CTBUH Reveals Best Tall Building Worldwide and Winners of 2018 Tall Building Awards

Written by Niall Patrick Walsh
Published on June 04, 2018

The Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat have announced the winners of the 16th edition of the CTBUH Tall Building Awards. From over 48 finalists in 28 countries, the best buildings from four regions – the Americas, Asia & Australasia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa – were selected, along with recipients of the Urban Habitat Award, the Innovation Award, the Construction Award and the 10 Year Award. From these finalists, the CTBUH has also awarded the Best Tall Building Worldwide to the Oasia Hotel Downtown by WOHA.

The towers were chosen by a panel of architects from world-renowned firms and were judged on every aspect of performance, looking in particular for those which “have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and that achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level.”

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The full list of winners is detailed below.

Best Tall Building Worldwide: Oasia Hotel Downtown / WOHA

The Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore was named the best tall building worldwide, having also claimed “Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia” award. Designed by WOHA, the scheme features extensive landscaping, with 54 plant species climbing up the aluminium mesh façade.

This project won not only because it incorporates 60 stories of green walls along the exterior, but because of its significant commitment to communal space. The tower has given over 40% of its colume to open air communal terraces in the sky.
-Antony Wood, Executive Director and Awards Juror, CTBUH

Best Tall Building – Americas: American Copper Buildings / SHoP

One of our favorite features on this project was the skybridge. When we were designing the pool, we wanted the occupants to be able to swim from one skyscraper to the other, 300 feet in the air. Taken together with the building’s focus on sustainability and resiliency, American Copper Building creates this new idea of what urban living on the waterfront can be.
-Gregg Pasquarelli, Principal, SHoP Architects

Best Tall Building – Europe: The Silo / COBE

For architects, one of the hardest jobs of working on an adaptive reuse project like this is that you can fall in love with the original structure – which in this case was the old silo, this monolithic, slim and aesthetically pleasing building. In this instance, it’s a question of how you can transform the original structure into a livable building that still contains the old soul of the silo.
-Caroline Nagel, Project Director, COBE

Best Tall Building – Middle East & Africa: Zeitz MOCAA/ Heatherwick Studio

There were very loud calls for the original structure’s demolition, and there’s no surprise as to why – it’s valuable real estate, and it’s much less risky to build something new. But my response to that was, why would you do that? It was the mix of old and new that drew us to the project, and there’s multiple layers of history there. We didn’t want to wipe the slate clean, and what would you replace it with that has this much power?
-Mark Noble, Development Director, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

Urban Habitat Award: The Word Trade Center Masterplan / Studio Daniel Libeskind

You can break some buildings, but you can’t break our spirit. In essence, this was the inspiration for the World Trade Center Master Plan. The most important aspect of the memorial is that it’s open to all as a completely public space. Although the intention of the September 11 attacks was to frighten us, we didn’t want security on the site; we wanted it to be open and free.
-Carla Swickerath, Partner, Studio Daniel Libeskind.

Innovation Award: MULTI / ThyssenKrupp

Given the rapid advance of technology, who knows what buildings will look like in 10 years? Cities are changing, and we need to be flexible in order to adapt. MULTI is like a merger between a train and an elevator using linear motor technology. In terms of frequency and routes, we can create the equivalent of highways and city roads in the shaft of an elevator.
-Michael Cesarz, CEO MULTI, ThyssenKrupp

Construction Award: EY Centre / fjmt

The façade is characterized by the revolutionary use of timber. Prior to the EY center, a closed-cavity façade had never been used a high-rise before. We wanted to reimagine the commercial high-rise as an art form. The best thing about the project is its sense of place; the vision was to use natural materials, in this case timber and stone, to make it more inviting.
-Jason Vieusseux, General Manager, Design Management & Construction, Mirvac Construction

10 Year Award – 2007 Winner: New York Times Tower / Renzo Piano Building Workshop, FXFOWLE Architects

New York Times Tower. Image © Anthony Wood

We wanted a building that would change our culture and how we were viewed by the community. At the time we had employees scattered within several buildings, but we wanted to bring management closer to our employees. As a global media organization, openness and transparency were our guiding principles.
-Terry Hayes, Senior Vice President, New York Times

10 Year Award – 2008 Winner: Shanghai World Financial Center / KPF

Shanghai World Financial Center. Image © Shinkenchiku

When we began designing this building back in 1994, it was going to be the tallest building in the world. We focused very much on the symbolic quality of the building both within its community but also as a world symbol of the emerging global economy of China. With Shanghai’s skyline growing, the purpose and role of this building was to create an urban stabilizer on the skyline, a focal point that welcomes the activity of the city.
-William Pedersen, Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox

For more information on the 2018 CTBUH Awards, visit their website here.

News via: CTBUH