The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat awards are a big deal. Each year CTBUH looks at the latest and greatest projects from all over the world who have demonstrated excellence or surpassed a record, and honours them at their annual awards ceremony. Some of the award categories include Best Tall Building, Urban Habitat, Innovation, Special Global Icon, and Performance. We, of course, like to focus in on who was nominated in the Best Tall Building category!
This year there were five segments for Best Tall Building: Worldwide, Americas, Asia & Australasia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Let’s take a look at the 2015 winners!
Both the Worldwide and Europe winner this year was Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy, which literally translates to “vertical forest.” Instead of using traditional cladding materials they used screens of vegetation to create a microclimate. This, of course, makes it an extremely sustainable building! There are 730 trees, 11,000 groundcover plants, and 5,000 shrubs that live throughout the building, so it’s basically its own mini forest. The building is only 27 storeys tall (380 feet) but with so much attention paid to its sustainable and green design, we’re not surprised it won both the Worldwide and Europe Best Tall Building awards.
Americas - One World Trade Center
Most of you are probably familiar with this award winner. One World Trade Center officially opened this year and is an important beacon in the New York City skyline. Not only is it a new icon in the city, but it was built as a symbol of light and the future of New York City. The building is 94 floors above ground and stands at an amazing 1,792 feet. Most of the building is office space but the One World Observatory on floors 100, 101, and 102 is open to the public.
The 794-foot tall CapitaGreen building in Singapore was designed to look like a plant growing toward the sky. Just over half of the outside of the building is covered in vegetation, while the top of the tower features a structure that looks like a flower and actually serves an amazing purpose! The petals draw cool wind in through the top of the building and sends the cooler, clean air through the building, giving tenants fresh air through their units. How cool is that?
Also known as the World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, the Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid is a sleek addition to the city’s skyline and stands at 1,251 feet! The Foster+Partners designed building stands on Abu Dhabi’s old Central Market and is a residential building. It’s also a part of a large mixed-used complex in the heart of the city which includes office space and a hotel as well. The building was designed with a sleek exterior so that it would require little maintenance or cleaning in its dusty, desert environment.
