Archinect - News

City of London approves record-tying skyscraper design from Eric Parry Architects

2024-12-18T12:11:00-05:00

A challenger to The Shard’s title as the tallest skyscraper in the UK is moving forward with plans to construct a new building designed by Eric Parry Architects that will equal its record height of 309.6 meters (or 1,015.75 feet). The height is limited by aviation safety rules for the City of London, where the planned 1 Undershaft will soon begin construction towards an anticipated early-2030s completion.

As was first reported by The Guardian, "On completion, 1 Undershaft, which is being built on the site occupied by insurer Aviva’s former headquarters, will provide almost 13% of the office space required in the City of London to 2040."

Image: DBOX/Eric Parry Architects

Oklahoma City group claims Legends Tower proposal poses risk to aviation

2024-12-09T18:06:00-05:00

Plans for what would become the tallest skyscraper in the United States—AO’s proposed Legends Tower for Oklahoma City—are now facing an impediment after being labeled as a potential aviation danger in a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from a group called the Oklahoma City Airport Trust.

According to KOCO News, "The airport trust also said the proposed tower changes the departure procedures for both Will Rogers International Airport and Wiley Post Airport, creates issues with airspace and will have a negative impact on other aviation sites like Tinker Air Force Base and Max Westheimer Airport."

(Developer Scott Matteson also related to them: "We’re waiting for the full report from the FAA, which we are supposed to get by the end of this month.")

KPF’s James von Klemperer on 520 Fifth Ave. and being a 'good neighbor'

2024-10-18T11:20:00-04:00

I think all tall buildings, especially, have a kind of responsibility that goes beyond the program and the site. Because once you emerge into the skyline in a significant way, which this building will, the skyline is almost viewed, I think, by us New Yorkers as public property. If you put up a terrible profile on the skyline, everybody has to look at it from uptown, downtown, Long Island, New Jersey. And it’s very subjective.

The firm's forthcoming 1,002-foot supertall, which we first previewed back in February, is ramping up construction towards completion in 2026. Its language of setbacks and arches is a nod to other towers shaped by the famous 1916 zoning envelope mandate that produced the Chrysler Building and many other quintessential designs through mid-century.

KPF is currently working on what will be the new tallest building in Texas for 2026 while the city prepares an 11-block Fifth Avenue pedestrian corridor redesign led by Field Operations.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

Image credit: DBOX

Jeddah Tower restarts construction after nearly seven years

2024-10-09T13:54:00-04:00

CNN is reporting on the resumed construction of Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, the Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS + GG) project that will become the world’s tallest structure once completed in 2028. Progress had been stalled at roughly one-third the height of the 3,280-foot building in January of 2018 due to labor shortages. The buttressed core utilized to achieve its final height could key a new wave of megatall designs as was outlined in the firm's 2022 title Supertall | Megatall: How High Can We Go? Some others to keep an eye on have been rumored for Thailand and Riyadh within the past year.

SOM to redesign upper floors of Hancock Center in Chicago

2024-10-02T17:29:00-04:00

One of the most significant skyscraper designs in SOM’s portfolio, the John Hancock Center (now known as 875 N. Michigan Avenue) in Chicago, will be receiving an upgrade to its upper-level Signature Room, according to 360 Chicago, the group that bought the former restaurant space on the 95th and 96th floors earlier this year.

The managing director of 360 Chicago told the Chicago Sun-Times they were still in the "early stages" of planning for the project. She added: "One of the strengths of bringing on a firm like SOM is that they’re very focused on research and strategy as well. e’re deep in the planning process with them, and challenging both them and us what the best use of the space can be."

Foster + Partners to design 54-story mixed-use skyscraper in Miami

2024-08-27T16:38:00-04:00

Plans for a 54-story mixed-use tower from Foster + Partners in Miami are coming into focus with the release of new concept renderings depicting a new headquarters for the hedge fund Citadel. The tower will reportedly include 212 hotel rooms at its uppermost levels, preceded by a 34-floor office component and supporting retail spaces. Local outlets have reported its planned height is 1,032 feet, which would make it the second tallest building in Miami behind the forthcoming Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences from Carlos Ott.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Nigel Dancey, the Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, describes their design: “The tower’s tapered form unifies its various functions, enhances structural efficiency, and creates an elegant marker on the Miami skyline. An environmentally responsive facade draws on Florida’s vernacular architecture, with a louvred shading system to create a comfortable internal environment, while maximising views out from this amazing location.”...

