Archinect - News

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...

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 ...

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.

The tallest building in the U.S. may be built in Oklahoma City following design revision

2024-01-23T11:22:00-05:00

The team behind the Boardwalk at Bricktown development in Oklahoma City is to request a design variance from city officials which, if granted, would see the project become the tallest building in the United States. Designed by California-based Architects Orange for Matteson Capital, the project contains four towers and spans 5 million square feet, hosting hotels, residential units, and commercial and hospitality functions.

Image render courtesy AO

As we reported earlier this month, the project sees three towers rising 345 feet, with a fourth taller ‘Legends Tower’ originally measuring 1750 feet in height. With the scheme already approved by city officials, the team has sought the approval of a variance that will increase the height of the Legends Tower to 1,907 feet, making it the tallest building in the United States. The record is currently held by One World Trade Center, which measures 1,776 feet tall.

Image render courtesy AO

Described as a “mixed-use marvel” by the design team, t...

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...

A proposal for the second-tallest building in North America sneaks forward in Oklahoma City

2024-01-02T19:13:00-05:00

Oklahoma City could soon be home to the country’s second-tallest structure if plans for a new 1,750-foot skyscraper designed by the California practice Architects Orange (AO) are approved along with a larger $1 billion entertainment district proposal from developer Scot Matteson.

The tower is included as part of the mixed-use Boardwalk at Bricktown development that calls for a hotel, two condominium towers, and an LED-lit multilevel podium with a pool and other public areas at a site just two blocks away from where the new home of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA franchise is now being planned.

Matteson and other developers behind the scheme are hoping the local real estate market can support their ambitions, and say the 134-story apartment tower could be added to the mixed-use scheme provided there is adequate demand. The plan would be funded in part by a $200 million tax increment financing.

Image render courtesy AO.

"We felt that creating someplace can live and work and play and be ...

OMA's new Toranomon Hills Station Tower opens in Tokyo

2023-10-27T13:48:00-04:00

OMA and Partner Shohei Shigematsu have shared new photos of their just-completed work on the Toranomon Hills Station Tower project for developer Mori Building Co. in Tokyo.

The first high-rise to be completed inside the studio’s larger Toranomon Hills mixed-use district overlooks the terminus of Shintora-dori Avenue, whose axis is extended through a split base containing a Metro station and shopping area. This creates an interface between city and the building that the architects say is essential to their design’s public character, an element that culminates in a top-level cultural center called TOKYO NODE.

Photo: Mori Building Co., Ltd, courtesy of OMA

Photo: Tomoyuki Kusunose, courtesy of OMA

In between the public elements, the total 873-foot tower contains 32 levels of office spaces, a hotel, and two restaurants. Users will approach via an elevated T-Deck pedestrian walkway that connects the site to the surrounding development. Base-level activities are extended vertically in a ban...

BIG completes award-winning The Spiral tower in Manhattan

2023-10-25T19:57:00-04:00

BIG has shared photos to follow the firm’s completion of the new 2.8 million-square-foot The Spiral office tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Located at the entrance to the High Line Park on 34th Street between 10th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard, the 66-story structure rises to a total height of 1,031.5 feet and offers the neighborhood skyline a distinctive new visual identity taken from its stepped silhouette and a ribbon of outdoor terraces that cascade down the setback facade to a street level podium.

Photo © Laurian Ghinitoiu

The design team, which also included Adamson Associates, made wind- and drought-resistant biophilic elements a central part of the building’s exterior, working to unprecedented new heights for commercial high-rises. Certain plant species were selected for their ability to flower as early as February, in combination with evergreen ivy varieties. The program also creates flexible workspaces and includes an exclusive clubhouse on the uppermos...

Michael Kimmelman again asks: 'Should New York regulate its skyline?'

2023-10-25T15:11:00-04:00

A generation ago, the New York skyline was a global icon, shaped more or less like a suspension bridge stretched between the Empire State and the Twin Towers, making it possible to, say, pop out of some unfamiliar subway station, gaze up toward the clouds and orient oneself along the skyline’s north-south axis. Today, the skyline is vastly more complex, far-flung and difficult to picture, and it’s common to hear complaints that the city has lost its bearings.

