The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) released its annual report, the 2014 Tall Building Data Research Report, which concluded that 97 buildings of 200 meters (656 feet) or higher were completed last year, beating every previous year on record, including the all-time high of 81 completions 2011. Additionally, eleven “supertalls” (buildings of 300 meters—984 feet—or taller) were completed, making this year even more significant for tall buildings, as it was also the highest recorded annual total.
CTBUH also tracked the sum of the heights of the world’s buildings of 200 meters or higher completed in 2014. If stacked on top of each other, those skyscrapers would measure 23,333 meters (76,552 feet) high. Again, this statistic beat another all-time record, breaking 2011’s previous record of 19,852 meters (65,131 feet).
In tracking the locations of these buildings, Asia clearly dominates as the home to the greatest number of total skyscrapers completed in 2014 (74 were built in Asia, compared to the 97 total). For the seventh consecutive year, China has completed the most skyscrapers, claiming 58 tall buildings or 60 percent of the world’s 2014 total. The world’s tallest building completed in 2014, however, resides in the U.S. at 541 meters (1,776 feet): One World Trade Center in New York is now the world’s third tallest building.
The report estimates between 105 and 130 completions of buildings 200 meters of higher in 2015. On the report’s watch list for towers set for completion this year are the B2 BKLYN in New York; Vostok Tower in Moscow; KL118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Shanghai Tower in China, which will become the world’s second-tallest building.
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