Scheduled to be completed in 2022, the Iconic Tower will be the tallest building on the African continent and the centrepiece of the business district in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, a new capital city being built 45 kilometres east of Cairo. The tower will feature 78 floors (with basement levels) of offices, apartments and a hotel, with an observation deck on the 74th floor.
Designed by the SHoP architect firm, Brooklyn’s 9 DeKalb Avenue will be the first supertall skyscraper in New York outside of Manhattan. Primarily residential, it features design cues in bronze and marble inspired by an adjoining landmark building, the Dime Savings Bank of New York, built in 1906-08. 9 DeKalb Avenue will reach 325 metres high and have 74 storeys.
Bjarke Ingels Group and developer Tishman Speyer have almost finished constructing a 317-metre-high supertall skyscraper in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. The Spiral will be the 13th-tallest building in New York and gets its name from the stepped landscaped terraces that wrap around its exterior to provide outside space to every floor. Inside, airy double-height atria act as informal meeting spaces and encourage workers to take the stairs between levels. Further greenery will be accessible in the nearby Phase 3 of New York’s iconic High Line aerial park. Once completed, The Spiral will have 66 storeys – of which pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will be leasing 14 for its 74,000m2 global head office.
Merdeka 118 is a mixed-use building under construction in Kuala Lumpur. When finished, it will be 644 metres high with 118 storeys, earning it the classification of a “megatall” skyscraper and making it the second-tallest building in the world, after the Shanghai Tower. Built to commemorate Malaysian Independence Day (Hari Merdeka), it will be owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad, the largest fund-management company in Malaysia. The RM 5 billion (£1.11bn) cost has been branded wasteful by its critics, but the Malaysian government has insisted the investment will bring economic opportunities. Merdeka 118 will feature retail spaces, hotel rooms (operated by Park Hyatt), residences, offices – and parking spots for up to 8,500 cars.
Designed by Foster + Partners, 50 Hudson Yards will be New York’s fourth-largest commercial office tower and will have 58 storeys. At 308 metres it’s not technically a supertall skyscraper, but it will still be New York’s 14th-tallest building (its neighbour, The Spiral, will be 13th-tallest). In 2019, Facebook announced it would occupy 110,000m2 of the building’s 270,000m2. Asset management firm BlackRock will take 78,700m2.
Breaking ground in 2022 with a scheduled completion date of 2025, The Helix in Arlington, northern Virginia will be home to Amazon’s HQ2 and is designed by Seattle architects NBBJ (of the infamous Amazon Spheres). Its 106-metre-tall spiral shape has divided critics, some of whom have compared it unfavourably to the “poop” emoji, but it is nevertheless an ambitious project. Like the Spheres and their indoor rainforests, The Helix also embraces the biophilia trend in a big way, featuring tranquil, car-free landscaping (all vehicle access has been banished underground) and a hikeable vertical forest that winds around its entire exterior.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
