2019 Sets New Record for Supertall Building Completion

CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released its annual report, CTBUH Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2019, part of the Tall Buildings in Numbers data analysis series. The report shows that 126 buildings of 200 meters' height or greater were completed in 2019, including 26 "supertall" buildings of at least 300 meters' height, a new record.

The total number of supertall buildings worldwide is now 170. In 2013, there were 76 buildings 300 meters or higher worldwide; in 2000, only 26. The 530-meter Tianjin CTF Finance Centre in Tianjin, China was the tallest building completed in 2019.

"This is the fifth year in a row that a building over 500 meters has been completed, which is a remarkable accomplishment for the building industry - it was only 15 years ago that such buildings didn't exist," said CTBUH Chief Executive Officer Antony Wood.

Overall, the total completed buildings of at least 200 meters declined in 2019 by 13.7 percent (there were 146 in 2018). Due to the long lead times inherent to skyscraper construction, many of the projects completing in 2019 were conceived and initiated five or more years ago, and thus reflect the development circumstances of a half-decade prior.

However, 2019 proved to be a significant year for some areas that did not already have an abundance of tall buildings, and in some cases, had never been on the 200-meter-plus list before. Africa gained a new tallest building: the Great Mosque of Algiers (265 meters) in Algeria. And on the opposite end, The Leonardo (227 meters) became South Africa's new tallest building, and the second-tallest building on the continent. Europe also gained a new tallest building - the Lakhta Center (462 meters) in St. Petersburg. And Brazil completed the Infinity Coast Tower (235 meters), the country's first building to exceed 200 meters.

Looking into 2020, CTBUH currently projects a similar range for the expected number of completions for 200-meter-plus buildings: between 115 and 145. Of these, between 17 and 30 are expected to be supertalls (300 meters and higher).

View the full interactive report on The Skyscraper Center.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2019-sets-new-record-for-supertall-building-completion-300974148.html

SOURCE Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat