Archinect - News

Thailand is in talks to build the world's tallest tower

2024-04-30T11:42:00-04:00

A group of investors led by a Dubai-based real estate developer is in talks to build a mixed-use tower in Thailand that may vie for the title of the world’s tallest building, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

Thailand's prime minister met with a group of Middle Eastern and Chinese companies to discuss the plan. Among the groups consulted was Emaar, developers of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest tower.

Screenshot of the X/Tweet by PR Thai Government @prdthailand announcing the plan

As of 2024, the tallest building in Thailand is the Magnolias Waterfront Residences Iconsiam in Bangkok, measuring 70 stories and 1,043 feet tall. Meanwhile, it was reported last month by the UK's Architect's Journal that Foster + Partners was designing another scheme which would become the world's tallest building: a 1.2-mile-high skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

2024-04-27T08:00:00-04:00

Hospitality brand Six Senses has unveiled plans for a new residential tower in Dubai Marina, set to be the world’s tallest. Sprouting up in Dubai Marina, the Six Senses Residences will be the second Dubai location to come from Six Senses, joining the nearly-opened Six Senses The Palm Jumeirah hotel. The tower is said to boast an impressive 122 floors, when it is eventually completed in 2028.

The height of the new Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is equal to the under-construction Burj Azizi tower nearby, a $1.5 billion commercial project that was announced to have broken ground in January and will be completed the same year.

Image credit: Select Group

They will become two of the world’s six 120+ story structures. Reported amenities include a 109th-floor lap pool and cryotherapy chambers, crystal sound healing room, movie theater, and spa.

Image credit: Select Group

Despite the size, only 251 high-end residences are included. The current record-holder for tallest residential building, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Central Park Tower in New York City, has 179 units over 131 floors.

Image credit: Select Group

WSP Middle East and Woods Bagot are reportedly in charge of the architectural design.

Foster + Partners updates design for 350 Park Avenue supertall in Manhattan

2024-04-22T17:23:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has updated its plans for the new 62-story supertall at 350 Park Avenue after receiving approvals from planning officials to deliver what will be their fifth recent high-rise design in Midtown Manhattan after 425 Park Avenue, 50 Hudson Yards, the forthcoming PENN 15 tower, and the recently topped out JPMorgan Chase headquarters at 270 Park Avenue.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

The renderings unveiled via a press release from New York Mayor Eric Adams's media team last week appear to show significant changes to the architectural design, which now features a more imposing series of stepped volumes minus much of the biophilic program of outdoor terraces and voided crown that were included in its original announcement over a year ago.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

The firm is working for client Citadel. A 12,500-square-foot public concourse is included, along with 1.8 million square feet of office space. The press release states that the completion date for this p...

Foster + Partners tops out Shenzhen skyscraper inspired by rock formations and paper folding

2024-04-15T13:50:00-04:00

The Foster + Partners-designed China Merchants Bank Headquarters in Shenzhen has topped out. The office tower forms part of a wider mixed-use development, which, when completed, will form a “new city quarter” in Shenzhen.

Image credit: zhangchao via Foster + Partners

Externally, the tower is clad in glass and stainless steel, the result of an “iterative modeling process to minimize the energy consumption of active systems by carefully balancing solar shading, daylight and thermal loads,” according to the team. The tower’s north facade is inspired by rock formations in China with stacked bays varying in height, while the south-facing facade is inspired by the geometries of traditional paper folding.

Image credit: zhangchao via Foster + Partners

“The new tower is a unique addition to Shenzhen’s urban fabric and will be an enduring symbol of China Merchants Bank,” Foster + Partners Head of Studio Grant Brooker said about the scheme. “The building’s wide curved windows offer spectacular v...

In Oklahoma City, plans for North America’s new tallest building move toward approval

2024-04-13T10:00:00-04:00

The Oklahoma City Planning Commission voted yesterday, April 12th, to recommend its city council's approval of the proposed 1,907-foot-high tower design from AO (fmr. Architects Orange) that would become North America's tallest building when realized.

Plans are still contingent on the success of the proposed first two towers' leasing agreements, as we reported in January. AO, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, is working for a local Orange County-based developer named Scot Matteson to realize the design after increasing its initial proposal for a 1,750-foot design that would have been America’s second-tallest building. The so-called Legends Tower would be built at a total of 126 stories and include 944 luxury residences plus another 99 condominiums and 352 rooms reserved for the Hyatt Hotel chain.

