Burj Khalifa

As the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa pushes engineering to limits never before seen, and completely redefined the possibilities for the design and engineering of skyscraper buildings. Completed in 1,325 days, the innovative building project involved over 380 leading engineers and on-site technicians to oversee installation works.

The Burj Khalifa’s exterior cladding is composed of close to 26,000 glass panels, using 142,000m2 of reflective glazing designed to enable the building to withstand Dubai’s extreme temperatures.

Shanghai Tower

Accommodating as many as 16,000 people on a daily basis, the Shanghai Tower is China’s tallest building, and the second tallest in the world. Designed in a spiral form that twists on average 1% per floor, the remarkable feat of engineering is able to withstand typhoon-force winds commonly encountered in the city of Shanghai.

A unique feature to the Shanghai tower is the twin glass facades, creating a heat insulation layer that allows the building to reduce energy costs, making this building a highly sustainable design, with the circular structure requiring 14% less glass than the average square building of the same floor space would require.

The Tower’s design emulates that of a thermos bottle, with the outer and inner skins consisting of two-layer glass facades to effectively insulate the building.

One World Trade Center

The One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest building in the world. The skyscraper was rebuilt as a monument in the complex in which the original World Trade Towers stood in New York City, creating a safe, sustainable icon in the cities skyline.

The skyscraper is clad with over 1,000,000 square feet of glass, comprised of over 2,000 ultra-clear glass prisms which allow maximum sunlight to pass into the building and contribute to massive energy savings. The enormous glass facades stand at an impressive 60 feet high, varying in widths on each side to create the dramatic twisting structure of the building.

For 2016’s Fourth of July celebrations, Legoland California unveiled a replica of the One World Trade Centre, standing at 26 feet as the tallest Lego model in the United States.

Shanghai World Financial Centre

As the ninth tallest structure in the world, the Shanghai World Financial Tower cuts an impressive shape in the city’s skyline. Distinguished by its remarkable trapezoid aperture at the peak of the building, the SWFC is designed to withstand lightning strikes, an 8 magnitude earthquake, and is a fortress against the strong winds often encountered around Shanghai.

Construction first began in 1997, with the building not to reach it’s full height until 2007 due to several pauses in the build. The intersection of two arcs and a square prism that make the building such an impressive feat of architecture are representative of ancient Chinese symbols of heaven and earth.

One of the biggest reasons for the delay in the SWFC’s construction is due to the controversy over the opening at the top of the building, which was originally going to be a circle. Many people objected that it looked too much like the Japanese rising sun symbol, so the trapezoid shape had to replace the original designs.

International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre (ICC) is the tallest building in Hong Kong, creating a striking icon along the Hong Kong Harbour along with its counterpart, the 2 IFC. The ICC features an impressive 50,000 square-metre glass facade in silver, low-emissivity insulating glass, providing the office workers in the building with maximum protection from solar heat gain.

The ICC is soon to provide one of the best travel systems in the world, with a bullet train station being built directly underneath the building, along with links directly to Hong Kong Airport and the subway system, both highly regarded as the best international travel systems collectively.

The building’s giant glass facades provide a platform for the Guinness World Record certified largest light and sound show on a single building.