Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has revealed its Annual Tall Building Study for 2016 and the report shows that 128 buildings completed 200 Meters or Higher around the world in 2016. CTBUH declared the study as '2016 was a record-breaking year for Skyscraper completions'.

Reported by Jason Gabel and researched by Annan Shehadi, Shawn Ursini, and Marshall Gerometta from CTBUH, the 128 buildings completed in 2016 beat every previous year on record, including the previous record high of 114 completions in 2015. This brings the total number of 200-meter-plus buildings in the world to 1,168, marking a 441% increase from the year 2000, when only 265 existed.

2016 Tallest 1: Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre Guangzhou, China, 530 meters. Image © K11/New World Development, courtesy of CTBUH. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

''Tallest'' titles also reigned supreme in 2016, with 18 completed buildings becoming the tallest in a city, country, or region. These superlatives include: Vostok Tower (374 meters) completed to become the tallest building in Russia and Europe; MahaNakhon (314 meters) completed as the tallest building in Thailand. 

Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre (530 meters) completed as the tallest building in Guangzhou, the second-tallest in China, and the fifth-tallest in the world; Torre Reforma (246 meters) became the tallest in Mexico; Tajong Pagar Centre (290 meters) is now the tallest in Singapore and Gama Tower (286 meters) became the tallest in Indonesia.

2016 Tallest 2: Eton Place Dalian Tower 1, Dalian, 383 meters. Image Terrence Zhang, courtesy of CTBUH, designed by NBBJ

There were eighteen 200-meter-plus buildings completed that became the tallest in a city, country, or region. ?A total of 10 supertalls (buildings of 300 meters or higher) were completed in 2016, fewer than we anticipated this time last year, partly as a result of construction delays typical of buildings in this height range. Nonetheless, 2016 still saw the third-largest number of supertall completions of any year, trailing only 2015, which saw 14; and 2014, which saw 11.

The tallest building to complete in 2016 was Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, which stands as the tallest building in Guangzhou, the second-tallest building in 20 China, and the fifth-tallest building in the 1,650 world at 530 meters.

2016 Tallest 3: Vostok Tower, Moscow, 374 meters. Image © Igor Butyrskii, courtesy of CTBUH. Designed by nps+partner; Schweger Associated Architects

The report sets also regionals statistics and sees Asia at the top of the rank -Asia retained its status as the world’s skyscraper epicenter in 2016, completing 107 buildings, representing 84% of the 128-building total, while the Middle East matches its 2015 numbers with nine completions in 2016, with North America experiencing a slight increase this year, up from four completions in 2015 to seven in 2016.

The study recorded that Shenzhen had the highest number of 200-meter-plus completions of any city in 2016 with 11 (more than any country other than China managed to complete), while China’s Chongqing and Guangzhou, and Goyang, South Korea tied for second place with six each. The total height of buildings completed in Shenzhen is 2,608 meters.

2016 Tallest 7: MahaNakhon, Bangkok, 314 meters. Image © Alexander Roan/PACE Development, courtesy of CTBUH. Designed by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and Büro Ole Scheeren 

The United States completed the second-most 200-meter-plus buildings 6 with seven, a notable increase over the two buildings completed in 2015. Meanwhile, South Korea made the list with six completions, with Indonesia seeing five, and both the Philippines and Qatar completing four.

2016 Tallest 10: Shenzhen CFC Changfu Centre, Shenzhen, 304 meters. Image © Cheng Chen, courtesy of CTBUH. Designed by Shenzhen Aube Architectural Engineering Design

''It’s safe to say that the role of the tall building in China will never truly fade; the only question that remains is how long it will continue to keep a majority share of tall building completions annually. With the closest national contender, the US, in 2016 having only seven completions and China having 84, it’s clear that the gap will take a number of years to close, if it ever does. Perhaps the most indicative trend from this report highlighting China’s status is the fact that the city of Shenzhen completed 11 buildings that were 200 meters or higher,'' stated in the CTBUH report.

2016 Tallest 14: Gama Tower, Jakarta, 286 meters. Image © Westin, courtesy of CTBUH. Designed by PT. Sekawan DesignInc Arsitek

The report evaluates some of the city's economy and global impact through the tallest buildings and the study stresses that ''this is more than any country other than China managed to complete. With nine of these buildings accommodating pure office functions, and the remaining two combining office and either hotel or residential, the priorities for Shenzhen are clear: These buildings are strategic endeavors to stimulate the local and national economy with commerce, some of it originating internationally as a result of Shenzhen’s status as a Special Economic Zone. 

''The ethos is still very much in the realm of ''if you build it, they will come;'' we’ll just have to wait and see if the wager is fruitful.''

The 20 tallest buildings completed in 2016. Image © CTBUH

CTBUH's report also makes a postscript of 2017 for supertall buildings around the world and it is expected between 12 and 20 supertall buildings to be completed in 2017, primarily in Asia and the Middle East. 

Tallest Skyscraper Completed Each Year. Image © CTBUH

According to the study, the tallest building set to complete in 2017 is Ping An Finance Center, which at 599 meters will take its place as the tallest building in Shenzhen, the second-tallest in China, and the fourth-tallest in the world. 

Ping An was initially predicted to be the tallest completion in 2016, but the time needed to put the final touches on the tower caused it to slip into 2017. In South Korea, Lotte World Tower is also set to complete in Seoul, rising 555 meters and taking its position as the tallest in the country by a wide margin.

Top image © Alexander Roan, courtesy of PACE

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