flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

A new record: 97 buildings taller than 200 meters completed in 2014

A new record: 97 buildings taller than 200 meters completed in 2014

Last year was a record-breaking year for high-rise construction, with 97 tall buildings completed worldwide, including 11 "supertalls."


By BD+C Staff | January 13, 2015
Torre Costanera in Santiago, Chile, is South America's first supertall. Photo: J
Torre Costanera in Santiago, Chile, is South America's first supertall. Photo: Javier via Flickr/Wikimedia Commons

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat released its 2014 Year in Review report. According to the report, the total number of buildings over 200 meters completed (97 worldwide) was higher in 2014 than in any other year on record. Another first: 11 supertalls were completed last year. 

The market continues to shift to Asia, with 76% of tall buildings completed there; 60% in China alone. Surprising to CTBUH, there was an increase in all-steel construction for the first time since 2000, which bears further investigation.

There will be multiple mega projects to watch in 2015, which the report recaps here.

Other noteworthy findings from the report:
• After China, the most 200-meter-plus buildings went up in the Phillippines (five), then United Arab Emirates and Qatar (four each), with the U.S., Japan, Indonesia, and Canada tying for fourth place (three each).
• Chile completed the first supertall in South America, the 300-meter Torre Costanera in Santiago.
• Japan also entered the supertall market with the 300-meter Abeno Harukas in Osaka.
• One World Trade Center was the tallest building of the year to be completed and is now the world's third-tallest building.
• All-office buildings continue to fall out of the 100 Tallest buildings ranking, with 39 in 2014, down from 42 the previous year.

Read the full report here.

Related Stories

| Oct 5, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Sustainable construction should stress durability as well as energy efficiency

There is now a call for making enhanced resilience of a building’s structure to natural and man-made disasters the first consideration of a green building. 

| Oct 4, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Methods, impacts, and opportunities in the concrete building life cycle

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub conducted a life-cycle assessment (LCA) study to evaluate and improve the environmental impact and study how the “dual use” aspect of concrete.

| Sep 20, 2011

Jeanne Gang wins MacArthur Fellowship

Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship winner described by the foundation as "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."

| Sep 14, 2011

Lend Lease’s role in 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Lend Lease is honored to be the general contractor for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum project at the World Trade Center site in New York City.

| Sep 14, 2011

Thornton Tomasetti’s Poon named to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Board of Trustees

 During his 30-plus years of experience, Poon has been responsible for the design and construction of super high-rise structures, mixed-used buildings, hotels, airports, arenas and residential buildings worldwide. 

| Sep 6, 2011

Construction on Beijing's tallest building starts next week

The 108 floor mixed-use skyscraper consists of offices, apartments, hotels and shopping malls on the lower floors.

| May 25, 2011

World’s tallest building now available in smaller size

Emaar Properties teamed up with LEGO to create a miniature version of the Burj Khalifa as part of the LEGO Architecture series. Currently, the LEGO Burj Khalifa is available only in Dubai, but come June 1, 2011, it will be available worldwide.

| May 17, 2011

Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?

Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.

| Apr 19, 2011

15 mind-blowing skyscrapers

Our friends at Inhabitat have rounded up 15 incredible buildings—from underground cities to vertical farms to bio-fuel power plants and skyscrapers.

| Mar 22, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s

Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021