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2018 was another record-breaking year for skyscraper construction. The last 12 months saw the completion of 18 supertall buildings around the globe, the most ever delivered in one year. For buildings over 200 metres tall, 76 percent were in Asia, with 88 towers finished in China. Tall building construction has been instrumental in transforming urban enclaves worldwide; 19 cities recorded a new tallest building in 2018. And as impressive as these numbers are, 2019 is shaping up to be even more newsworthy.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a global resource for professionals focused on tall building design, construction and operation, has released their skyscraper predictions for 2019. It's a particularly important year not just for international skyscraper construction, but for the CTBUH as well, who commemorates the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1969. It shares a birth year with the monumental 875 North Michigan, formerly known as the John Hancock Center, which forever altered the Chicago skyline.
A number of significant project completions are in the pipeline, especially in Europe, which is set to welcome the continent's tallest building and the world's tallest timber building. Saint Petersburg's pointed Lakhta Center is scheduled to open this year, and at 462 metres, towers above its continental competitors. The office tower will also include a planetarium, performance hall and medical center. Meanwhile, the 88.8-metre-tall Mjøstårnet in Brummundal, Norway will officially become the world's tallest timber building.
By June, major construction work on Raffles City Chongqing, including the world's highest skybridge, will be completed. The 280-metre-long horizontal platform links four towers approximately 250 metres above the ground. The space will be home to a public observatory, residential clubhouse, hotel lobby and restaurants. In Beijing, Zaha Hadid Architect's SOHO Li Ze will make its debut. Its soaring atrium, claimed to be the world's tallest, is the signature showpiece of the cylindrical tower.
2019 is also proving that in cities with limited space, reinvention is always on the table. The 31-storey, 1957-built 425 Park Avenue in Manhattan is undergoing a dramatic overhaul that will convert and extrude the office building into a 44-storey modern tower.
Down under, the growing Melbourne skyline will see one of its biggest additions in September with the completion of Aurora Melbourne Central. The glassy edifice will implement a phased occupancy approach that allows residents to move into the lower levels of the 270.5-metre-tall tower as work on the upper floors continue.
Back in North America, the birthplace of the skyscraper will celebrate a busy year with two major additions. The 273-metre-tall NEMA Chicago will wrap up construction and the 363-metre-tall Vista Tower will reach its final height along the Chicago River. The milestones come just in time for the 10th CTBUH World Congress, which is being held from October 28 to November 2.
South of the equator, the seafront city of Balneario Camboriu will be the exclusive home of Brazil's tallest buildings. The "Brazilian Dubai" is constructing four buildings over 200 metres in height. Surprisingly, Brazil had never previously broken the 200-metre barrier.
It took 45 years of skyscraper construction for the first supertall building, the Chrysler Building, to make its debut. By 2015, there were 100 supertalls on the planet. And in a short four-year time frame, that number will double. By the end of the year, there will be over 200 supertall buildings scattered around the world, more than half of them in China.
CTBUH's full predictions can be read here. As always, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.