The addition of Meganom and SLCE’s 860-foot 262 Fifth Avenue tower to New York’s accidental skyline also raises questions about legislating ‘view sheds’ and historic sightlines around the city, Michael Kimmelman writes. The city currently only has one protected vista overlooking the Financial District from Brooklyn Heights. Developers have famously been manipulating the local zoning code governing allowable height in order to receive approvals, an issue Kimmelman has preached about in earnest for the past decade.

“It’s time to rethink our assumptions,” preservationist Jorge Otero-Pailos tells him, before adding his opinion that regulations would “guarantee a collective experience, a sense of shared identity and civic meaning, which can bind New Yorkers across generations and centuries.”

Construction of 262 Fifth Avenue is expected to wrap up by the end of 2024.

New photos of Kinzo-designed interiors in Foster + Partners' record-setting MOL Headquarters

2023-10-11T13:36:00-04:00

Archinect has received new photos of Foster + Partners' now in-use MOL Group corporate headquarters tower in Budapest following a public opening that took place in the Hungarian capital earlier this spring. The building's interiors were designed by Berlin-based architecture studio Kinzo Architekten.

The tower was inaugurated in December and is the tallest structure in Hungary, topping out at 469 feet and 28 floors. It joins F+P’s Varso Tower design in Poland, now the EU’s tallest building, as two record-setting constructions that were completed last year. The firm says it is part of their focus to design office spaces that meet contemporary demands from workers and environmental advocates.

Image: © HGEsch

In terms of sustainability, the low and zero-carbon technology offerings include a 900-panel rooftop photovoltaic array, ground source heat pumps, greywater recycling, and a state-of-the-art rainwater harvesting system. Heating and cooling provided by a radiant panel system work to ...

Construction begins on Japan’s tallest building, Torch Tower

2023-10-09T15:00:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the Torch Tower, set to be the new tallest building in Japan. The 1,280-foot-tall skyscraper is expected to be completed in March 2028 according to new reporting by The Japan Times.

The Torch Tower is one of four buildings to be constructed as part of a major redevelopment of Tokyo’s historic Tokiwabashi district. Led by developers Mitsubishi Estate, the design team involved in the master plan’s delivery includes Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei, Koji Matsuda, Sou Fujimoto, Yuko Nagayama, and Takanori Fukouka.

Hotel entrance. Image credit: Dorchester Collection

When completed, the Torch Tower will hold a luxury hotel operated by the Dorchester Collection, as well as a 2,000-capacity entertainment hall, offices, and an observation deck. While the hotel, offices, and rooftop observatory will be housed in the tower form, the entertainment hall and retail spaces will be located within a base plinth rising from a single below-ground floor to a sixth above-ground floor.

Ho...

MVRDV transforms 1990s Shenzhen tower into ‘vibrant and colorful skyscraper’

2023-10-09T11:56:00-04:00

Construction has been completed on the MVRDV-designed Shenzhen Women & Children’s Centre, transforming an old mixed-use tower in the Chinese megacity into a “vibrant and colorful skyscraper.” The 330-foot-tall tower contains a hotel alongside a range of facilities for the welfare of women and children.

Image credit: Xia Zhi

The original tower was completed in 1994 during a period of rapid growth in Shenzhen. Plagued by two decades of fire safety concerns, the tower remained largely empty until the decision in 2019 to overhaul the building.

Existing tower before MVRDV's commission. Image credit: MVRDV

Image credit: Xia Zhi

MVRDV’s proposal for the tower saw the existing structure reused in an effort to avoid the carbon cost of demolishing and rebuilding. The most visible aspect of the transformation is a new facade featuring a grid of multicolored exterior frames. The new three-foot-deep envelope is designed to provide extra shading while also incorporating openable panels for natural v...

Record-setting 50-story mass timber skyscraper approved in Perth

2023-10-05T17:55:00-04:00

Australian architecture firm Elenberg Fraser is moving forward with a new $350 million AUD ($223 million USD) high-rise tower in Perth on the country's west coast that could set the record as the world’s tallest mass timber structure once completed.

Plans for the new 627-foot C6 Tower were approved last week by the city’s Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) for client Grange Development.

The firm’s newly-formed research arm Fraser & Partners will be leading the project and says their hybrid steel frame and wood design will utilize a total of 9,678 cubic yards of locally sourced timber in its construction. At 50 stories, it is more than twice the size of the Milwaukee Ascent Tower and another 11 stories taller than SHoP’s forthcoming 39-stroy Atlassian Headquarters in Sydney. Grange says it will be the first carbon-negative construction in the history of Western Australia, though some academics caution this is misleading under current IPCC guidelines.