Just 48 of the tower's apartments will be considered affordable (all of which are to be located in the podium). The proposed LED signage is the only part of the proposal that was...

Tribune Tower voted Chicago’s best building in 2024

2024-04-11T12:53:00-04:00

Chicago’s Tribune Tower has been voted the best building in the city by readers of Urbanize Chicago. Thousands of votes were cast in the Urbanize Chicago People’s Choice Best Building 2024, with the Tribune Tower seeing off competition from the second-place Wrigley Building.

Designed by Howells and Hood and completed in 1925, the iconic Gothic Revival building was the result of an international design competition held by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The winning design drew inspiration from the medieval Gothic cathedrals of Europe, reinterpreting their features for a modern skyscraper.

The tower rises to a height of 462 feet, culminating in a series of flying buttresses that crown its top. The building's façade is adorned with sculptural details and stone carvings that evoke the craftsmanship of Gothic architecture.

Related on Archinect: 16 designers to display new "Tribune Tower" models at the 2nd Chicago Architecture Biennial. Image: Wikipedia

A notable feature of the tower is it...

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

2024-04-08T13:02:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has announced plans for a programmatic expansion of their previous Marina Bay Sands design in Singapore.

The scheme calls for the addition of a new luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, and further spaces reserved for work, retail, and dining.

The project is being undertaken to provide a boost to Singapore’s tourism sector, which is considered lagging behind other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in spite of strong post-pandemic numbers. (The resort has drawn more than 470 million visitors since its opening, according to a press release from its Las Vegas-based management group.)

Rendering of the new entertainment arena. Image courtesy Marina Bay Sands

"The all-suite hotel tower will set new standards of hospitality, the state-of-the-art arena will help attract the highest-caliber global entertainment events and artists, and the additional convention and exhibition space will extend the success of Singapore as a leading MICE d...

Büro Ole Scheeren realizes The Axiom high-rise design in Shanghai

2024-04-02T15:37:00-04:00

Büro Ole Scheeren has announced the completion of their latest high-rise design in Shanghai, called The Axiom. The 918-foot, 49-story tower is the first of two that will eventually form the heart of a mixed-use corporate campus known as The Springs on a central site in the Yangpu district for developer Tishman Speyer.

The design is punctuated midway by a striking offset structural core, which, according to the firm, is unique to just 3% of the 500 tallest buildings in the world.

Image: © Büro Ole Scheeren

Founder Ole Scheeren describes: “The Axiom is an emblem of the innovation that is now synonymous with Shanghai and forms an elegant urban landmark as the gateway to Yangpu District. Designed as a strategic hybrid of functionalism and iconicity, the twin towers represent the fluidity and dynamism of the future-oriented businesses they will accommodate.”

Image: © Büro Ole Scheeren

Rising from a shared podium base called the Culture Gate that connects to the surrounding development’s ...

Foster + Partners unveils design for Dubai luxury residential towers

2024-03-26T11:45:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has unveiled plans for two luxury residential towers in Dubai. Named VELA and VELA VIENTO, derived from the Latin words for ‘sails’ and ‘wind’ respectively, the design of the towers echoes the architectural language of the firm’s previous waterfront tower The Lana, which sits nearby.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

“VELA, VELA VIENTO, and The Lana share a horizontal rhythm, an expressed structure, and voids in the massing, which makes them instantly recognizable,” Foster + Partners Head of Studio Gerard Evenden explains. “Together, they provide a range of generous outdoor spaces and play an integral role in the transformation of Dubai’s Marasi Bay.”

Image credit: Binyan Studios

VELA rises 492 feet in height encompassing over 30 floors. Inside, 38 residential typologies range from 4,253 square feet to 11,727 square feet. The units encompass penthouses and three-and-four-bedroom plans, with double-height living spaces, private terraces, and L-shaped corner pools. The towe...

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

2024-03-20T18:59:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has been revealed as the architects of a replacement design that will take the place of the previous MAD Architects-produced The Star scheme at 6061 W Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

The newly proposed $1 billion "vertical creative office" is meant as an office for tenants in Hollywood's creative content industries.

