World's best tall buildings honored at the CVU 2026 Award of Excellence

The Council on Vertical Urbanism, formerly known as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, has unveiled the winners of its 2026 Award of Excellence. The annual award series seeks to honor “projects, concepts and initiatives that exemplify new directions in vertical urbanism across the globe.”

The 73 projects comprising this year's winners span 20 countries and 20 categories. According to the organizers, the 2026 high-rises “reflect a growing emphasis on adaptability, interdisciplinary thinking and long-term urban value.” 

“What distinguished this year’s winners was not simply technical achievement or architectural ambition, but clarity of purpose,” CVU CEO Javier Quintana de Uña shared. “These projects demonstrate a deeper understanding of what cities now require: flexibility under changing conditions, intelligent resource use, cutting-edge technology integration, meaningful public engagement, and development strategies capable of delivering lasting social and environmental value.”

The projects will now be presented at the 2026 VU Summit taking place from October 26-29 in London, where the ‘Best in Category’ awards will be announced. 

In the meantime, the latest winners are set out below, with architecture teams listed for the best-in-class categories. 

Best Tall Building, by Height, Under 100 meters

• Midea Global Innovation Park, Shanghai, China by Atelier MA
• Punggol Digital District, Singapore by WOHA Architects
• Trellis, South Brisbane, Australia by Rothelowman

Best Tall Building, by Height, 100 to 199 meters

• 18T Mansion, Chongqing, China by UNStudio
• EZ Parque da Cidade, São Paulo, Brazil by UNStudio
• Guangzhou One Pengrui, Guangzhou, China by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• Parkline Place, Sydney, Australia by Foster + Partners
• Shenzhen Building Craftsman Headquarters, Shenzhen, China by Aedas
• SHIBUYA AXSH, Tokyo, Japan by Mitsubishi Jisho Design Inc.
• Xinhu Hangzhou Prism, Hangzhou, China by Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Best Tall Building, by Height, 200 to 299 meters

• CPIC Xintiandi Commercial Center, Shanghai, China by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• One Bangkok Tower 4, Bangkok, Thailand by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• Sany IROOTECH Headquarters, Guangzhou, China by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Best Tall Building, by Height, 300 meters and above

• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States by Foster + Partners
• Wasl Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates by UNStudio

Best Tall Building, by Region, Americas

• 1020 Spring Street, Atlanta, United States by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States by Foster + Partners
• EZ Parque da Cidade, São Paulo, Brazil by UNStudio
• Maestria, Montreal, Canada by Lemay
• South Station Tower, Boston, United States by Pelli Clarke & Partners
• The Parker, Boston, United States by Stantec

Best Tall Building, by Region, Asia

• ByteDance Houhai Center, Shenzhen, China by AECOM
• CPIC Xintiandi Commercial Center, Shanghai, China by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• Guangzhou One Pengrui, Guangzhou, China by Kohn Pedersen Fox
• Keppel South Central, Singapore by NBBJ
• Punggol Digital District, Singapore by WOHA Architects
• Sany IROOTECH Headquarters, Guangzhou, China by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Best Tall Building, by Region, Europe

• Enclave: Acton, London, United Kingdom by HTA Design
• Floating Gardens, Amsterdam, Netherlands, by Bureau Rowin Petersma; Orange Architects
• The Bridge, Warsaw, Poland by UNStudio
• Trilogy Limassol Seafront West Tower, Limassol, Cyprus by A. J. Pericleous LLC; Thornton Tomasetti

Best Tall Building, by Region, Middle East & Africa

• Infinity Tower, Ra’anana, Israel by MYS Architects
• Wasl Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates by UNStudio

Best Tall Building, by Region, Oceania

• Parkline Place, Sydney, Australia by Foster + Partners; Cox Architecture

Urban Habitat Award

• Eden Dock, London, United Kingdom
• Gloucester on Yonge, Toronto, Canada
• Msheireb Downtown Doha, Qatar
• One Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
• Punggol Digital District, Singapore
• Xi’an CCBD, Xi’an, China

Future Project Award

• Hanoi Finance Tower, Hanoi, Vietnam
• Lighthouse at Darling Park, Sydney, Australia
• Retal Heights, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Seventy Gracechurch Street, London, United Kingdom
• Shenton House, Singapore
• Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• The Living Bridge, Shenzhen, China
• U-View Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

10 Year Award

• Central Bank of Kuwait New Headquarters, Kuwait City, Kuwait
• Kyobashi EDOGRAND, Tokyo, Japan
• Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore
• VIA 57 West, New York City, United States

Construction Award

• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States
• IOI Central Boulevard Towers, Singapore
• Elephant and Castle Town Centre, London, United Kingdom

Repositioning Award

• 33 Alfred Street, Sydney, Australia
• One Central Plaza, Dublin, Ireland
• SX Stage 2, Melbourne, Australia

Innovation Award

• A Novel Active Opening Window Module for Fire Safety in Tall Buildings
• Motioneering Opposed Pendulum Tuned Mass Damper (TMD)
• WSP Steel Re-Use Tool

Structure Award

• 10 World Trade, Boston, United States
• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States
• 8 Phillip Street, Parramatta, Australia
• One Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia
• Sany IROOTECH Headquarters, Guangzhou, China

Façade Award

• Infinity Tower, Ra’anana, Israel
• No. 8 Castle Road, Hong Kong, China
• One Bloor West, Toronto, Canada
• Pacific Xintiandi Commercial Center Tower 1, Shanghai, China
• Parkline Place, Sydney, Australia

Systems Award

• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States
• Merdeka 118, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Webank Headquarters, Shenzhen, China

Space Within Award

• 270 Park Avenue, New York City, United States
• Geneo, Singapore
• Punggol Digital District, Singapore

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award

• Geneo, Singapore
• Julia West House, Portland (Oregon), United States
• Punggol Digital District, Singapore
• Thrive Mental Health Employee Resource Group