Guangzhou - The Skyscraper Center

05 July 2023

We All Love to Get High: Optimizing Observation Deck Design

Terri Meyer Boake

Height is aspirational, and having the best view from that height has become a driver in contemporary tall building design. Likewise, observation decks are a...

03 April 2023

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2022: World Surpasses 2,000 Buildings of 200 Meters or Greater Height

CTBUH Staff

This report shows that 147 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed in 2022, a 25 percent increase from 2021, when 118 such...

22 August 2022

The World’s Highest Pools: A Deep Dive

S. Isaac Work & Shawn Ursini, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

Tall building design has diversified and adapted to accommodate increased demand for distinctive amenities at a range of heights. Swimming pools are a classic feature...

12 December 2018

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2018

CTBUH Research

The astronomical growth in tall building construction observed over the past decade continued in 2018, though the total number of completed buildings of 200 meters’...

05 February 2018

2017: Skyscraper History’s Tallest, Highest- Volume, and Most Geographically Diverse Year

This 2017 Tall Building Year in Review / Tall Buildings in Numbers data analysis report shows that more buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater...

01 September 2017

Site | Structure | Architecture – Projects that Create Change

Leo Chow & Mark P. Sarkisian, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

China’s rapid growth has created great opportunities for design and construction of projects that not only transform sites but cities. This work combines local, national,...

01 March 2017

Engineering of Guangzhou International Finance Centre

Michael Kwok & Alexis Lee, Arup

The Guangzhou International Finance Centre (IFC) is a landmark building that symbolizes the emerging international strength of Guangzhou, China’s third largest city. It is also...

10 January 2017

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2016

Jason Gabel, Annan Shehadi, Shawn Ursini & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

CTBUH has determined that 128 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed around the world in 2016 – setting a new record for...

17 October 2016

Megacities: Setting the Scene

Daniel Safarik, Shawn Ursini & Antony Wood; Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

The rise of the megacity presents unprecedented opportunities to understand the human urbanization phenomenon, and to observe the effects of multicore, polycentric cities growing together...

17 October 2016

Cities to Megacities: Perspectives

CTBUH 2016 Conference Speakers

The CTBUH 2016 International Conference is being held in the three cities of the Pearl River Delta, the world’s largest “megacity,” projected to have 120...

17 October 2016

The Largest Megalopolis in the World: Assessing the Urbanization of the Pearl River Delta

Peter Kindel, Ellen Lou & Lingyue Anne Chen, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

With the world’s urban population expected to increase by roughly 2.5 billion people by 2050, developing an understanding of megalopolises is critical to understanding and...

17 October 2016

The Roots of Tall Buildings: Connecting the City

Peter Brannan, Arquitectonica

This paper investigates the integration of tall tower, mixed-use developments and how they connect with the city and the public when they meet the ground....

17 October 2016

Exploring Geometry and Form in Tall Buildings

Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Using four tower designs on four continents – the Guangzhou International Finance Center in China, the Crown Sydney Resort Hotel in Australia, 45 Bay Street...

17 October 2016

Climate-Responsive Exterior Enclosure Design

Keith Boswell & Michael Duncan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

In this paper, three different solutions in three different regions of China illustrate best practices for the design and execution of optimized building enclosure systems....

17 October 2016

Façade Construction in China: Journey to Lean Design

Allan Chung, Gensler; Ivan Mutis, Illinois Institute of Technology

There is a recent trend in the construction industry to implement “lean concepts,” a management strategy based upon the Toyota Production System philosophy. While the...

17 October 2016

Overcoming MEP and VT System Design Challenges in Three of the Tallest Buildings in China

Vincent Tse, Herbert Lam, Kenneth Li & Michael Sung, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

This paper will address the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and drainage, and vertical transportation system (MEP/VTS) design challenges encountered during the design development of three unique,...

17 October 2016

From Meadows to Megacities: Creating Urban Density in the Pearl River Region

Travis Soberg, Goettsch Partners

The Greater Pearl River Delta region emerged as a result of China’s 1979 reform policies. Within the last 20 years, the GPRD has grown from...

17 October 2016

The Practice of TOD in the Urban Eco-Renaissance-CADRE Skyscraper & New GZ North Railway Station

Huijing Huang, Guangzhou Design Institute

The scarcity of land in the downtown area, in addition to the deterioration of urban environments, has led to urban sprawl and a lack of...

17 October 2016

21st Century Vertical Lifestyles - Intergenerational, Integrated Communities

Stephan Reinke, Stephan Reinke Architects Limited

How does the 21st Century youth culture of social media integrate and merge with an ever increasing tech savvy senior population? As our cities and...

17 October 2016

A Cultural Brand’s Journey Toward Building A Better New World

David Ho, New World Development Company Limited

New World Development Company Limited (NWD) has been a listed property developer in Hong Kong for nearly half a century. With businesses encompassing property development,...

19 January 2016

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2015

Jason Gabel, Marty Carver & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

CTBUH has determined that 106 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed around the world in 2015 – setting a new record for...

26 October 2015

The Inevitability of Global Adaptation: Eastern and Western Developers Practicing Internationally

Samuel Luckino & Peter Brannan, Arquitectonica

For architecture and engineering firms serving development clients who build large-scale urban projects in various corners of the world, the effort is often facilitated by...