Renderings for the replacement design showcase a high-rise structure with 360-degree views provided by its cylindrical form and punctured by a diagonal schism that contains biophilic elements and gathering spaces ribboning around the building's volume in three bands. A rooftop restaurant culminates the design at its uppermost floor.

Rendering courtesy Foster + Partners

The new proposal demarcates considerably from the original $500 million MAD design, which called for 22 stories of vertical gardens to be contained by a glass canopy. The rest of the program includes a ground-level LED video screen, an "arched paseo of restaurants," community gathering sp...

SOM's tapering Star River Headquarters project completes in Guangzhou

2024-03-20T17:49:00-04:00

SOM has unveiled the newly completed Star River Headquarters project in Guangzhou, China, which it says is emblematic of the city’s late transformation into a national destination for trade and cultural tourism.

The 918-foot-tall office tower was realized at Pazhou Island and anchors a new block-size development that is helping to revitalize the city’s traditional hub for commerce and financial services.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

SOM says its design "represents a new class of office buildings" that are currently reshaping Guangzhou, joining the new Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and Sany IROOTECH Headquarters from 2020 and 2025, respectively.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

From a distance, the tower's tapered parabolic silhouette stands prominently above a landscaped public plaza area and retail establishments below, utilizing a pleated effect that enables unique possibilities for the interplay of light and shadow on its facade.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

Vertical mullions running the length...

Pelli Clarke & Partners opens Mori JP Tower, Japan's new tallest building

2024-03-18T13:56:00-04:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners has shared news of their completed work on the Mori JP Tower project inside the Azabudai Hills District in Tokyo. The new tallest building in Japan is a 64-story mixed-used design complementing the two other high-rise structures included in the redevelopment district and was completed last fall at a total height of 330 meters (1,082 feet).

“Mori JP Tower, and with it Azabudai Hills, is among the first buildings visitors see upon arrival to Tokyo, creating a new center and landmark for the city,” Mitch Hirsch, Partner at Pelli Clarke & Partners, said in a project announcement of the scheme. “To design a tower of this significance in a city renowned for its unique skyline is a privilege.”

Photo by Jason O'Rear

The building is designed to evoke the symmetry of a lotus flower form, clad in a distinctive pearl-grey glass curtain facade and topped by a crown made from four separate curved glass pedals.

Photo by Jason O'Rear

Photo by Jason O'Rear...

This is what Hudson Yards West will look like, according to developers

2024-03-15T13:25:00-04:00

Details of the planned Wynn New York City resort scheme from Related Companies and the Oxford Properties Group have been released, along with new renderings and further details about the final Phase 2 building segment at Hudson Yards.

The three-tower scheme chosen from the set of alternative proposals that was released in February calls for a 1,189-foot hotel with 1,750 rooms to be placed at the northernmost edge of the site opposite a 1,366-foot office building and across a plaza area from the x-shape third residential tower, which stands at 1,172-feet will include 1,507 units. A 5.6-acre park will complete the master plan, along with a 750-seat public school and 12,250 square feet of ground-level retail.

Rendering courtesy of Related Companies and Wynn Resorts

Included in this proposal are plans for a gaming component that could potentially earn one of three coveted casino licenses up-for-grabs in the Downstate region (which includes New York City) for $500 million apiece in 2025...

Oklahoma City proposal for the U.S.'s new tallest building is fully funded, developers say

2024-03-15T12:11:00-04:00

While many have wondered if the project is financially feasible in Oklahoma City, Matteson told The Oklahoman the entire $1.5 billion development is fully funded. But, Matteson admitted there are some outstanding questions about whether the tower can be built. The outcome lies in whether he can receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, zoning approval from the city and whether the phase one apartment towers are sufficiently leased.

By extending the spire of the 1,907-foot Legends Tower, the Architects Orange (AO) plan would become, as we previously reported, the tallest building in North America. The developers of the 5-million-square-foot proposal have stated at least 50% of units in the first two smaller towers will have to be leased first before they build at that height.

Speaking to reporters about the prospect of realizing America's tallest building in a small city like OKC, developer Scot Matteson said: "I’m used to this skepticism by the public and other people, but we have goals, and we seem to meet them all the time."

Matteson Capital also said they won’t be able to obtain a building permit until at least September.

