Despite the pandemic, despite a global shortage of labour and materials,
it seems like nothing can stop the skyscraper.
Join us as we travel from the top of the New York skyline to Down Under to
round up the tallest buildings being built across the globe.
From desert supertalls and jaw-dropping infinity pools to epic sky bridges,
these are the tallest skyscrapers under construction on each continent in 2023.
The city that loves to break world records is at it again.
Now joining the world’s tallest building,
observation wheel and, er, picture frame will be the new world’s tallest hotel.
Ciel Tower will be an astounding 365 metres high - taller than its original design initially had it.
With more than 1,000 guestrooms and suites across its 82 floors, every part of this
building screams luxury – but its most impressive feature is arguably the open air observation deck
at its crown, complete with an infinity pool that dips out right into the Dubai skyline.
The hotel finds itself under construction just as Dubai’s tourism industry is bouncing
back. The emirate hosted 7.28 million international overnight visitors in
2021 – that’s up 32 per cent year-over-year according to the Dubai Media Office.
Soon the city’s visitors have another destination to add to their list.
Meet New York’s comeback skyscraper – a 423-metre new supertall anchoring Midtown
that’ll be taller than the Empire State, and dwarf the nearby Chrysler Building.
While it may be world-famous, this part of town has long-been in need of improvement.
There’s been little new office construction here over the last
two decades and the average age of the district’s buildings is 70 years old.
As the USD $3BN new headquarters for banking giant JPMorgan Chase,
270 Park Avenue is out to change that with premium high-end office space.
Designed by Foster + Partners, the skyscraper’s stepped-back profile
intentionally harks back the city’s iconic art deco towers of the early 20th century.
Africa is finally getting its first supertall.
Boldly called the Iconic Tower, this 393-metre structure is set to become the
crown jewel of Egypt’s new capital city; a mega development around 45 kilometres east of Cairo.
The entire Egyptian government will relocate into
a new purpose-built monumental district that’s roughly the same size as Singapore.
There’ll be new buildings for official ministries,
the Egyptian parliament and a sprawling presidential palace.
Anchoring it all, the new skyscraper will absolutely dwarf Africa’s last tallest
skyscraper, the 234-metre Leonardo building.
Set to include offices, the tower’s top floors will offer apartments and a five-star hotel.
The building has already structurally topped out and is set to be fully complete later this year.
Melbourne’s skyscraper boom continues – it’s now the tallest city in Australia
by far according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat,
with almost double the number of skyscrapers in London.
Due to complete this year, these 231-metre twin
towers – containing a hotel and high-end apartments – are its latest addition.
Now as you’ve probably noticed, the most eye-catching feature of this
project is the epic skybridge that spans between the two skyscrapers.
The multi storey link includes a glass floor so those feeling
brave can look down to the street some 40 storeys beneath their feet.
The link is actually much more than just an architectural feature. The
towers use the skybridge to create a rigid connection between them,
enabling them to share wind loads and enhancing their ability to withstand seismic activity.
The penthouse apartment here recently sold for AUD $39M, a new record for Melbourne.
The owner even requested their luxury car be lifted by a crane into the apartment.
China’s skyscrapers have had a haircut. The country issued a ban on skyscrapers taller
than 500 metres, while cities with less than 3M people can now only build as high as 150 metres.
Those who approve buildings taller than this are subject to "lifelong
accountability" – according to an official statement from the Chinese government.
Despite the Greenland Jinmao International Financial Center coming in just under this
limit at a daring 499-metres, it’s still far and away the tallest building on this list – and when
it completes in 2025 it’ll be the 12th tallest building in the world, just behind Taipei 101.
To enable its immense height, structural arches are used to
direct vertical loads to the corners of the tower and down to its foundations.
They’ve been designed to give a modern nod to the gateways of Nanjing’s ancient city walls.
All around the world the incredible construction industry is continuing to push the boundaries of
engineering, and it seems there are clearly no limits to the heights we can achieve.
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