Lakhta Center, the world's northernmost supertall tower, wins Emporis Skyscraper Award

The annual Emporis Skyscraper Awards unveiled ten winning tall projects today with the new Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg, Russia taking the top spot this year. 

Standing 1,515 feet (462 meters) tall, the GORPROJECT & RMJM-designed headquarters for natural gas giant Gazprom is the tallest building in Russia as well as in Europe and ranks number 14 worldwide.

Besides its unusual design, the jury praised Lakhta Center also for its energy-efficient technologies: "As the northernmost supertall skyscraper in the world, the building is exposed to extreme temperatures. A double skin façade prevents unnecessary heat loss and makes it extraordinarily energy efficient. In addition, thanks to the innovative use of infrared radiators, excess heat is not lost but fed back into the system."

Winning designers of the last two top titles in 2019 and 2018, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, still managed to score two awards this year with innovative high-rises in Singapore and Bangkok. Other architects that had previously won top recognitions, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group (in 2017 with VIA 57 West) and Zaha Hadid Architects (in 2015 with Wangjing SOHO), were among this year's honorees again.

Take a look at the top ten award winners below.

1. Lakhta Center
Height: 1,515 ft / 462 m
Floors: 87
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Architects: GORPROJECT; RMJM

2. Leeza SOHO
Height: 679 ft / 207 m
Floors: 46
Location: Beijing, China
Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects; Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

3. 35 Hudson Yards
Height: 1,010 ft / 308 m
Floors: 72
Location: New York, NY
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

4. Tianjin CTF Finance Center
Height: 1,739 ft / 530 m
Floors: 97
Location: Tianjin, China
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co. Ltd.; Ronald Lu & Partners

5. Aurora Melbourne Central
Height: 887 ft / 270 m
Floors: 84
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Architects: Elenberg Fraser

6. 18 Robinson
Height: 591 ft / 180 m
Floors: 28
Location: Singapore
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Architects 61 Pte Ltd.

7. The Paragon
Height: 515 ft / 157 m
Floors: 48
Location: Chicago, IL
Architects: Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)

8. One Thousand Museum
Height: 706 ft / 215 m
Floors: 62
Location: Miami, FL
Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects; O'Donnell, Dannwolf & Partners Architects

9. Omniturm
Height: 623 ft / 190 m
Floors: 46
Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Architects: BIG; B&V Braun Canton Architekten

10. Rosewood Bangkok
Height: 508 ft / 155 m
Floors: 32
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Tandem Architects