Zaha Hadid Architects will refurbish Le Schuylkill Tower in Monaco

2024-03-12T12:15:00-04:00

The next new project from Zaha Hadid Architects will renovate major elements of the historic Le Schuylkill Tower in Monaco.

Built as the principality’s first high-rise in 1963, the aging 25-story residential tower overlooks the Mediterranean and Monte Carlo’s Port Hercule and boasts 188 apartment units in its present layout.

Image courtesy MIR

Joined by Square Architecte, ZHA will embark on a renovation that will result in a brand new 441,320-square-foot space in May of 2027. The operation will add six total penthouses made from low-carbon (XCarb) steel to the three uppermost floors while reconfiguring the interior and balconies without any alteration to the building footprint, as well as reducing whole-life carbon emissions through a BD2M accreditated design.

Image render courtesy Talcik Demovicova

Other environmental considerations include grey and rainwater recycling, improving the building’s envelope performance, and an on-site waste management system.

The new building will also...

New Yorkers are still pissed about disrupted view sheds and 262 Fifth Avenue

2024-03-10T08:00:00-04:00

“It really pisses me off,” Clark said while standing in the plaza in front of the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue, a few blocks south of the dueling skyscrapers. “The whole New York skyline has been destroyed. When I moved here I was thrilled with it, and now it’s just getting disgusting. These new buildings have no identity, no design to them. We’ve lost the character of New York, and it breaks my heart.”

The Guardian goes inside some locals' struggle against the new 262 Fifth Avenue condo tower by Meganom and SLCE Architects. The East Siders protesting their obstructed view sheds are also not in favor of its appearance or the design for 432 Park Avenue, including several inspired teen critics on TikTok.

NYT critic Michael Kimmelman also wrote of their plight last year, declaring theirs and other opposition attempts a noble attempt at restoring the city’s history in an era defined by zoning manipulation and visible inequality.

A preservationist named Jorge Otero-Pailos told Kimmelman last October that new regulations are needed to “guarantee a collective experience, a sense of shared identity and civic meaning, which can bind New Yorkers across generations and centuries.”

Oceanwide Plaza: Graffiti 'vandalism' or the greatest tag 'takeover' of all time?

2024-03-09T08:00:00-05:00

The New York Times has entered the debate surrounding LA's troubled Oceanwide Plaza development this week after social media and the outside press tied its celebrity status to the neglect of downtowns, housing rights issues, and their relationship to developer capitalism.

The Times piece follows news of the city’s recent order on Oceanwide to install a security fence to prevent against interlopers' vandalism and the 'public nuisance' the highly publicized graffiti artwork has turned the unfinished project into.

'Vandalism' is a charged term to apply in this case, but it has affected other sites near Downtown Los Angeles, like the copper wire-stripped Sixth Street Viaduct, in the midst of its delayed economic rebound. The street art community is here portrayed alongside BASE jumpers as a lawless quandary that considers their “takeover” a bar-raising move geared mainly at promotion and exposure. A smarter take is that taggers have the broader consensus of society so well-figured tha...

Foster + Partners reportedly designing world’s tallest building: a 1.2-mile-high Riyadh skyscraper

2024-03-04T11:46:00-05:00

The UK’s Architect's Journal has reported that Foster + Partners is working on the design of a 2-kilometer-high (1.2-mile-high) skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If delivered, the scheme would be the tallest building in the world, double the height of the Burj Khalifa, which currently holds the title.

According to AJ’s reporting, the development is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, with “international design names” such as SOM also previously linked to the project. The scheme is reported to be sited close to the King Khalid International Airport, whose design is being overseen by Foster + Partners. When completed, the 14,000-acre complex is expected to be one of the world’s largest airports.

Related on Archinect: Foster + Partners to design 'one of the world's largest airports' in Riyadh. Image credit: Foster + Partners

Archinect has reached out to Foster + Partners for comment about the alleged skyscraper.

The news comes one week after we reported on updates from Sa...

Gensler will overhaul JPMorgan Chase's aging Chicago headquarters in the South Loop

2024-02-27T18:36:00-05:00

Gensler has unveiled plans for a major renovation of JPMorgan Chase’s 55-year-old Chicago headquarters in the South Loop that will transform the building into a new state-of-the-art workplace aimed at fostering collaboration and ushering the bank’s over 14,500 local employees into what the company calls the “future of work.”

