Ateliers Jean Nouvel's One Central Park wins CTBUH Best Tall Building Worldwide 2014

To say the least, it's been a great year for Ateliers Jean Nouvel + PTW Architects' One Central Park in Sydney, Australia. During the CTBUH 13th Annual Awards Symposium at Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology yesterday, the regional winners of the Best Tall Building competition presented their projects one last time to the jury.

After the jury — chaired by architect Jeanne Gang — convened, One Central Park was announced as the overall winning Best Tall Building Worldwide 2014 during the Awards Ceremony and Dinner in the Mies van der Rohe-designed Crown Hall.

The audience partook in a separate vote for their favorite project that was submitted via text message. And what do you know, One Central Park was revealed as the audience's top choice (which was done after the jury's official verdict).

Find out more about the project below.

About One Central Park:

"One Central Park uses two unusual technologies for tall buildings – hydroponics and heliostats – to grow plants around the periphery of the building at all levels."

"The shading saves cooling energy, while the heliostat directs sunlight for heating and lighting into or away from the building and the adjoining park when it is most needed."

"The project presages a future in which biomimicry is no longer a radical concept in architecture, while inverting a perception that tall buildings can only block light and   rob the urban environment of natural greenery. Instead, it does just the opposite, strategically casting light about itself to reduce rooftop heat loads and stir visual interest at height and on the ground, while enshrouding itself in lush greenery."

"By showcasing the green art of the possible, One Central Park ascribes a tantalizing literalness to the expression 'a forest of skyscrapers.'"

Since 2007, the CTBUH Best Tall Building Awards recognizes tall building projects around the globe considered to have made an exception contribution to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment. The awards also recognize tall buildings that have achieved sustainable design at the broadest level.

Jury:

• Jeanne Gang – Studio Gang Architects: Awards Jury Chair
• Sir Terry Farrell – Farrells
• David Gianotten – OMA
• Saskia Sassen – Columbia University
• David Scott – Laing O’Rourke
• Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang – Shenzhen Ping An Financial Centre Construction and Development Ltd. Co.
• Antony Wood – CTBUH