The document discusses the concept of "vanity height" in supertall buildings, which is defined as the distance between a skyscraper's highest occupiable floor and its architectural top. It provides data on the ten tallest vanity heights for completed supertall buildings as of 2013, with the Burj Al Arab in Dubai having the highest at 124 meters or 39% of its total height. Additional graphs and analysis show trends in vanity heights by country, building height, and era of completion.
The document discusses the concept of "vanity height" in supertall buildings, which is defined as the distance between a skyscraper's highest occupiable floor and its architectural top. It provides data on the ten tallest vanity heights for completed supertall buildings as of 2013, with the Burj Al Arab in Dubai having the highest at 124 meters or 39% of its total height. Additional graphs and analysis show trends in vanity heights by country, building height, and era of completion.
The document discusses the concept of "vanity height" in supertall buildings, which is defined as the distance between a skyscraper's highest occupiable floor and its architectural top. It provides data on the ten tallest vanity heights for completed supertall buildings as of 2013, with the Burj Al Arab in Dubai having the highest at 124 meters or 39% of its total height. Additional graphs and analysis show trends in vanity heights by country, building height, and era of completion.
42 | Tall Building in Numbers CTBUH Journal | 2013 Issue III
Tall Buildings in Numbers
Vanity Height: the Empty Space in Todays Tallest Rose Rayhaan by Rotana 333 m | 237m** Dubai, 2007 Minsheng Bank Building 331 m | 237 m** Wuhan, 2008 The Pinnacle 360 m | 265 m** Guangzhou, 2012 Emirates Tower Two 309 m | 213 m** Dubai, 2000 New York Times Tower 319 m | 220 m** New York, 2007 Burj Al Arab 321 m | 198 m** Dubai, 1999 Bank of America Tower 366 m | 235m** New York, 2009 Zifeng Tower 450 m | 317 m** Nanjing, 2010 Burj Khalifa 828 m | 585 m** Dubai, 2010 Emirates Tower One 355 m | 241 m** Dubai, 2000 94 m | 28% non-occupiable height 95 m | 27% non-occupiable height 96 m | 29% non-occupiable height 97 m | 31% non-occupiable height 99 m | 31% non-occupiable height 113 m | 32% non-occupiable height 124 m | 39% non-occupiable height 131 m | 36% non-occupiable height 133 m | 30% non-occupiable height 244 m | 29% non-occupiable height 100 m 150 m 200 m 50 m 0 m * We noticed in Journal 2013 Issue Is case study on Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, that a fair amount of the top of the building seemed to be an unoccupied spire. This prompted us to explore the notion of vanity height in supertall 1 buildings, i.e., the distance between a skyscrapers highest occupiable oor and its architectural top, as determined by CTBUH Height Criteria. 2
Worlds Ten Tallest Vanity Heights (as of July 2013 data) Below are the ten tallest Vanity Heights in todays completed supertalls. Burj Al Arab With a vanity height of nearly 124 meters within its architectural height of 321 meters, the Burj Al Arab has the highest non-occupiable-to-occupiable height ratio among completed supertalls. 39% of its height is non-occupiable. Occupiable Space Vanity Height Non-occupiable Space 61% occupiable height 39% non-occupiable height H e i g h t
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T o p Note: 1 Historically there have been 74 completed supertalls (300+ m) in the world, including the now-demolished One and Two World Trade Center in New York. 2 For more information on the CTBUH Height Criteria, visit http://criteria.ctbuh.org At 244 meters, the Burj Khalifas Vanity Height would be an impressive stand-alone skyscraper. If built in Europe, it would become the continents 11 th -tallest building. Without Vanity Height, 44 (61%) of the worlds 72 supertalls 1 would measure less than 300 meters, losing their supertall status. The tallest of these is Guangzhous 390-meter CITIC Plaza. According to current CTBUH Height Criteria regarding telecommunications towers, a 50% vanity height would deem any structure a non- building! Highest Occupied Floor: 198 meters 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 * The highest occupied oor height as datum line. ** The highest occupied oor height. Tall Building in Numbers | 43 CTBUH Journal | 2013 Issue III 1 9 3 0 1 9 3 5 1 9 4 0 1 9 4 5 1 9 5 0 1 9 5 5 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 5 1 9 7 0 1 9 7 5 1 9 8 0 1 9 8 5 1 9 9 0 1 9 9 5 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 2 0 1 0 Chrysler Building, New York Vanity Height: 21% John Hancock Center, Chicago Vanity Height: 7% One & Two World Trade Center, New York, Vanity Height: 1% CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou Vanity Height: 24% Burj Al Arab, Dubai Vanity Height: 39% Bank of America Tower, New York Vanity Height: 36% Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung Vanity Height: 2% Empire State Building, New York Vanity Height: 2% 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Petronas Tower 1 & 2, Kuala Lumpur Vanity Height: 17% Two Prudential Plaza, Chicago Vanity Height: 18% Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Vanity Height: 22% Emirates Tower One & Two, Dubai Vanity Height: 32 & 31% Taipei 101, Taipei Vanity Height: 14% Q1, Gold Coast Vanity Height: 27% New York Times Tower, New York Vanity Height: 31% The Shard, London Vanity Height: 20% China (24 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 14% USA (15 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 13% Other Countries (15 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 13% UAE (19 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 19% Pre-1950 (2 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 11% 19751999 (17 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 16% 19992013 (50 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 16% 19501974 (5 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 4% 300349 m (43 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 15% 400450 m (10 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 8% 450 m+ (8 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 15% 350400 m (13 buildings) Average Vanity Height: 21% China (24) UAE (19) USA (16) Other (15) History of Vanity Height The graph below charts Vanity Height as a percentage of overall architectural height for some of the worlds 74completed supertalls. 1
Vanity Height in Detail The graphs below examine the average Vanity Height of completed supertalls by country, date of completion, and architectural height V a n i t y
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h e i g h t The Ukraina Hotel in Moscow, Russia (206 m, b. 1955) has 42% Vanity Height the vainest building overall in the CTBUH database. With no spire, The Index, in Dubai, has a vanity height of only 4 meters just 1% of the buildings overall height. New York City contains two of the tallest 10 Vanity Heights and is set to gain a third with the completion of One World Trade Center in 2014.
Height (Jaw-Dropping Height Allows For A Staggering Appearance) Beauty (Aesthetics Are Important For These Phenomenal Buildings) Uniqueness (Looking Different Than Other Skyscrapers Is Imperative)