The 60-story tower was originally designed by C.F. Murphy Associates and Perkins&Will and currently is home to 7,200 workers.

Image: © Gensler/courtesy of JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase says they want an environment for the bank's employees that is centered around health and wellness considerations. According to their press announcement, the project's scope includes:

Refreshed and interconnected, plaza, lobby and mezzanine with updated food hall, enhanced dining seating and collaboration spaces, modernized lobby entry experience, and mezzanine level common space with robust café experience.
Refurbished work floors with state-of-the-art technology and furniture, up...

Snøhetta tops out Manhattan residential tower with ‘striking geometry’

2024-02-23T12:03:00-05:00

A Snøhetta-designed residential tower in Manhattan’s Upper West Side has topped out. Named 50 West 66th Street, the scheme is described by Snøhetta as having a “striking geometry” with a “natural palette of refined materials.”

Archinect first reported on the development in 2017 upon the release of the design proposal, detailing the tower’s palette of textured limestone, glass storefronts, and bronze details. Externally, the facade is defined by what the designers call a “series of sculptural excavations, evocative of the chiseled stone of Manhattan’s geologic legacy.”

Image credit: Extell

As the tower rises, its profile gradually narrows, including a distinctive splitting of the volume at the 16th level, creating a shared amenity terrace. Above the terrace, the opposing corners of the tower are sliced away to create residential balconies. “Angled facets evoke this chiseled vocabulary, revealing the same gleaming bronze found at the building’s base,” the designers add.

Image credit: L...

San Francisco's Millennium Tower is sinking again despite foundational corrections

2024-02-22T17:52:00-05:00

San Francisco’s ill-fated Millennium Tower is making headlines once again for problems taking place beneath its turbulent foundation.

This time, the 58-story skyscraper is sinking even further on its vertical axis as it settles to the north and west, alarming some building scientists who feel the movement could result in significant corrosive damage despite some recent positive corrections.

Engineers say a fix that has been previously made to anchor its foundation into bedrock on the north and west sides has mostly failed to produce the 4-inch reversal their advanced data models had predicted, instead posting a correction of just a quarter-inch a year and, as outside experts surmised, causing the new directional shift that's happening in an unexpected area.

Now, the building is sinking from underneath the center of its foundation mat at a rate of one-tenth of an inch per year. The phenomenon is known as "dishing." A local geothermal engineer who is monitoring the issue told NBC Bay...

London’s BT Tower to be converted into a hotel by Heatherwick following MCR purchase

2024-02-22T11:39:00-05:00

London’s iconic BT Tower is to be purchased by U.S. hotel owner-operator MCR. Partnering with Heatherwick Studio, the company is to explore the tower’s adaptive reuse as a hotel.

Standing at 620 feet in height, the BT Tower is one of London’s tallest buildings. Opened in 1965, the tower is covered by a Grade II historical importance listing, though such a listing does not prohibit a change of use within the building.

MCR has noted that the tower will not undergo any immediate changes, with current owners BT Group expected to take several years to vacate the premises due to the complexity involved in moving technical equipment. The design process is also expected to include time for community engagement in advance of the proposal’s reveal.

Related on Archinect:The TWA Hotel at JFK is officially open. Photo courtesy of TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

MCR was previously known for its overhaul of the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport which has since become the TWA Hotel. T...

Skanska and BIG complete curving terracotta-colored tower in Houston

2024-02-21T11:43:00-05:00

A team led by Skanska and Bjarke Ingels Group has completed a major new office tower in Houston, Texas. Named 1550 on the Green, the 28-story tower is part of a three-block master plan by Skanska, designed by BIG, with interiors by Michael Hsu.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

The 375,000-square-foot tower is primarily devoted to office accommodation, with ground floor space dedicated to hospitality. Other amenities in the scheme, per the project’s official website, include a 7,000-square-foot fitness center and a 9,400-square-foot tenant-exclusive rooftop event space.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

Externally, the tower adopts a multi-tiered, curved structure overlooking Discovery Green park. “Vines that will eventually creep along the terracotta-colored tower are meant to help the building blend into the surrounding park,” the Houston Chronicle writes about the tower. “The building's curve allows even tenants on lower levels to view Disc...

