Well done the GC and Sydney! GC built the second tallest building in the world last year, almost got no.1! Not bad for 450,000 people! Sydney came in a very respectable 8th in the world! China and Dubai otherwise dominate.

Tall Buildings Council names 2005 worldwide tallest ten
21 March 2006
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has named ten buildings as the world’s tallest completed and occupied in 2005.

1. Shimao International Plaza, Shanghai (333 m) heads the list: Developer, Shanghai Shimao Ltd.; Architect/Structural/MEP: East China Architecture and Design Institute. 60 storeys, mixed use.

2. Q1 Tower, Gold Coast, Australia (322 m): developer, Surfers Paradise Beach Resort Pty Ltd.; Architect, Sunland Design Group, Innovarchi and the Buchan Group.; Structural, Arup and Whaley Consulting Group; MEP, Lincoln Scott Australia. 79 storeys, residential.

3. Chongqing World Trade Center (283 m): Developer: Chongqing Xinlongda Real Estate Development Ltd.; Architect/ Structural/MEP, Chongqing Architecture and Design Institute. 60 storeys, mixed

4. Triumph Palace, Moscow (264 m): Developer, DON-Story; Architect/Structural/MEP, DONStroy. 57 storeys, mixed

5. Grand Gateway Office Tower One, Shanghai, (262 m). Developer, Hang Lung Development Co. Ltd., Henderson Development, Hysan Development Co. Ltd.; Architect, East China Architecture, Design & Research Institute Co. Ltd., Callison Architecture Inc.; Structural Engineer, Maunsell Structural Consultants Ltd.; MEP, A.C.E. 55 storeys, mixed

6. Chelsea Tower, Dubai (250 m). Developer, Abdulsalam Alrafi Group; Architect/Structural/MEP: WS Atkins & Partners. 49 storeys, residential

7. Bloomberg Tower, New York (246 m). Developer, Vornado Realty Trust; Architect, Cesar Pelli & Associates and SLCE Architects; Structural, Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers; MEP, Flack & Kurtz Inc. 54 storeys, mixed

8. Deutsche Bank Place, Sydney, Australia (240 m) Developer, Investa Property Group; Architect, Foster and Partners, Hassell Pty Ltd.; Structural, Lend Lease Design, Ove Arup & Partners; MEP, Norman Disney Young. 39 stories, office

9. Suzhou Xindi Center, Suzhou, China (232 m). Developer, Xindi (Group) Ltd.; architect Jiangsu Architecture and Design Institute, Kohn Pedersen Fox; structural, Jiangsu Architecture and Design Institute, Parsons Brinckerhoff. 54 storeys, mixed

10.The Arch, Hong Kong (231 m). Developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.; Architect, Sun Hung Kai Engineering Ltd.; Structural, Ove Arup and Partners, Hong Kong Ltd.; MEP Parsons Brinckerhoff. 65 storeys, residential

David Scott of Arup in New York, recently appointed chairman of the Council in succession to Ron Klemencic, said that to be eligible for consideration, buildings must have been completed in the year for which they were entered, be fully clad and at least partially occupied.

As with the Council’s official ranking of 100 tallest buildings in the world, the criteria include any structure with discrete floors designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes. Height is measured from sidewalk level of the main entrance to the structural top of the building including spire, but not communications antennae or flag pole.

As measured including antennas and spires !
Be nice to see the result to roof top.

deutsche bank place is the only 100% office tower in that list... the rest are either residential or mixed-use.

there was a time when skyscrapers were mainly built for commercial and business purposes, serving as grandiose monuments to the corporations who built and occupied them. residential buildings, on the other hand, lack that special 'aura' of big business and corporate might - the stuff that made the skyscraper era of New York in the early 20th century so magical and romantic, a city built out of office towers, not residential towers.

thankfully the 8 of the current top ten tallest buildings in the world are still office towers. and interestingly enough, looking at the top-ten tallest diagram on skyscraperpage.com, 32 years onward and Sears Tower still looks the tallest. go on, check it out for yourself ;)

Yeah, if anyone ever tells me that Petronas is taller than Sears will personally get a punch in the head from me ! :)