The tallest building in the world is a record of human achievement. They are an expression of our civilization and a marker of our progress. They represent our culture, society, and values.
The tallest buildings have always been a point of pride for many people and are often seen as symbols of success or status. But what is it that makes these tall structures so special? What makes them so important to us?
Types of Buildings
Mixed-use buildings are the most popular type of building in the United States. There are many benefits to having a mixed-use building, such as more affordable rent, more people living closer together, and less reliance on cars.
A skyscraper is a tall building with multiple floors above ground, typically one or more below ground. The height of a skyscraper is measured from the level of its lowest floor, usually the basement or first floor, to its architectural top.
Architects and Structures of Tall Buildings – What are they Made Of?
Architects of tall buildings must consider their materials and how they can ensure that the building is structurally sound. Steel, concrete, and glass are the most common materials used to build skyscrapers. These materials are typically mixed in a specific ratio depending on what each material can do for the building.
Steel is used for structural support but is also heavy and can create significant vibrations. Concrete can be used to create a building with solid foundations. Still, it needs time to set before the building can be touched. Glass provides an aesthetic view of the building but doesn’t provide much strength or stability. As a result of these different strengths and weaknesses, the building is more robust when the materials are mixed in a ratio that favors steel. Shapes can be designed to provide different impacts on how buildings react during an earthquake.
The Five Tallest Buildings in the World
1. Burj Khalifa
With 163 floors, Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, tops the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa was designed to symbolize modernity and progress for the UAE. Construction began on 4th January 2004 and finished on 4th October 2010. The tower’s architecture is unique as it contains Islamic and Gothic design elements. The building was mainly built using reinforced, prestressed concrete.
At 828.8 meters (2,717 ft), Burj Khalifa, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is the tallest man-made structure ever built. It has 163 floors and the weight of the empty building is 551,156 tons (500,000 metric tons). It is located in Downtown Dubai and has a total structural height of about 1,168 meters (3,857 ft).
Burj Khalifa’s Construction Process
Construction of the Burj Khalifa began on 4th January 2004 and was officially opened on 4th January 2010.
The building used 5.6 million cubic meters of concrete and 55,000 tons of steel. The construction cost was USD 1.5 billion, with 160 floors and another 3 below ground. The building currently houses 722 luxury apartments, over 130 retail stores, four restaurants, and the world’s tallest indoor ski slope.
Construction of the structure began on 12th January 2004, with the exterior completed in October 2009. The official opening of the structure to the public was on 4th January 2010, and it is part of the Downtown Dubai development area.
The Design
Designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago, Burj Khalifa adds elegance and uniqueness to its overall appearance. This building was designed to symbolize modernity and progress for the United Arab Emirates.
The Burj Khalifa comprises 163 floors with a total height of 828 meters. It has been used as a hotel, an office space, and a residential building. The design of this building was inspired by the Islamic architecture of 13th century Andalusia and modern-day France.
The Burj Khalifa has a unique design that includes four square clusters of white marble stacked atop one another, often referred to as the ‘crown.’ This building has many environmentally friendly features, such as energy-efficient HVAC and water recycling systems. It generates its own electricity with wind turbines and uses solar panels to provide energy for the building.
The Burj Khalifa has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with a designation as a World Heritage Site in recognition of its cultural significance.
Conception
The design of Burj Khalifa is such that it will be the centerpiece of the Downtown Dubai development region. The region is used for a mixed-use development consisting of 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 19 residential skyscrapers, 3 hectares of Parkland, a 12-hectare artificial lake, and the Dubai Mall.
The government decided to construct Burj Khalifa to diversify from the oil-based economy to that of service and tourism based. In addition, officials stated that projects like Burj Khalifa were essential for Dubai to garner international attention and investments. Initially called Burj Dubai, it was officially renamed Burj Khalifa to honor the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Additionally, both the federal government of UAE and Abu Dhabi lent 10 billion U.S. dollars to Dubai so that it could repay its debts.