Production begins on the world’s tallest 3D printed structure

2024-02-16T11:40:00-05:00

Production has begun on a 3D printed tower in Switzerland, which is expected to be the tallest structure of its kind in the world. Named the ‘Tor Alva’ or ‘White Tower,’ the project is currently being fabricated at ETH Zurich, where the first eight columns of the tower’s lower floor commenced 3D printing in February.

Image credit: Hansmeyer/Dillenburger

The columns’ fabrication sees a robot extrude the concrete in 8mm-high layered print paths. In a departure from traditional concrete construction, the 3D printing process means formwork is no longer required, freeing new avenues for the team to experiment with shapes, surface details, and cavities. The tower will also be the first instance of printed concrete being used in a fully structural manner, with steel reinforcement inserted during the robotic production process.

Image credit: R. Masallam

The tower will be constructed in the remote Swiss Alps village of Mulegns, where it will host music and theater performances. At 98 feet (nea...

KPF reveals supertall Midtown Manhattan tower behind arched windows

2024-02-05T11:22:00-05:00

KPF has released new images of a supertall tower currently under construction in Midtown Manhattan. Named 520 Fifth Avenue, the tower rises 1,000 feet to “strike a distinctive presence on the most famous skyline in the world and rub shoulders with distinguished architectural icons,” according to the design team.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

When completed in 2025, the 450,000-square-foot tower will contain residential and office functions alongside ground-floor retail. The interiors have been designed to provide “venues of quiet retreat and spirited engagement,” while also targeting LEED, WELL, and WIREDSCORE certifications.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

The scheme’s exterior is defined by a motif of arched windows with design details inspired by the tower’s prominent neighbors including The Century Association, the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, and the Chrysler Building. The tower is also expected to the the second tallest on Fifth Avenue after th...

SOM completes Two Manhattan West, marking a major milestone for corporate office design in NYC

2024-01-31T15:18:00-05:00

SOM has completed work on their Two Manhattan West tower project to culminate the shorter second half of its $4.5 billion mixed-use Manhattan West development in New York City.

The four-year construction effort yielded a total two million square feet of new office space that was built above active railroad tracks in what the firm describes as an "extraordinary" advancement of the methods used in urban design, structural engineering, and architecture.

It joins SOM's already-completed One Manhattan West office tower and five other buildings at the eight-acre mixed-use site, which is being developed to over seven million square feet by Brookfield Properties. Design Principal Kim Van Holsbeke says it offers a "thriving new urban destination."

By extending the urban fabric of the development west to its new boundary at Ninth Avenue and 31st Street, Two Manhattan West creates a new gateway to the neighborhood backed by the four smaller buildin...

Major cantilevering hotel tower for Midtown Manhattan revealed by Marin Architects

2024-01-29T11:28:00-05:00

New York City-based Marin Architects has revealed its design for a 42-story tower near Bryant Park in Manhattan. Named the Xadia Hotel, and located at 57 West 39th Street, the scheme seeks to “make a tasteful impression on the city skyline through a unique, cantilever façade and eye-catching interior lighting design,” according to the design team.

Image credit: Marin Architects

From the outside, the scheme is defined by an illuminated crown sitting atop the tower. In placing the crown above the tower’s otherwise minimalist facade treatment, the team sought to represent “a departure from excessive ornamentation, focusing instead on the power of understatement.”

Image credit: Marin Architects

The exterior also sees a significant 25-foot cantilever over an adjacent property, which the team estimates has allowed for the inclusion of an additional 68 units in the scheme. Inside, meanwhile, the tower will contain 173 guest rooms, a rooftop bar and restaurant, a plaza, and an arcade.

Image c...

Design proposal for Miami's new tallest tower by BMA Architects submitted

2024-01-26T16:58:00-05:00

Plans for what would be the tallest tower in Miami have been put forth by a local developer seeking permission for a new high-rise building in the Brickell commercial district designed by BMA Architects.

Their proposal for a tower at 190 Southwest Street is advancing under the tentative name Calle 8. At 870 feet above sea level, it would surpass the Panorama Tower (also in Brickell) and the Aston Martin Residences Downtown for the record-setting tallest structure in Miami and the state of Florida.

Image courtesy BMA Architects

The mixed-use design is for 65 total stories. Developers are aiming for 464 residential units and considering several options, including a concert hall, for the ground-level space that’s sheathed in a perforated metal screen according to renderings that appeared in Florida YIMBY along with news of the height variance increase update to its permitting application.

