25. October 2023
CTBUH 2023 Best Tall Building Worldwide: Quay Quarter Tower by 3XN (Photo © Phil Noller)
During its international conference in Singapore last week, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named the Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, the 2023 Best Tall Building Worldwide. It is the 3XN-designed tower's third major award in less than twelve months.
First came the International High-Rise Award in November 2022; the award is given annually and jointly by the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), and DekaBank to the "world’s most innovative high-rise." Less than a month later 3XN took home the World Building of the Year trophy at the 15th World Architecture Festival (WAF), held in Lisbon. And last week it won not only the Best Tall Building Worldwide at the CTBUH 2023 International Conference but five other category awards, as listed below.
So, what is the appeal of Quay Quarter Tower? What makes it so worthy of repeated commendation? The main reason is that Quay Quarter Tower is not a new tower, but the "upcycling" of the AMP Centre tower from the 1970s. In its design of the 49-story, 206-meter-tall Quay Quarter Tower, 3XN reused a large portion of its predecessor's structure, creating a wholly new expression of five angular stacked boxes with generous outdoor terraces. The appeal of such outdoor spaces in the post-pandemic year of 2023 is evident in The Spiral, an office building whose setbacks are created by snaking terraces, winning in its category.
The full list of winners is below the photograph of BIG's Spiral, with more details on each project found on the CTBUH website.
CTBUH 2023 Best Tall Building 300-399 meters: The Spiral by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group (Photo © Laurian Ghinitoiu)
2023 CTBUH Award of Excellence Winners (Regional):- Best Tall Building Worldwide: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
- Best Tall Building Special Commendation: DJI Sky City, Shenzhen, China
- Best Tall Building Americas: Engineering Laboratories | Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia
- Best Tall Building Asia: CapitaSpring, Singapore
- Best Tall Building Europe: Sara Kulturhus, Skellefteå, Sweden
- Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa: Atlantis The Royal Resort, Dubai, UAE
- Best Tall Building Oceania: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
- Best Tall Building under 100 meters: Valley, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Best Tall Building 100-199 meters: Lighthouse 2.0, Aarhus, Denmark
- Best Tall Building 200-299 meters: CapitaSpring, Singapore
- Best Tall Building 300-399 meters: The Spiral, New York City, USA
- Best Tall Building 400 meters and above: Guangxi China Resources Tower, Nanning, China
“These awards recognize holistic projects and designs that make extraordinary contributions to the advancement of the Tall+Urban environment.”
- Best Tall Non-Building: Lotus Tower, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Urban Habitat Award: Quay Quarter Lanes, Sydney, Australia
- Future Project Award: Atlassian Central, Sydney, Australia
- 10-Year Award: The Interlace, Singapore
“These awards recognize achievements in the methodologies and strategies employed to advance new and existing Tall+Urban projects.”
- Construction Award: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
- Repositioning Award: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
“These awards recognize individual innovations that advance the design and performance of Tall+Urban structures, systems, and spaces.”
- Innovation Award: Urban Sequoia NOW
- Structure Award: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
- Systems Award: PingAn Property & Casualty Insurance Tower, Shenzhen, China
- Space Within Award: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
“These awards recognize individuals that advance the Tall+Urban profession and policies focused on improving life for all citizens.”
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award: Turner Construction Company 2030
Lynn S. Beedle Achievement Award: Carol Willis, New York City, USA
Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Award: Patrick Bellew, London, UK