2. Merdeka 118
Warisan Merdeka Tower or Merdeka 118 is a 678.9-meter mega-tall skyscraper with 118 storeys. Located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the tower is the second man-made tallest building in the world.
Merdeka means independence and takes inspiration from the two nearby stadiums: Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara. The construction of the spire atop the tower was completed in 2021. The total construction of the tower was completed in mid-2022 and is the tallest structure in Southeast Asia and Malaysia. It surpassed Shanghai Tower (632m) to become the world’s second-tallest structure.
Merdeka 118 surpasses the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by 227m. The construction is also the first in the country to receive a triple platinum rating from WSC (Worldwide sustainability certifications) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Background
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) funded 19-acre land to develop the Merdeka 118 tower. The estimated budget for the construction was RM5 billion (US$ 1.21 billion). After completing the total construction, it will be the tallest structure in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The tower will consist of 400,000 square meters of residential, commercial, and hotel space.
As per the sources, 100 storeys of the building are available for rent, out of which 83 levels consist of office space, 12 hotel rooms, and 5 hotel residences. In addition, on the 115th floor, the structure hosts an observatory deck, which will become Southeast Asia’s highest observation deck when completed.
The Merdeka 118 tower will be surrounded by 4 acres of linear and urban park. The tower will also have elevators, recreational facilities, maintenance facilities, and parking spaces that accommodate 8,500 cars. Out of the 80 storeys available for office space, 60 storeys are reserved for PNB and the project developer’s subsidiaries.
Location
The Merdeka 118 is in Petaling Hill, which housed the former Merdeka Park. The site is in landmark areas such as Petaling Street, Merdeka Stadium, and Plaza Rakyat. People will access the structure through the newly constructed Merdeka MRT Station that falls on the Kajang Line (SBK) when completed. Further, the tower will be linked with all three major roads through the Belfield Tunnel. The tunnel is a 2-storey construction that passes through the Kampung Attap and Jalan Maharajalela.
Design
The Merdeka 118 tower design is a mixture of glass facades designed in a diamond shape to represent the diversity of Malaysians. The design is inspired by Tunku Abdul Rahman’s hand gesture while chanting “Merdeka” during the proclamation of Malaysian Independence on 31st August 1957.
The structure’s cladding will comprise 18,144 panels, 114,000 square-meter glass, and 1,600 tons of window frame extrusions. The structural engineers for the project are Leslie E. Robertson Associates and Robert Bird Group. In contrast, the structural and civil record holder is Arup.
The tower will have an 8.4km stretch of LED light strips that light up the structural unit at night. The arrangement of these light strips is such that they gradually move from one corner of the tower to the other. The Neapoli Group became the consultant for the structure. It offered services to provide triple platinum rating certifications, including LEED, GreenRE, and Green Building Index.
3. Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower is a 632-meter mega-tall structure with 128 storeys. Located in Pudong, Shanghai, China, the structure remained in the second spot as the tallest building in the world until Merdeka 118 overtook it by about 50 meters. Today, Shanghai Tower is the tallest structure in China and the third tallest building in the world.
The Shanghai Tower has retained the title of the tallest and largest LEED-certified building since 2015. Additionally, it shares a record for having the world’s highest observation deck with Ping An Finance Center. The tower has the world’s second fastest elevator system, with speeds reaching 20.5 meters per second until 2017. The elevator system of Guangzhou CTF Finance Center overtook the record by having speeds of 21 meters per second.
Gensler, the international design firm, is behind the structure’s design and Shanghai Municipal Government owns the tower. The tower is one of the world’s first triple-adjacent supertall structures located in Pudong, with the other two towers being Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center. In addition, the construction is such that the building receives a high energy efficiency rating, providing nine different zones segregated into office, leisure, and retail.
Construction
The construction work began in 2008 and took five years to complete the entire building. However, the completion of the exterior work was completed in 2015. Nonetheless, work as a full completion was considered to be ended by September 2014. Therefore, the actual public use date was February 2015, which was shifted from November 2014. The sightseeing deck was opened to the public in 2017 after conducting a test run since July 2016.