Image c...

Saudi Arabia is restarting construction on record-setting Jeddah Tower

2023-09-18T17:07:00-04:00

Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) has restarted work on the world’s tallest tower, the 1,000-metre-plus-tall Jeddah Tower project in Saudi Arabia. [...] The developer has invited contractors to bid by the end of this year for a contract to complete the record-breaking structure. Kingdom Holding Company CEO Talal Ibrahim Almaiman confirmed that the tender has been officially issued when contacted by MEED.

The Jeddah Tower project, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, first appeared on Archinect in 2011 and is roughly one-third of the way through the construction of its record-setting superstructure, MEED reports. Progress had been halted in January of 2018 over labor shortages and was further delayed by the pandemic. The Saudi Binladin Group (or SBG), which originally managed the project, has since undergone a debt restructuring and will be replaced by one of 14 potential contractors hailing from Europe, China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Lebanon, and Kuwait.

Architect Gordon Gill had told reporters for CNN to "Never say never" when asked last fall whether or not construction would ever resume.

Previously on Archinect: Jeddah Tower construction reaches 63rd floor

Once completed, the tower will stand slightly over 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) in total height, though the exact figure is said to be kept secret. The megatall tower is currently projected to add $12.5 billion US...

Frank Gehry’s Forma development begins construction in Toronto

2023-06-12T14:49:00-04:00

Frank Gehry’s biggest-ever contribution to the city in which he was born is now underway after construction began on the two-tower Forma condominium scheme in downtown Toronto.

A total of 2,087 residential units will be constructed as part of the process, filling out the pair of 73- and 84-story towers that, once built, will stand as the tallest buildings the 94-year-old Gehry has completed during the course of his illustrious six-decade career in architecture.

Image courtesy Forma/Great Gulf.

Gehry himself was on hand for last week’s groundbreaking ceremony, where he commented on the project’s significance as a new landmark rising from the busy commercial core of the city that has recently become a battleground for developers looking to surmount the fray of tall building proposals proffered there since the beginning of 2021.

Image courtesy Forma/Great Gulf.

"You think about the buildings in other cities like Rockefeller Center, where there’s an ensemble of buildings that create publ...

The Willis Tower turns 50

2023-05-05T12:24:00-04:00

Now called Willis Tower, the building has been a trendsetter since its debut. After starting life as a headquarters for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the building saw its namesake tenant relocate to the suburbs. Along with the rest of downtown, it suffered other blows, including fears raised by the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession. It’s always bounced back. But the tower now faces what might be its biggest test.

SOM won the commission from the Sears corporation in 1970 at a time when office parks and the desire to project a stronger image of America against the backdrop of the Vietnam War were separately prevailing forces in the AEC industry. Sears eventually sold the 110-story building, which was the world’s tallest for 22 years, for more than $1 billion in 1988. More recently it has turned into a focal point of the city’s office vacancy crisis, and new owners Blackstone are now looking forward to returns from a $500 million-plus renovation led by Gensler with optimism.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s CEO Javier Quintana de Uña agrees. As he said, "It always keeps ahead of everything else."

The Tribune has historic photos of the tower under construction here.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (@skidmoreowingsmerrill)

HKS bid for Texas’ tallest skyscraper gets cut down

2023-04-28T12:12:00-04:00

Amid challenging conditions in the real estate and lending markets, a proposed 80-story residential tower that had been planned to be the tallest high-rise in Texas has now been scaled back to 45 stories. [...] Taylor Wilson, president of Wilson Capital, said the revised design comes in response both to feedback from Austin's Design Commission and to significant changes in the real estate and financial markets, which are grappling with rising interest rates and tightened lending standards.

The revised Wilson Tower proposal would have surpassed I.M. Pei’s JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston as the state’s record-holder. KPF’s Waterline development is still on track to break it by 20 feet. The episode highlights the economic stasis affecting developers in the city’s insanely high-stakes CRE market as the impacts of the tech recession compound.

