From striking skyscrapers to vast Olympic parks and stadiums on a level of ambition
never attempted before, 2020 sees a new decade kick-off with the completion of some truly
remarkable construction projects.
From the overwhelming number of schemes set to finish this year, these are the 20 you
need to keep your eyes on.
Stretching over four square kilometres and including a major extension to the Dubai metro,
the finishing touches to the 2020 Expo site are now being made ahead of the event’s
opening in October.
With more than 130 nations showcasing the best in global development - and with pavilions
designed by some of the world's most renowned architects, including Santiago Calatrava,
Grimshaw and Foster + Partners - the 2020 Expo is expected to welcome more than 25 million
visitors over its six month run.
Making headlines when it was first proposed in 2015, Melbourne’s Premier Tower is now
beginning to make its mark on the city.
Inspired by the music video to Beyonce’s “Ghost”, the skyscraper’s curvaceous
facade also plays a significant structural role, breaking up and disrupting wind loads
that would cause the tower to sway.
The USD $1.84 billion Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will become the most expensive stadium
ever built when it complete’s ahead of the 2020 NFL season.
With space for 65,000 spectators, the landmark stadium will become home to the Las Vegas
Raiders - who are relocating from Oakland - and the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels.
Topping-out in 2019 after six years of construction, the tallest skyscraper on New York’s Billionaire’s
Row is set complete in 2020.
While it won’t take the title of New York City’s tallest building, the 472 metre Central
Park Tower will overtake the nearby 432 Park Avenue to become the tallest residential building
in the world.
Los Angeles’ striking SoFi Stadium is now racing towards completion and is set to host
a string of high profile concerts throughout the summer of 2020.
Becoming the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the 70,000 seat
venue is expected to play a major role in the Olympic Games in 2028.
Already part-occupied, November 2019 saw the topping out of Melbourne’s first supertall
skyscraper - the 100 storey Australia 108.
Rising from former swampland in the city’s Southbank district, the striking tower will
feature the highest residences in the southern hemisphere when it completes in 2020.
With its New National Stadium opening in 2019, Tokyo’s wider Olympic Park will complete
early in 2020 ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony in July.
Constructing a number of new venues and redeveloping some that played host to the 1964 Games, all
eyes will be on Tokyo as the world’s athletes gather in the city.
Part built on the original structure of Echelon Place - an incomplete complex which fell victim
to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis -
the 59 storey Resorts World Las Vegas is now nearing completion.
Despite rumours of delays, developers behind the USD $4.3 billion scheme have announced
that it will open in 2020, making it the first addition to the city’s Strip since the Cosmopolitan in 2010.
The Daniel Libeskind-designed, PwC Tower will become the final high rise in Milan’s City
Life master-plan, joining skyscrapers designed by Zaha Hadid and Arata Isozaki upon completion.
The 175 metre concave structure will be the fourth tallest building in the city and arguably
emerge as the standout tower in a country not known for tall buildings.
April 2020 will see Vietnam’s first foray into hosting a Grand Prix with the completion
of a 5.5-kilometre hybrid circuit.
Bringing together a series of converted public and purpose-built roads for the race, the
new routes will be handed over for public use after the event.
Adding to an ever-growing list of state-of-the-art stadiums on the African continent, the 60,000
seat National Stadium in Abidjan is set to open in 2020.
With the Ivory Coast due to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023, the venue will stage
the opening ceremony and the final match of the tournament.
Now the tallest skyscraper in the City of London, 22 Bishopsgate will finally complete this year.
Originally the site of the Pinnacle tower before works were halted in 2013, the new
structure rises to 62 storeys from the foundations of its never-realised predecessor.
Already topped-out, Tower 1 at Torres Obispado rises 305 metres
to become Mexico’s first supertall skyscraper,
dethroning Chile’s Torre Costanera to become the tallest building in Latin America.
Topping out in April 2019, the 363 metre Vista Tower will complete in 2020 offering a hotel
alongside a number of residences.
The structure is already the third tallest building in Chicago and the tallest skyscraper
designed by a female architect to date.
Now in its second season of construction, works to upgrade the wharf at Antarctica’s
Rothera Research Station - making it capable of accommodating the new Sir David Attenborough
research vessel - are set to complete in April 2020.
With the new wharf in place, construction crews will return in late 2020 to continue
work on the wider station.
The skyline of Warsaw is set to change dramatically in 2020 with the completion of the 53 storey
Varso Tower.
While the roof of the skyscraper will reach 230 metres, the inclusion of an 80-metre spire
in the building’s official height will see it crowned as not only the tallest skyscraper
in Poland but in the whole of the European Union,
taking the title from London’s Shard.
Standing 280 metres tall and each rising to 81 storeys, the twin towers of Brazil's Yachthouse
Residence Club will become the tallest buildings in Brazil when they complete and the second
tallest skyscrapers in South America.
Becoming the first metro in Pakistan, the Orange Line in Lahore is the first of three
routes now proposed for the city.
Running for some 27 kilometers, the new line is expected to serve 250,000 people each day
when it completes and becomes operational in 2020.
With Ethiopia fast-emerging as an African powerhouse, the 198 metre new headquarters
for the state-run Commercial Bank of Ethiopia will become the tallest building in the country
when it completes later this year.
After more than a decade of construction, August 2020 will see Seoul’s World Cup Bridge
finally open.
With works first commencing in March 2010, the bridge was originally expected to open
in 2015 but became significantly delayed due to financial constraints.
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