Salesforce Tower in San Francisco is crowned Best Tall Building Worldwide at CTBUH Awards

San Francisco's new supertall Salesforce Tower rose above a competitive field of high-rise contenders worldwide and gained the coveted distinction of Best Tall Building Worldwide, awarded annually by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the 1,070-foot-tall Salesforce Tower was also selected as category winner in the Best Tall Building 300–399 Meters bracket.

Besides various Best Tall Building titles, the list of categories also included Urban Habitat, Innovation, Renovation, Interior Space, and Construction, alongside five categories focused specifically on Engineering achievements. 

"Between expanded and reconfigured Best Tall Building categories and seven new Awards categories, this year’s Award of Excellence Winners, more than any year prior, truly communicate the breadth of expertise and collaboration required to create the world’s foremost urban developments,” said Karl Fender, Best Tall Building Jury Chair and Founding Partner of Fender Katsalidis Architects.

Take a look at this year's category winners below.

Best Tall Building Worldwide & Best Tall Building 300–399 Meters Category Winner: Salesforce Tower, San Francisco

Project summary: "Standing as the tallest building in San Francisco, this tower pushes new limits in both its performance as a leading-edge office tower and its robust seismic design, while establishing significant connections to the surrounding urban habitat."

Award of Excellence Winners:

• China Resources Tower, Shenzhen
• Jumeirah Nanjing Hotel & International Youth Cultural Centre, Nanjing
• King Power MahaNakhon, Bangkok

Best Tall Building Under 100 Meters Category Winner: Forma Itaim, São Paulo

Project summary: "A response to growing residential demand of a prosperous upper middle class in São Paulo, Forma Itaim stands out with its variety of facade treatments, featuring a vibrant color-coated terracotta cladding and a perforated aluminum double-skin."

Award of Excellence Winners

• Emblem, Sydney
• Kampung Admiralty, Singapore
• Lè Architecture, Taipei
• The Opus, Dubai 

Best Tall Building 100–199 Meters Category Winner and Interior Space Award Category Winner: Amorepacific Headquarters, Seoul

Project summary: "By elevating the external layer of the facade, the entrance level opens up to the city and draws the public into a generous atrium. A rich mixture of public amenities – from art museum to auditorium, library and restaurants – connect this headquarters tower to its urban context."

Award of Excellence Winners (Best Tall Building 100–199 Meters)

• Baidu Headquarters, Shenzhen
• Crystal Laputa Towers, Chengdu
• DUO, Singapore
• European Patent Office, Rijswijk
• Manhattan Loft Gardens, London
• Morpheus, Macau
• One Park Taipei, Taipei 

Award of Excellence Winners (Interior Space Award)

• Jumeirah Nanjing Hotel & International Youth Cultural Centre, Nanjing
• The Central Bank of Kuwait New Headquarters Building, Kuwait City 

Best Tall Building 200–299 Meters Category Winner: Shenzhen Energy Headquarters, Shenzhen

Project summary: "Enclosed in a finely attuned skin for its subtropical climate, the facade oscillates between transparency and opacity, reducing solar gain for occupant comfort and efficiency. The north and south towers are linked by an eight-story podium housing the main lobbies, commercial areas, conference centers and a cafeteria."

Award of Excellence Winners

• 181 Fremont, San Francisco
• 277 Fifth Avenue, New York City

Best Tall Building 400 Meters and Above Category Winner: Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen 

Project summary: "Located in Shenzhen’s new central business district, the Ping An Finance Center is the city’s tallest building. With more than 100 floors of office space and a large podium with retail and conference space, the project also connects to neighboring commercial and residential properties and public transportation."

Award of Excellence Winners

• CITIC Tower, Beijing

Best Tall Office Building Category Winner: European Patent Office, Rijswijk

Project summary: "This project represents the European Patent Office’s largest single investment in its 40-year history in the Netherlands. Built under BREEAM standards and BNB standards, an array of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof sky garden provide a source of renewable energy while a double-skin facade houses hanging gardens."

Best Tall Residential or Hotel Building Category Winner: 277 Fifth Avenue, New York City 

Project summary: "Transparency, glass, and expansive views are the defining characteristics of the building. To generate a uniform floor plate and units of the desired size, the building is cantilevered over an existing five-story brownstone."

Best Tall Mixed-Use Building Category Winner and Urban Habitat: Single-Site Scale Category Winner: Kampung Admiralty, Singapore

Project summary: "A vertical village that contains senior apartments, a community plaza, medical center, and an urban farm, this prototype for land-use intensification is aimed specifically at an aging society."

Award of Excellence Winners (Urban Habitat: Single-Site Scale)

• 150 North Riverside, Chicago
• Tanjong Pagar Centre, Singapore 

10-Year Award Category Winner: The Pinnacle@Duxton, Singapore

Project summary: "The 12 sky gardens at this seven-tower complex function as an extension of the living environment for residents, forming almost one hectare of new land – in the sky. Further, the orientation of the towers creates urban windows that frame the city skyline, eliminates overlooking between units and optimizing views."

Award of Excellence Winners

• Broadcasting Place, Leeds
• Linked Hybrid, Beijing

Fire & Risk Engineering Award Category Winner: Morpheus, Macau

Project summary: "With a twisting geometric facade punctuated by three holes, this hotel delivered a fire engineering challenge. To ensure effective fire suppression, four layers of sprinkler lines were installed on different levels of the spectacular atrium."

Award of Excellence Winners

• 181 Fremont, San Francisco
• Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen 

Find more category-winning buildings and engineering achievements in the image gallery below.