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Azizi Developments will begin work on what will become the world’s fifth tallest skyscraper in the third quarter of the year.
Being developed at a cost of $816m (AED3bn) on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road, the 570-metre tall, 122-storey residential and commercial tower will house residential apartments on the first 100 floors, and a luxury hotel on the remaining 22.
In an update, the Dubai-based developer said that it is currently consulting with Atkins to finalise the design based on its feedback.
— constructionweekonline.com
It looks like there's new life in a flagship development on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road: after a previous proposal for the supertall Entisar Tower by AE7 with Meydan was sold to Azizi Developers, the company announced plans to work with global architectural firm Atkins on the designs and make the... View full entry
Construction of The Conservatory sky bridge has given Raffles City Chongqing the title of development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers. [...]
Designed by Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing also consists of a 350-m supertall skyscraper, which currently holds two records for being China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.
— Business Insider
Image: CapitaLandIf you thought Marina Bay Sands' sky bridge in Singapore was pretty impressive, hold your breath now for its younger, bigger sibling, Raffles City Chongqing, currently growing towards the sky in Central China. Also designed by Safdie Architects, the 1.12 million sqm... View full entry
Sumitomo Forestry Co. Ltd. has announced that it plans to build a 70-story 350-meter mixed-use skyscraper in Marunouchi, a central Tokyo business district, by the year 2041. [...]
The project [...] is estimated to cost 600 billion JPY (5.5 billion USD). This is almost twice that of conventional high-rise buildings using current technology, but the company hopes to reduce costs by making technological advances in wood-based construction.
— Real Estate Japan
Image: Sumitomo ForestryWooden skyscrapers have been seeing an unprecedented boom phase in recent years, but even the more ambitious projects don't even come close to what Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry, in collaboration with Nikken Sekkei, is proposing to build in Tokyo by the year 2041. ... View full entry
Construction of the world's tallest skyscraper in Jeddah is going ahead, the head of the consortium behind the $1.5 billion project said, despite the detention of some businessmen backing the plan in Saudi Arabia's crackdown on corruption. [...]
Construction has reached the 63rd floor and the superstructure - the concrete shell and the cladding - is to be completed next year, Jomah said, adding that delays in some areas were inevitable because of technical challenges.
— Arabian Business
Progress on the soon-to-be tallest structure on earth has been troubled for a while, with the main contractor (and partial owner) Saudi Binladin Group going through a financial rough patch and, more recently, several project officials and royal family members being targeted by the country's... View full entry
In a December 2016 assessment of the issue obtained by NBC Bay Area, Palo Alto-based building consultants Allana Buick & Bers Inc. trace the odors to openings between the building’s façade, or curtain wall, and the core structure.
The consultants point to the “excessive” settlement as a likely source of the issue, adding, “This condition may be more widespread than these two test areas and may be present in the entire stack. We recommend further investigation of this issue.”
— NBC Bay Area
New fire hazards have been found in San Francisco's infamous Millennium Tower, making the luxury high-rise that has sunk 17 inches since 2009 even less safe than previously thought. According to a December 2016 assessment carried out by building consultants Allana Buick & Bers Inc., gaps... View full entry
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is out with the latest edition of its annual web report, the 2017 Tall Building Year in Review, and it's a real treat for every serious skyscraper geek: interactive charts, rankings, and plenty of visualized data about all 144 buildings of... View full entry
300 Biscayne, one of several planned towers that would be Miami’s tallest at 1,041 feet above ground, has launched its website and unveiled a batch of exterior renderings, notes The Next Miami. [...]
Another large residential project comprised of nearly 700 “smart apartments” is planned to rise next door at 400 Biscayne by the same development team, Greybrook Realty Partners and Property Markets Group.
— Curbed Miami
Downtown Miami may soon gets its very own supertall stacked-boxes tower; and at a height of 1,041 feet, 300 Biscayne can — according to its website — claim the title of "tallest residential tower south of New York." Rendering: ArX SolutionsRendering: ArX SolutionsRendering: ArX SolutionsAll... View full entry
Toronto's skyline will soon see the addition of five new buildings, all united in one massive development spanning two city blocks. Designed by Toronto firm Hariri Pontarini Architects in collaboration with Vancouver-based Pinnacle International, the project, dubbed One Yonge, will reportedly... View full entry
The Dubai Frame is quickly taking shape in the heart of the city, providing breathtaking views of 'old' and 'new' Dubai.