"We are making some changes to the ground floor in response to both the Design Commission’s feedback and changes to the vertical nature of the building in response to current market conditions," Wilson said via email to the Austin American-Statesman. "Construction costs and interest rates are both higher now than they were when we originally designed the project. We believe this new design is more appropriate to provide an activated ground floor while remaining feasible in today’s environment."

...

Pelli Clarke & Partners completes the tallest building in Mexico City

2023-01-23T11:01:00-05:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed Torre Mítikah, the tallest building in Mexico City. Situated in the city’s Coyoacán neighborhood, the 877-foot-tall residential skyscraper is described by its designers as a “window to the heavens.”

Image credit: Jason O'Rear

Externally, the sleek tower features a gently curved taper on the north and south facades. The design approach for the form centered on creating a “timeless quality with a strong sense of stability,” and drew inspiration from the “Axis Mundi” concept: an imaginary vertical axis linking the earth and sky.

Image credit: Jason O'Rear

Inside, the scheme provides 1.1 million square feet of residential space composed of three different types of living space. While the tower's base is occupied by multi-story townhouses, the mid-levels house two and three-bedroom apartments. The upper levels are devoted to luxury penthouses with indoor gardens, exclusive terraces, and heliport access.

Image credit: Jason O'Rear

News of the tower’s com...

Three unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper projects brought to life by 3D imagery

2023-01-09T12:40:00-05:00

Three unbuilt projects by Frank Lloyd Wright have been recreated in 3D renderings by Spanish architect David Romero. Images of the high-rise schemes, located in Chicago and Washington D.C., have been published in the latest edition of the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly, a hard-copy magazine of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

The Illinois. Image credit: David Romero via The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

The tallest of the three, 'The Illinois,' remains one of Wright’s most famous unbuilt works. The mile-high skyscraper was unveiled by Wright in 1956 and would have stood four times taller than the world’s then-largest building. "The Empire State Building would be a mouse by comparison," Wright boasted at the time.

The Illinois. Image credit: David Romero via The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

The 528-story, 18 million-square-foot concept would have accommodated 100,000 people. Four major highways, along with rail lines and a heliport, would provide access to the building, with docking s...

Looking back critically on the two-decade supertall building revolution in New York City

2022-12-24T10:00:00-05:00

We’re living through the birth of a new species of skyscraper that not even architects and engineers saw coming. After 9/11, experts concluded that skyscrapers were finished. Tall buildings that were in the works got scaled down or canceled on the assumption that soaring towers were too risky to be built or occupied. “There were all sorts of public statements that we’re never going to build tall again,” one architect told The Guardian. “All we’ve done in the 20 years since is build even taller.”

The ascendency of “accidental skylines” in Midtown Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Miami, and recently Austin and Los Angeles is becoming a defining design trait of American cities as we move into the century’s third decade. “It’s a message of power,” developer Don Peebles told the Atlantic. “It’s not trying to blend in. It’s trying to stand out.”

The changes to New York City alone can be traced to new engineering techniques, rezoning, and the acceleration of real estate development begun under Michael Bloomberg’s administration, unprecedented wealth transfers that underwrite the high-end luxury residential market, and even the rise of architectural media, with lawsuits and public backlash representing the inevitable resistance against the envelope-pushing designs.

“In 2050, when these slender towers are eligible for landmark protection,” Skyscraper Museum director Carol ...

‘Skyscrapers are an absurdity’ says Architects Declare in open letter to CTBUH

2022-11-24T13:18:00-05:00

Architects Declare has published an open letter to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, setting out the group’s position on the environmental cost of skyscrapers. The letter, published on the Architects Declare website, was originally sent to CTBUH in July but has now been made public after the group claims not to have received any response.

“The evidence now is overwhelming that tall buildings hinder, rather than assist, our efforts to address key challenges of climate breakdown, resource depletion and biodiversity loss,” the letter reads. “Today, UK Architects Declare is therefore calling on CTBUH to transform its register of ‘The World’s Tallest Buildings’ and shift its focus from a fixation on height to the other part of its mission, Urban Habitats. and crucially address critical environmental challenges.”

The letter claims that CTBUH’s register of tall building...

BIG's pixelated Telus Sky Tower in Calgary stands 'like a lady in a cluster of cowboys'

2022-11-21T12:04:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has released newly-commissioned photographs of their Telus Sky Tower in Calgary, Canada. First unveiled in 2013, the mixed-use 60-story residential and commercial project broke ground in 2015 and was completed in 2020. Situated in downtown Calgary among a cluster of corporate office towers, BIG’s scheme incorporates residential units on its upper levels in an effort to create urban activity after the workday finishes.