UNESCO assessing impact of skyscrapers on Tower of London

2024-08-07T19:29:00-04:00

The Tower of London’s status as a world heritage site may be at risk due to the influx of new skyscrapers in central London. UNESCO has requested that the UK government submit a State of Conservation Report that addresses the historic site’s preservation and the threat of increased high-rise buildings in the area. As reported by the BBC, a UNESCO spokesperson said the request was due to concerns about “cumulative impacts” from nearby high-rise developments and insufficient protection of the Tower’s “outstanding universal value”.

Previously on Archinect: The City of London skyline is expected to add these eleven towers by 2030

Concerns were initially raised by the English historic preservation body, Historic England, regarding City Plan 2040, the City of London Corporation’s (CLC) draft policies for new office, residential buildings, and overall development. Historic England believes these policies are likely to “severely harm” the likes of the Tower of London. On the other hand, depu...

Chicago preservationists just saved two landmark early skyscrapers from the GSA wrecking ball

2024-08-05T20:13:00-04:00

The Chicago Tribune is reporting on the successful effort by Windy City preservationists to save the landmarked vacant Century and Consumers buildings, the “last vestiges of the Chicago School of Architecture” after two years of fighting. Their owners, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), have decided in favor of an adaptive reuse scheme that will save them from the wrecking ball, albeit with a list of 15 restrictions pertaining to any future redevelopment. These include limitations on residential development.

"We’re hoping the remaining $45 million of this demolition earmark could be invested in the terra cotta and the exterior cladding and roof structures, along with the windows," Preservation Chicago’s executive director Ward Miller told the outlet. "I think at a minimum, the GSA and federal government could help with restoring some of these features of the exterior that have languished for so long, almost 20 years, under their ownership."

The buildings were completed...

Brazilian city proposes world's tallest residential tower

2024-08-04T08:00:00-04:00

Planning officials in the coastal Brazilian city of Balneário Camboriú have just entered the race for the world’s tallest residential building after approving plans from an unnamed architect for the new 100-story, 1,785-foot Triumph Tower.

The project, which has yet to commence or set a completion date, would surpass Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill's 1,550-foot Central Park Tower in New York City to become the new world record holder. Another contending scheme, part of the Boardwalk at Bricktown development from Architects Orange in Oklahoma City, will determine its final reported height of 1,907 feet later once its leasing picture takes better shape. The 984-foot Gran Torre Constanera in Santiago, Chile, designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, currently holds the record for South America's tallest building.

Can the Chrysler Building still endure against imposing contemporary neighbors?

2024-07-18T20:05:00-04:00

Is the Chrysler Building’s reputation enough for it to endure as an icon, or is it at risk of fading away from the skyline, as newer, taller and glitzier glass buildings surround it?

William Van Alen’s iconic masterpiece of the Art Deco style (which topped out just six days before the stock market crash of 1929) is now facing financial uncertainties after its pre-pandemic sale for just $150 million to an Austrian developer and New York-based CRE firm. The recent bankruptcy of the former company, Signa, has prompted questions about its future.

The Times reports more than half (650,000 square feet) of its rentable spaces are now vacant. The building's plight resembles slightly that of the Flatiron Building, which was finally sold to a local residential developer late last year.

Updating KPF’s quest to deliver Texas’ new tallest skyscraper

2024-06-10T10:37:00-04:00

Contractor Brett Bickford recently described his firm DPR's work on their “dream job” constructing the new 74-story KPF-designed The Waterline skyscraper in Austin. The project that will yield 2.7 million square feet of space and a mixed-use program that includes 351 luxury residences, a 251-key hotel, and 700,000-square-foot office component will become the state’s new tallest building in 2026. Construction recently reached the halfway mark, with I.M. Pei’s 1981 JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston dead in its sights and the adjacent Lady Bird Lake and Waller Creek water features anchoring it in the periphery.

Oklahoma City approves 'unlimited height' request for North America's new tallest building

2024-06-04T17:59:00-04:00

Things are looking up (way up) this week for what may become North America’s new tallest building: Southern California-based firm AO announced in a social media post today that the Oklahoma City Council had approved the development team's request for unlimited building height for the proposed 1,907-foot-tall Legends Tower.

The ambitious 126-story scheme in downtown OKC is part of the Boardwalk at Bricktown development led by Matteson Capital. The group told media outlets in March that the $1.5 billion mixed-use project was fully funded.

AO's latest update also hinted at an intended groundbreaking "this Fall."

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...

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.

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.

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...