in Azerbaijan. Due for completion in 2019, The Azerbaijan Tower will measure approximately 3,440 feet and is likely to have some 189 floors.

Towers - discussed with the Buro Happold London office

Future of tall buildings debated by Buro Happold

The future of tall buildings was discussed at a seminar held at Buro Happold’s London office, with an audience of planners, architects, developers and policy makers.
The engineering firm’s seminar looked at the commercial viability of tall buildings and the role they play in creating the sustainable cities of the future globally.

A key theme was the transition from ‘townscape’ to ‘skyscape’. Group director Wolf Mangelsdorf started the morning’s debate by focusing on how vertical communities of the future will have to reproduce the urban public space of a city square.

“We have to rethink the tall environment. Enabling usage mix, density and human interaction replicating civic life in less dense environments will be as important as the energy conscious modulation of the spaces they create,” he said.

Viewing the starting point of any tall building as being a 12-story high construction, Paul Finch, deputy chairman of the UK Design Council and chairman of Design Council Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), was concerned about the challenges to public space.

He asked: “If taller buildings are to become the rule rather than the exception, what are the implications for urbanism and public space?”

The importance of controlling the developments of future urban tall buildings that are adaptable to mixed use to maximise rents was the theme of speaker Richard Linnell, former head of investment management, London Portfolio at Land Securities Group plc.

‘‘Tall buildings will continue to play an important role in the functioning of major urban centres, providing that they can be specified and procured on an economic basis to ensure commercial viability.  Tall buildings should continue to command premium rents and will play an important role in providing variety and high quality accommodation.  The ability of tall buildings to provide residential and mixed use accommodation will improve their attractiveness to developers and investors in giving scope for risk management and diversification,” he said.

Linnell added that architects and engineers cannot afford to make the mistakes of the past covered by English philosopher Roger Scruton in his essay ‘Why Beauty Matters’.  He continued: “When the public began to react against the brutal concrete style of the 1960s, architects simply replaced it with a new kind of junk: glass walls hung on steel frames with absurd details that don’t match.”

Guest speaker Lee Mallett, co-principal of Ideas for the Built Environment, chair and co-publisher/editor of Planning in London magazine, commented: “The future of tall buildings is mixed – not because there’s any doubt we need or desire them, but because they will have to combine several uses with public spaces if they are to improve our cities.”

The seminar referred to the ‘Tall Buildings Reference Book’ co-authored by Buro Happold’s Richard Marshall, specifically the chapter on New Technology and Materials. The chapter focuses on a fundamental shift in the way in which projects are designed and the use of more sophisticated analytical and drawing methods to facilitate inclined and twisting structures. This development mirrors the changes in construction technology, in particular more complex forms that can be fabricated through the extensive use of 3D modelling and detailing software, plus automated manufacturing methods.

Mangelsdorf’s presentation focused on growing green environments in the heart of vertical space to create living, breathing communities and reclaiming commercial city work towers for living space. “We need to re-think high rise residential living to bring back live to urban city centres that are empty after working hours. We can create living sanctuaries in the sky,” he asserted.

 

FIRST TOWER PARIS

First Tower, Paris Arch. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (USA) Emerging from the La Défense urban landscape, the former AXA Tower has been completely renovated and renamed “First” becoming with its 231 m the number 1 skyscraper in France. It is the first one indeed to receive the Environmental High Quality certification. Four years work and € 300 millions were needed to modernize the 155 m high tower erected in 1974. The objectives of the American KPF practice in charge of its important renovation were to significantly improve the quality of the spaces, to ennoble the building’s entrance and to create a new, strong architectural image on the Paris skyline. The design also focuses on integrating the building in the dense urban context surrounding it, improving the quality and accessibility of public areas and strengthening the connection between the building and the Grande Esplanade located at the heart of La Défense. Initially composed of three wings, the height of the original building has been raised and the top of one of the wings has been trimmed to create ten levels. The buildings enlargement on all its facades facilitated passages between the three wings which were before separated. KPF is quite used to very high towers, for instance, the Shanghai World Financial Centre or the Hong Kong International Commerce Centre both close to 500 m high. The First Tower with its 52 floors and its extended area of 87 000 square metres, doesn’t want to compete with its Asiatic cousins. If the architects have preserved 80% of the old concrete structure, the whole building was reinforced. The design also increases the indoor environmental quality by replacing opaque gable walls by 40 000 square metres of glazed façade to bring natural daylight into office spaces and to open views out to the city. A naturally ventilated double skin wraps half of the building. “Its application is a balance between engineering constraints and the aesthetic goals of a dynamic form” added the designers. This insulation, the low emissivity glazing and all the automatically regulated equipments helped to reduce the heating needs by 80%, the air-conditioning costs by 50% and the general energy consumption fivefold. Beyond its architectural qualities, the First Tower shows exceptional ecological performances which will be a striking event in the La Défense history. First is to-day a renewal symbol and the flagship of this business area. Until the new Phare Tower (architects Thom Mayne/ Morphosis) arrives in 2016 to take the lead. www.kpf.com

Haikou Tower - China - German Architect

Hann architekten -  HAIKOU  TOWER

German practice henn architekten has been awarded first prize for the 'haikou tower' proposal for haikou, the business district within the capital city of hainan, china. Ten towers ranging in height from 150 to 450 meters will be divided by a linear axis,
arranged to face each other in two parallel rows. The program will provide 1.5 million square meters distributed between low rise towers and increase in size culminating with two focal towers which frame a central plaza. Office towers are interconnected  with undulating podiums to incorporate commercial spaces and public courtyards with lush green areas and water features.

The large tower contains the office and hotel program which dictates a different structural system within the form to accommodate the shifting use of interior space. The need for column free areas within the office levels require a series of eight mega-columns
and substantial core to direct vertical loads to foundations and to allow long span floor plates. Large braces distribute the lateral loads from wind and earthquakes. The hotel portion located at the upper thirty levels is supported with a exposed outrigger truss
which becomes incorporated into the lobby experience. The dominant element marks the building's change in function for visitors.  Unobstructed views are maintained with minimal bracing at the perimeter glass while a sky lobby and observation deck are placed
at the pinnacle of the skyscraper. A panel unit curtain wall contains a 'folded' module that blocks direct sunlight and solar gain. This outer skin's creases augment in acuteness at higher points on the facade, finishing at an angle measurement of 30 degrees. The top half is comprised of opaque spandrel glass with integrated photovoltaic cells to produce energy while light is introduced through the bottom portion of  transparent glass.






















elevation













project info:


client: Hainan airline group
location: Haikou, China
program: office, hotel, conference, commercial
area: 320,000 sqm
status: competition 1st prize
design team: Henn studioB
Leander Adrian, Daniel da Rocha, Martin Henn, Kaowen Ho, Markus Jacobi,
Aata Kycia, Paul Langley, Klaus Ransmayr, Max Schwitalla, Wei Sun, Xin Wang, Mu Xingyu
local partner: IPPR international engineering corporation, Beijing, Haikou

consultants: Arup, London, Shanghai

Al Hamra Tower

Architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Location Kuwait City, Kuwait

Al Hamra Tower is an 80-story, 413-meter skyscraper that will be the tallest building in Kuwait upon completion.

In addition to the 190,000 square meter tower, the project includes a six-story reinforced concrete shopping mall (40,000 square meter) and an 11-story reinforced/pre-cast concrete parking structure (60,000 square meter), all of which are connected by pedestrian bridges at various levels.

Al Hamra Tower is being built on a 22,000 square meter construction site in the East Maqwa district of Kuwait, and is already a prominent landmark in the capital city.