While the tower’s ground floor adopts the same orientation as surrounding buildings, the scheme undergoes a diagonal shift as it rises, creating terraces and balconies for residents while offering the building its distinctive “pixelated” façade. Above the main entrance, the façade pixels extend beyond the site limits to create a series of canopies and terraces, while at night, a 160,000 sqft art installation, Northern Lights by Douglas Coupland, lights up the north and south façades, creating the largest public art piece in Cal...

3XN completes 'world’s largest upcycled tower' in Sydney

2022-11-18T11:07:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based studio 3XN has completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, described by the firm as the “world’s most comprehensive upcycling of an existing tower.” The scheme, which sees the retention and transformation of an existing 1970s tower near the city’s waterfront, was recently awarded the 2022 International High Rise Award for what the jury determined to be an “extraordinary combination of upcycling and densification.”

Situated on 50 Bridge Street, the project centers on the former AMP Centre, which, when constructed in 1976, was the tallest building in Sydney at 617 feet in height. The building’s transformation into the Quay Quarter Tower saw 3XN retain 65% of the original building’s structure, including beams, columns, and slabs, and 95% of its original core. In addition, new floorplates were added to the existing plates in order to double the usable area and increase the building’s capacity from 4,500 daily occupants to more than 10,000.

Image credit: Adam Mo...

Toronto’s race to the top gets a new 105-story contender

2022-11-14T18:58:00-05:00

In the quest to build the tallest skyscraper in Canada, developer Pinnacle International appears to be inching ahead, with a new proposal that would see the second tower at the foot of Yonge Street reach over 100 storeys. Pinnacle submitted an application late last month with the city, seeking to allow 12- and 10-storey increases to the already approved 80- and 95-storey towers in its development at the site of the current Toronto Star building.

Hariri Pontarini Architects’ amended design for the already-underway SkyTower could become Toronto’s first triple-digit-story supertall, equaling the height of the CN Tower’s observation deck. Anson Kwook, a VP of marketing for the developer said it would also add a “piece of artwork” to the city’s skyline.

Previously on Archinect: Construction kicks off on SkyTower, Canada's tallest residential tower

Toronto’s planning division has been flooded with proposed tall building designs since the beginning of last year, including designs for Studio Gang’s first Canadian venture; the forthcoming 55 Yonge mixed-use development by PARTISANS and Quadrangle; Frank Gehry’s revised King Street West apartments; and a proposed 31-story mass timber structure from local studio ICON Architects that would topple Milwaukee’s Ascent Tower for the world record use of that material upon its speculative completion in 2027.

SOM reveals design for Singapore’s tallest building

2022-11-08T13:16:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has unveiled the design for 8 Shenton Way, set to be the tallest building in Singapore. Designed in collaboration with local firm DCA Architects, the 1,000-foot-tall, 63-story mixed-use tower is described as an “indoor-outdoor vertical community with public spaces, offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residences.”

The building’s predominately glazed façade is clad with a blend of terracotta and bamboo, while the building form is fragmented by setbacks holding roof terraces and curving bay windows on most floors. Seven terraces are included in the scheme, with one serving a hotel and three serving residential floors.

Inside, the tower’s “live, work, and play” offering includes offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residential units. At ground level, the project addresses the street through retail units and a public performance and events space, while on the second floor, an open-air green space accommodates r...

New AS+GG book explores design process behind world’s tallest towers

2022-11-07T12:37:00-05:00

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has published a new book charting the firm’s design and delivery of some of the world’s tallest structures. Titled Supertall | Megatall: How High Can We Go?, the book uses drawings and details from AS+GG’s archives to explore projects from the viewpoint of sustainability, technology, programming, and contextualization.

Among the schemes featured in the book are the Central Park Tower in New York City, the Chengdu Greenland Tower in China, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which still holds the record of the world’s tallest building.

With only 173 completed supertall buildings around the world, defined as a building whose height measures between 985 and 1,970 feet (300 and 600 meters), AS+GG sees the retrospective look at built precedents as an important tool for informing future high-rise projects.

"To go back and see something that was done 15 years ago, and how that's weathering, or how...