The site was previously a driving range. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on 29th November 2008 after the site passed the environmental impact study. The primary construction contractor for the project was Shanghai Construction Group, a member of the consortium group that owns the tower.
The construction company opted for the repetitive slip-forming procedure to construct the tower’s core floor-by-floor. Within three years, the steel reinforcement for the building rose to the 18th floor while the concrete core reached the 15th floor. The speed of the work picked pace when the tower’s foundation was completed in December 2011.
The construction crew laid the final structural beam on 3rd August 2013, topping the tower, which stood as the country’s tallest and second tallest building. A topping-out ceremony was held at the beam. Gensler co-founder Art Gensler was present and quoted, “The Shanghai Tower represents the new way of creating and defining cities.”
Additionally, Jun Xia, the principal architect of the tower, quoted, “The topping out of the Shanghai Tower will represent the past, present, and the boundless future that China holds.”
History
As per the Lujiazui financial district planning model, which dates back to 1993, there was a plan to construct three supertall buildings adjacent. The Jin Mao Tower was the first to be completed in 1999, and the Shanghai World Financial Center was the second to be completed in 2008.
Yeti Construction and Development owns the Shanghai Tower, a consortium of state-owned development companies. The funding for the construction of the towers came from shareholders, Shanghai municipal government, and bank loans. The building had an estimated cost of US$2.4 billion in construction.
4. Abraj Al Bait
The Clock Towers, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is a government-owned building consisting of seven skyscraper hotels. The project is part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project, which plans to modernize the city and cater to the pilgrims that arrive in Mecca. The Makkah Clock Royal Tower is the fourth tallest building in the world and the sixth tallest freestanding building worldwide. The clock tower’s top four floors consist of the Clock Tower Museum.
The tower is a few meters away from the Great Mosque of Mecca, Islam’s most sacred site. Saudi Binladin Group is the structure’s contractor and developer, the Kingdom’s largest construction group. According to the available financial records, the Clock Tower is the second most expensive structure in the world, with construction costing a whopping US$15 billion.
The construction site hosted the Ajyad Fortress, an 18th-century Ottoman citadel. It was situated on top of the hill that overlooks the Great Mosque. The Kingdom destroyed the fort in 2002, which sparked outrage across the globe and a strong reaction from Turkey.
Description
The Clock Tower stands at 601-meters and is the tallest building in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a total covered area of 32,000 square meters. It surpassed the Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen, China, as the sixth-tallest freestanding structure. The location of the Clock Towers faces the South main entrance of the Masjid al-Haram Mosque. The tallest tower in the complex also consists of a five-star hotel to accommodate worshippers visiting the mosque. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts operates the hotel and provides boarding and lodging to millions of pilgrims visiting Mecca annually as part of the Hajj pilgrimage.
The establishment houses a five-storey shopping mall and a parking garage accommodating over 1,000 vehicles. The initial plan for the construction of the structure was to be 734 meters. However, officials published a statement in 2009 stating that the structure’s final height would be 601 meters. Saudi binladin group, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s largest construction company, is the project’s contractor. The construction company used Premier Composite Technologies from Dubai and the clock for the tower from PERROT GmbH & Co., Germany’s famous tower clock manufacturer.
Clock
The attractive element of the clock tower is the clock faces assembled on each side of the hotel tower. The height of the clock is 57 meters and is displayed under the clock faces. At 43 m x 43 m, these clocks are the largest in the world. Additionally, the clock’s roof is 450 meters above the ground, making it the most elevated architectural clock in the world.
There is a spire added atop the clock, which helped reach the total height of 601 meters. One will find an astronomy exhibition behind the clock faces. Additionally, the iron-covered floors in the spire base consist of a scientific center. Aaprt from using it for scientifical requirements, Islamic heads used it to sight the moon at the beginning of the Islamic months. The scientific center also consists of an atomic clock that controls the tower clocks.
