“Best Tall Building” Awards for 2008 recognize worldwide trend toward green innovations in sustainable design

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), the world’s leading authority on tall building design and construction, designated the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) the world’s "Best Tall Building Overall" in 2008 at its annual awards ceremony in Chicago.

Selected from among four buildings designated "Best Tall Building" in their respective regions of the globe, the Shanghai World Financial Center was chosen as the overall winner for its revolutionary structural design and inspirational symbolism in a city emerging as a global capital.

At 101 stories, the Shanghai World Financial Center is the world’s tallest building in "height to top of roof" and "highest occupied floor"; its visitors’ square and observation deck is the highest publicly accessible built space in the world. Completed in August 2008, the building is a testament to flexibility, endurance, and the emerging realization that inspired tall building construction is integral to sustainable urban environments. SWFC was under construction for more than a decade and was structurally redesigned significantly during that time. Moreover, in a time before green construction in the tall building field was a mainstream issue, SWFC was engineered with an eye toward conserving materials and preventing waste. Already, it has become one of China’s iconic structures.

To learn more about the awards, click here.