Image courtesy BMA Architects

A cantilevered void with outdoor pool deck feature at the tower's mi...

Burj Azizi, Dubai's future second-tallest tower, begins construction in the UAE

2024-01-22T15:27:00-05:00

The imminent start of construction of the Burj Azizi, a $1.5 billion new commercial high-rise in Dubai that’s billed to become the city’s second-tallest construction upon completion, has been announced in the United Arab Emirates by a prominent local developer named Azizi Developments.

The tower, which has yet to name an architect or specify its final height at topping out, will reportedly host a vertical mall, luxury residences, and an observation deck. Planned for 122 stories, it will rival the Lotte World Tower and China 117 Tower as one of just five structures in the world to be completed at over 120 stories in height. Its construction will take place not far from the record-holding Burj Khalifa on Sheikh Zayed Road, culminating in a new icon backers say is a gift to the city that has nurtured their business success over many years.

“This tower will be our legacy,” said the Chairman of the Azizi company, Mr. Mirwais Azizi. “With Dubai having given my family and I so much — safe...

35-story Raffles Boston becomes Hancock Tower's newest neighbor

2024-01-10T13:32:00-05:00

The Architectural Team (TAT) has completed a mixed-use tower in Boston featuring the city’s first sky lobby. The Raffles Boston Hotel & Residences features a 400-foot curved glass form and is described by the team as a “sophisticated new skyline statement within a challenging and historic context.”

Image credit: Ed Wonsek

The 35-story high-rise comprises 146 homes, 147 hotel guestrooms, and 16 amenity spaces. To compensate for the site’s narrow plot, the tower’s design sees a cantilever at the fourth-floor extent over the adjacent historic University Club to support the upper 29 stories, with a further cantilever occurring at the 17th floor.

Image credit: Ed Wonsek

In addition to increasing the internal area of the tower, the cantilevering approach forms a distinctive design element of the scheme’s exterior, “granting the tower a contextually scaled street presence while also allowing the building to express itself as a sculptural form on the upper levels,” according to the team. To d...

Archinect - News

Thailand is in talks to build the world's tallest tower

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

Foster + Partners updates design for 350 Park Avenue supertall in Manhattan

Foster + Partners tops out Shenzhen skyscraper inspired by rock formations and paper folding

In Oklahoma City, plans for North America’s new tallest building move toward approval

Tribune Tower voted Chicago’s best building in 2024

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

Büro Ole Scheeren realizes The Axiom high-rise design in Shanghai

Foster + Partners unveils design for Dubai luxury residential towers

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

SOM's tapering Star River Headquarters project completes in Guangzhou

Pelli Clarke & Partners​ opens Mori JP Tower, Japan's new tallest building

This is what Hudson Yards West will look like, according to developers

Oklahoma City proposal for the U.S.'s new tallest building is fully funded, developers say

Zaha Hadid Architects will refurbish Le Schuylkill Tower in Monaco

New Yorkers are still pissed about disrupted view sheds and 262 Fifth Avenue

Oceanwide Plaza: Graffiti 'vandalism' or the greatest tag 'takeover' of all time?

Foster + Partners reportedly designing world’s tallest building: a 1.2-mile-high Riyadh skyscraper

Gensler will overhaul JPMorgan Chase's aging Chicago headquarters in the South Loop

Snøhetta tops out Manhattan residential tower with ‘striking geometry’

San Francisco's Millennium Tower is sinking again despite foundational corrections

London’s BT Tower to be converted into a hotel by Heatherwick following MCR purchase

Skanska and BIG complete curving terracotta-colored tower in Houston

Production begins on the world’s tallest 3D printed structure

KPF reveals supertall Midtown Manhattan tower behind arched windows

SOM completes Two Manhattan West, marking a major milestone for corporate office design in NYC

Major cantilevering hotel tower for Midtown Manhattan revealed by Marin Architects

Design proposal for Miami's new tallest tower by BMA Architects submitted

Burj Azizi, Dubai's future second-tallest tower, begins construction in the UAE

35-story Raffles Boston becomes Hancock Tower's newest neighbor

Pelli Clarke & Partners opens Mori JP Tower, Japan's new tallest building