Move over citrus, your days of being associated with the word “twist” may soon be coming to a close as skyscrapers, and not martini glasses, are the new prime location for all things twisting and turning.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat defines a twisting building as one that progressively rotates its floor plates or façade as it gains height. Often, the floor plates are shaped similarly in plan and are turned on a shared axis a consistent number of degrees from the floor below. Not only does this practice lead to some of the most eye-catching skyscrapers in the world, but it also provides benefits in the form of improved aerodynamics and energy-efficiency.
For example, the Shanghai Tower, which stands 2,073 feet tall, has a twist that reduces wind-load by 24% and saved $58 million in structural material over the course of construction.
Once a novelty when the world’s first twisting tower, Turning Torso, debuted 11 years ago, a proliferation of twisting skyscrapers is now beginning to spread around the world. The United States is about to get its first twisting high-rises in the form of Miami’s Grove at Grand Bay towers, Russia is constructing a 462-m twisting tower in St. Petersburg that, among twisting skyscrapers, will be second in height only to the Shanghai Tower when completed, and the Diamond tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will not only become the third tallest twisting tower in the world, it will also be the only tower to twist a full 360 degrees along its height, and will also have an average floor rotation of 3.871 degrees (F&F Tower in Panama City has the record for the “tightest” twist with an average rotation per floor of 5.943 degrees).
As of July 2016, there are a total of 28 twisting buildings around the world that are over 90 meters tall. CTBUH has ranked each of these buildings, from tallest to shortest, while also including their floor count, completion (or estimated completion) year, average floor rotation, and total rotation from the ground floor to the top floor plate.
Shanghai Tower (Shanghai, China), Lakhta Center (St. Petersburg, Russia 2018), Diamond Tower (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2019), Ocean Heights (Dubai, UAE), and Cayan Tower (Dubai, UAE) are the five tallest towers currently built or under construction.
For the full list, click here.
Related Stories
| Jan 4, 2012
Shawmut Design & Construction awarded dorm renovations at Brown University
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2012, and will be completed by December 2012.
| Jan 3, 2012
Rental Renaissance, The Rebirth of the Apartment Market
Across much of the U.S., apartment rents are rising, vacancy rates are falling. In just about every major urban area, new multifamily rental projects and major renovations are coming online. It may be too soon to pronounce the rental market fully recovered, but the trend is promising.
| Dec 27, 2011
Ground broken for adaptive reuse project
Located on the Garden State Parkway, the master-planned project initially includes the conversion of a 114-year-old, 365,000-square-foot, six-story warehouse building into 361 loft-style apartments, and the creation of a three-level parking facility.
| Dec 21, 2011
BBI key to Philly high-rise renovation
The 200,000 sf building was recently outfitted with a new HVAC system and a state-of-the-art window retrofitting system.
| Dec 19, 2011
Chicago’s Aqua Tower wins international design award
Aqua was named both regional and international winner of the International Property Award as Best Residential High-Rise Development.
| Dec 14, 2011
Belfer Research Building tops out in New York
Hundreds of construction trades people celebrate reaching the top of concrete structure for facility that will accelerate treatments and cures at world-renowned institution.
| Dec 12, 2011
AIA Chicago announces Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as 2011 Firm of the Year
SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment.
| Dec 2, 2011
What are you waiting for? BD+C's 2012 40 Under 40 nominations are due Friday, Jan. 20
Nominate a colleague, peer, or even yourself. Applications available here.
| Nov 22, 2011
Suffolk Construction selected as contractor for Boston luxury residential tower
Project team breaks ground on 488,000-sf building that will feature world-class amenities.
| Nov 15, 2011
Suffolk Construction breaks ground on the Victor housing development in Boston
Project team to manage construction of $92 million, 377,000 square-foot residential tower.