A Dubai Municipality delegation on Thursday has given residents a sneak peek into one of the upcoming iconic structures in the city. [...]
The work has already started on the frame's glass bridge, and the cladding is expected to be completed by the end of this year, a top senior Dubai Municipality official had told Khaleej Times earlier this year.
— Khaleej Times
Construction work on Dubai's latest gilded landmark appears to be making progress as the Dubai Municipality documented today in a new social media video of a city government delegation visiting the site. The design of the 150-meter-tall Dubai Frame structure isn't without controversy: the concept... View full entry
A fix appears to be in the works for San Francisco’s sinking and tilting Millennium Tower — just as a new report estimates the 58-story luxury high-rise has sunk yet another inch in the past seven months. [...]
That lean is now up to nearly 14 inches at the building’s roof — an additional 2-plus inches more than the tilt measured in January.
— San Francisco Chronicle
A pair of engineering firms hired by developer Millennium Partners think there's still hope to save the troubled structure and straighten it up again: "The LERA firm and DeSimone Consulting Engineers say the problem can be remedied by drilling 50 to 100 new piles down to bedrock from the... View full entry
Twelve people have died in a west London tower block fire and the number of deaths are expected to rise, police have said. [...]
Grenfell Tower underwent a two-year £10m refurbishment as part of a wider transformation of the estate, that was completed last year. [...]
Before and during the refurbishment, the local Grenfell Action Group claimed that the block constituted a fire risk and residents warned that site access for emergency vehicles was "severely restricted".
— BBC
While it's still too early to determine the cause of the fire, the BBC reports that "before and during the refurbishment, the local Grenfell Action Group claimed that the block constituted a fire risk and residents warned that site access for emergency vehicles was "severely restricted"." Latest... View full entry
Completion of the world’s new tallest tower, Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, has been pushed back to 2019, its developer said yesterday.
Formerly known as Kingdom Tower, the structure is to reach more than a kilometre in height, which means it will surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
Construction began in April 2014, and was to have finished in 2018. [...]
“The project was delayed... but it’ll open (in) 2019,” Prince Alwaleed said during a media visit to the site, reports AFP.
— globalconstructionreview.com
"Saudi Binladin Group has been hit by a fall in work brought by lower Saudi public spending following the collapse in oil revenues," GCR reports. "Last year workers in Mecca burned buses in protest over unpaid wages amid reports of mass lay-offs." View full entry
Pamela Buttery lives on the 57th floor. To demonstrate how her home tilts slightly to the left, Buttery hits a golf ball straight ahead toward the window. [...]
The ball takes a sharp left turn toward the direction of the tilt, and it ends up in the northwest corner of her living room. [...]
How to fix the tower, or at least keep it from leaning even more?
Some solutions include pouring a concrete collar around the foundation or building a buttress.
— npr.org
Representatives of the sinking luxury condo tower put the blame on the Transbay Transit Center, a sizable new train and bus terminal currently under construction nearby: "Millennium spokesman P.J. Johnston says workers have been pumping out huge amounts of water as they tunnel through the soil... View full entry
Ever since 19th century city commissioners laid a grid on the hilly island of Manhattan, New York City has been squeezing skyward. That’s meant natural light has always been in short supply—for some New Yorkers more than others. Access to sunshine was one of the main drivers of the first zoning laws, as a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, Mastering the Metropolis, explores. — citylab.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Crowded skies: Sunlight as the new amenity for the super richWelcome to the permanent dusk: Sunlight in cities is an endangered speciesTwilight Zoning: What 100 years of zoning hath wrought, ft. special guest Mitch McEwen on Archinect Sessions #77Obama calls... View full entry
With its indoor theme park and helipad, this building might seem more like it would belong in Las Vegas, but this towering Hindu temple is set to become the world's tallest religious skyscraper. [...]
At 700 feet (210 metres), the temple will be taller than India's Taj Mahal, which stands at 239 feet (73m) tall, as well as St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which measures 422 feet (128.6m).
— Daily Mail
The illustration below shows the greater master plan for Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir. The project website has this description:"The skyscraper temple-cum-heritage project, conceived of by the devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore, will consist of a grand temple of Lord Sri Krishna at its centre. The... View full entry
