The CTBUH 2008 Top Ten

The lovely people at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, or CTBUH for short, has come up with a list of 2008 tallest completed buildings.

The criteria that must be met for buildings to qualify is quite relaxed but the building must fulfill all of the criteria in order to be included. They should be topped out both structurally and architecturally, fully clad, no naked towers need apply and finally be open for business or at least partially occupied.

This year rather surprisingly china seems to have scooped most of the ten places with six of their towers with Dubai, which is often considered the skyscraper capital of the world only netting three spots and America getting the grand total of one building onto the list.

In at number ten we have One Lujiazui in Shanghai, China. Standing at 269 metres, the tower is designed by architectural firm Nikken Sikkei. Opting for a simple look the tower is triangular in shape with a sloping peak and features glazed facades.

Taking the number 9 and 8 spots is a twin towered project named The Cullinan 1and The Cullinan 2, both towers stand at 270 metres and are located in Hong Kong, China. Designed by architects Wong and Ouyang and both towers sport a distinct box like look to them.

At number seven is Dubai's first tower in the list, the Emirates Crown which stands at 296 metres and is the work of the Design and Architecture Bureau. Squared in appearance the residential tower features a mix of concrete and glazed facades.

Catching the number six spot is Americas only entry into the chart, the Comcast Tower in Philadelphia. With a height of 297 metres the tower is designed by Robert A M Stern Architects LLP and Kendall/Heaton Associates. Again sporting the boxy look the tower uses a mix of concrete and white glaze for its facades and houses premium office spaces.

Number five is One Island East located in Hong Kong and is another tower from the drawing boards of Wong Ouyang. It stands at 298 metres and is squarish in design with tapered peak. It features glazed facades.

In at number four is The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, which probably should have an award for longest name. this not so little number comes from the sketch books of W S Atkins and Partners and stands at 306 metres which just gives it super tall skyscraper status. The elliptical shaped tower is fully glazed and has a distinctive peak that looks a bit like a Roman Centurion's helmet plume.

Getting the third place winners sticker for effort is the Minsheng Bank Building in Wuhan, China. Standing at a quite impressive 331 metres it is the work of Wuhan Architectural Institute, its squarish in appearance with a tapering, pyramid like peak.

The second place modest rosette goes to Dubai's Almas Tower that is another W S Atkins and Partners design. It rises to 363 metres and is constructed from concrete.

Taking the winners trophy for 2008 however is the Shanghai World Financial Centre located surprisingly in Shanghai, China. Standing at 492 metres it just falls shy of knocking Taipei 101off the worlds tallest building top spot. Designed by Kohn, Pederson, Fox Associates in conjunction with Irie Miyake Architects and Engineers, the glass clad skyscraper houses offices and a hotel and has the look of a rather classy bottle opener.

With super super tall towers under construction like the Burj Dubai which will stand at 818 metres it wont be long before shanghai is overshadowed and will have to pull the stops out to win the trophy back from Dubai in the coming years.