A high-rise on the New York City waterfront and the tallest skyscraper in China are among the winning entries in the 15th edition of the Tall Building Awards presented by the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
Selected from over 100 submissions, the best tall buildings representing the four regions of the Americas, Asia & Australasia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa were named along with the recipients of the Urban Habitat Award, the Innovation Award, the Performance Award and the 10 Year Award. A global winner will be picked from the regional selections later this year.
The jury for the 2016 CTBUH Tall Building Awards consisted of architects from world-renowned firms who judged the entries on every aspect of performance.
2016 CTBUH Tall Building Awards - List of Winners
BEST TALL BUILDING – AMERICAS
VIA 57 West - BIG
Juror Michael Palladino, Design Partner, Richard Meier & Partners Architects described the VIA 57 West as an inspired hybrid of the traditional courtyard block and high-rise tower. Designed to maximise views to the Hudson River, the building activates the New York City waterfront with a dynamic new standard for integrated urban infill development. Photography by Nic Lehoux
BEST TALL BUILDING - ASIA & AUSTRALASIA
Shanghai Tower – Gensler
Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China is designed by Gensler, and contains the world’s first truly ‘inhabitable’ double-skin facade on a skyscraper. Juror Antony Wood, Executive Director, CTBUH notes that the sacrifice of valuable floor area to realise this social amenity proves that the aspirations for Shanghai Tower went far beyond mere commercial gain. Photography by Connie Zhou
BEST TALL BUILDING – EUROPE
The White Walls - Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, The White Walls is a truly ground-breaking exercise in materiality, serving as a successful expression of the architectural and environmental values of the Mediterranean across the vertical axis, says Juror Karl Fender, Director, Fender Katsalidis Architects. Photography by Yiorgis Yerolymbos
BEST TALL BUILDING - MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
The Cube - Orange Architects
Stepping away from the extruded box typology defining most residential high-rises around the world, The Cube designed by Orange Architects comprises of a stack of completely unique villas in the sky. Juror Hashimah Hashim, Executive Director, KLCC Property Holdings Berhad says the tower’s structural design features a system of elegantly framed girder walls that add visual flair and allow for completely unobstructed floor plans. Photography by Matthijs van Roon
URBAN HABITAT AWARD
Wuhan Tiandi Site A
A mixed-use development, the Wuhan Tiandi demonstrates that a master plan for a tall building neighbourhood can include vibrant public spaces that offer a high level of intimacy, walkability, and social design. Juror James Parakh, Urban Design Manager, City Planning Department of Toronto says the Wuhan Tiandi complex offers a high quality of life for those that live, work, and visit. Photography by Shui On Land
10 YEAR AWARD
Hearst Tower - Foster + Partners
CTBUH Trustee Timothy Johnson, Design Partner, NBBJ describes Hearst Tower as one of New York’s greatest architectural achievements of the 2000s. Built directly on top of a 1920s office relic, the tower made the world re-examine the possibilities of preserving historic low-rise buildings in a dense downtown core. Photography by Hearst Corporation
PERFORMANCE AWARD
Taipei 101 - C.Y. Lee
The Taipei 101 designed by C.Y. Lee represents a massive upgrade to increase its environmental performance. The extensive documentation of its energy upgrades and sustainability initiatives speaks for itself. Taipei 101 has also been successful in its mission to become one of the most sustainable tall buildings in the world, says Technical Juror Bill Browning, Co-Founder, Terrapin Bright Green. Image: Taipei Financial
INNOVATION AWARD
Pin-Fuse
According to Technical Jury Chair SawTeen See, Managing Partner, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, the Pin-Fuse system opens the door to realising increased resilience in buildings constructed in highly active seismic regions. The system is innovative for its tested impact on repair frequency, costs, and structural longevity for buildings that have experienced an earthquake. Image: SOM
Image: Urban Habitat Award: Wuhan Tiandi