The Spire
Called The Jewel, the eight-storey glass-covered base of the spire belongs to a scientific center consisting of its own exhibition. There is also an observation deck at 484 meters. The highest floor in the spire is the control tower floor, which was planned to observe and control the air traffic over Mecca. Airplanes and helicopters are not allowed near Mecca. However, there is no control tower floor, which was skipped for technical reasons. The future use of the same is also unclear. Above the glass-covered base, called The Jewel, the spire consists of only technical installations used for light, sound, and other infrastructure. There is also a crescent above all. The Crescent has two floors: living areas, rooms, and a few service floors.
Dubai’s Premier Composite Technology was the manufacturer of the Crescent. The company manufactured the Crescent using fiberglass-backed mosaic gold weighing 35 tons. According to the company official, Joseph, a team of five engineers and a hundred workers completed the project in three months, costing 90 million United Arab Emirates dirhams.
The company is also responsible for the construction of the clock in Mecca. To install the Crescent above the spire, the company divided it into 10 parts and moved it to Mecca. At the spire’s base, the company once again assembled it into five equal parts, lifted it, and installed it with care. Loudspeakers are placed at the minaret’s base to broadcast the prayer calls. The sound reaches seven kilometers and covers an approximate 160 square kilometers.
5. Ping An International Finance Center
The Ping An International Finance Center is the world’s 5th tallest building in the world standing at 599 meters in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Ping An Insurance commissioned the construction of the building, and it was designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates of the United States. The tower’s construction was completed in 2017, after which it became the tallest building in Shenzhen and the second tallest building in China. In addition, the tower broke the record of having an observation deck in a building at the height of 562 meters.
Progress
The building is in the Central Business District of Shenzhen in Futian. Ping An Group purchased an 18,931 square meter lot in 2007 for 1.6568 billion RMB in an auction. While the architectural design was awarded to Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, Thornton Tomasetti aided with the structural design. On 29th August 2009, the foundation stone was laid, and the construction began in the same year in November. The contractor employed for the construction of the building was China Construction First Building Group.
In 2013, the construction process was temporarily halted because there was a suspicion of using concrete manufactured from unprocessed sea sand. However, after collecting a sampling and testing the same, the construction was resumed upon finding no suspicious activity. In 2014, after erecting a 10-meter-long steel column, the skyscraper reached 443.8 meters in height, surpassing KK100, the tallest tower in Shenzhen.
On 30th April 2015, the building topped out and became the second largest skyscraper in China, with a total height of 599 meters. The original plan included the addition of a 60-meter-long antenna at the top of the building to surpass the Shanghai Tower and become the tallest structure in China. However, the decision was taken in February 2015 to not add the antenna, as it would obstruct flight paths.
Features
The Ping An International Finance Center features hotels, retail spaces, officers, a conference center, and a high-end shopping mall. In addition, there is an observation deck on floor 116 named Free Sky. The structure is also the headquarters of Ping An Insurance.
The tower’s design represented elegance and uniqueness, taking into account the achievements and history of Ping An Group. Adding to the modern design of the building is stainless steel façade that weighs about 1,700 metric tons. The finance center has a gross floor area of 378,600 square meters. A five-level basement adds to another 90,000 square meters of area. The 620,000 metric ton tower has 8 columns that are part of the superstructure. The column dimensions are between 6×3.2m at the lowest and 2.9×1.4m at the top.
The other feature hosted in the International Finance Center is the elevator system. The structure has a total of 33 double-deck elevators that travel at speeds of 10 meters per second.
Conclusion
Humans have always been questing to test barriers and break the limits. As a result, humanity has often set new records, broke them, and once again created new ones. The city’s skyline is the best example of this nature, given that every historical period had something to offer. Churches left their mark initially, after which the public institutions became taller. However, in the last few decades, commercial skyscrapers have continued dominating the tallest structure or buildings in the world list.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) came forward with a system to classify tall buildings worldwide. As a result, you have learned about the five tallest buildings currently spread across different geographical locations. You now have complete information about the structures that are an engineering and design marvel.