26 October 2015

Integrated and Intelligent Buildings: An Imperative to People, the Planet and the Bottom Line

Kelly Romano, Mead Rusert & Hayden Reeve, United Technologies Corporation

With the impact of urbanization, larger cities, operating pressures and the rise of megatall skyscrapers, today’s new and existing buildings are increasingly being engineered as...

01 September 2015

Innovative Technologies and Their Application on the Construction of a 100-Plus-Story Skyscraper

Ye Haowen, China State Construction Engineering Corporation

Experience on the construction of several 100-plus-story skyscrapers including Guangzhou West Tower, Guangzhou East Tower, and Shenzhen’s KK100 is described considering the increasingly strong development...

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

31 December 2014

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2014

Daniel Safarik, Antony Wood, Marty Carver & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

An All-Time Record 97 Buildings of 200 Meters or Higher Completed in 2014 and 2014 showed further shifts towards Asia, and also surprising developments in...

16 September 2014

A New Skyline Vision: CTF Towers in Guangzhou and Tianjin

Wing Ip (David) Ho, Chung (Eddie) Yuk Fai, Hung (Annie) Lo & De Ming (Derry) Yu, New World Development

This paper presents the thinking behind the design of the two supertall towers of Chow Tai Fook Enterprise– the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center and the...

16 September 2014

Design Challenges of the 3 Tallest Buildings in North/ East/ South China

Kam Chuen (Vincent) Tse, Lung Wai (Herbert) Lam, Sheung Lai (Eddie) Leung & Leung Wing (Daniel) Ho, Parsons Brinckerhoff

This paper describes the MEP and VTS design challenges of the tallest buildings in three major cities in China; namely, Beijing, Suzhou and Guangzhou. The...

14 September 2014

Towards Sustainable Vertical Urbanism

Daniel Safarik, CTBUH

The survival of humanity on this planet relies on a radical repositioning of our cities. In the face of unprecedented global population growth, urbanization, pollution...

11 June 2014

Highest Helipads

CTBUH Research

In this installment of Tall Buildings in Numbers, CTBUH considers how helipads are used on skyscrapers, and which are the highest in the world. The...

01 June 2014

Case Study: Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou

Richard Tomlinson II, William Baker, Luke Leung, et al. Skidmore Owings & Merrill

SOM’s design for the 71-story Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, was selected in a 2005 competition. The 309-meter-tall high-performance building was designed with energy...

13 January 2013

Guangzhou International Finance Center, China

The Guangzhou International Finance Center is not only recognised as the tallest building in Guangzhou, but one of the most beautiful. A triangular base supports...

13 January 2013

Pearl River Tower Guangzhou, China

Acknowledged as the world’s most energyefficient ‘green’ building, the gently curved Pearl River Tower is constantly in the public spotlight and media. Architects Skidmore, Owings...

31 December 2012

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2012

Kevin Brass, Antony Wood & Marty Carver, CTBUH

For the first time in six years the number of tall buildings completed annually around the world declined as the effects of the global financial...

23 September 2012

The Tallest 15 Cities in China

CTBUH Research

With over 1.3 billion citizens and a rapidly urbanizing population, China is developing tall buildings more than any other country globally. Currently it has 239...

19 September 2012

A New Approach to Green Urban Development in Asia

Jeffrey Heller, Heller Manus Architects

Development in China has presented an opportunity for a new paradigm in the creation of large-scale, low-carbon /carbon-neutral high-rise, mixed-use urban centers. Two projects, one...

19 September 2012

Guangzhou Finance Centre: An Elegant Simplicity of Form

Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Architects Ltd

The design for the Guangzhou International Finance Centre makes the case for a high rise aesthetic that aims for an elegant simplicity, but expresses the...

01 June 2012

A New Leader for Telecom Towers

CTBUH Research

With the recent completion of two megatall telecommunication/observation towers it is perhaps time to review these structures and also explain why they are distinguished from...

18 January 2012

The Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the Era of the Megatall

Nathaniel Hollister & Antony Wood, CTBUH

Within this decade we will likely witness not only the world’s first kilometer-tall building, but also the completion of a significant number of buildings over...

01 February 2011

World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building

Mark Sarkisian & Neville Mathias, SOM; Dasui Wang, ECADI; Sam Lee, Guangzhou Scientific Computing Consultants

Because of its iconic slender form, a key design challenge was to develop an efficient lateral system capable of resisting wind and seismic lateral load;...

31 December 2010

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2010

CTBUH Research

In a year dominated by news coverage of the new “World’s Tallest Building” – Burj Khalifa, Dubai – one may be surprised to learn that,...

03 March 2008

Case Study: Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China

Roger E. Frechette III & Russell Gilchrist, SOM

This paper will attempt to both define what is meant by ‘carbon neutral’ in the context of building design as well as using the case...

03 March 2008

Fire Protection Strategies for an Energy Efficient High- Rise Building

Fang Li, James Antell & Martin Reiss, RJA

The Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China features numerous design strategies to reduce energy demand, which include among others vertical axis wind turbine and radiant...

31 December 2007