Emporis has summed up the results of the prestigious Skyscraper Award for the world's best skyscrapers and published a list of winners. Of more than 700 skyscrapers commissioned around the world in 2019, the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg is recognized as the most outstanding. It is the tallest structure on the European continent, but only 13th in the list of world giants.
Most of all, the jury of the competition was impressed by the shape of the building, which has five wings that twist as it rises so that each turns 90 degrees. Thanks to this, the structure looks like a dynamic structure and resembles a jet of flame escaping from a burner vent. It is not difficult to see in this a reference to the logo of the construction customer, Gazprom, but it is also an example of the skill of architects and builders.
Another feature of Lakhta Center is the northernmost of the super-high skyscrapers in the world, its upper floors are at an altitude of 462 m and are exposed to extreme loads even in the warm season. The building has an unusual double façade that not only retains internal heat, but also redistributes it using built-in infrared emitters. An interesting fact: 16,505 separate glass fragments were used for the facing of the structure.
On the second place of the pedestal is the Leeza Soho building in Beijing with a height of 207 m, which structurally is two towers with thin bridges between them. Most of the space between the towers is empty and serves as a huge atrium, because the building from the outside is, as it were, wrapped in a single glass shell. In third place is the 35 Hudson Yards skyscraper in New York with a height of 307 meters, which is part of a huge complex of buildings from Hudson Yards.
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