According to the CTBUH , a supertall building is defined as a building between 300 and 599 m (984 and 1,965 ft) in height.
64-543: The Comcast Technology Center is a supertall skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia . The 60-floor building, with a height of 1,121 feet (342 m), is the tallest building in both Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania and the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago . The tower is located on the southwest corner of 18th and Arch Streets , one block west of
128-429: A mascot named Seemore Miles. Separate from its observatory, 875 Michigan Avenue formerly had a restaurant space on its 95th floor and a cocktail lounge space on its 96th floor. The combined space on these floors was approximately 30,000 square feet (2,800 m ). The original restaurant in this space was named "The 95th restaurant", which operated from the 1970s until 1993. Its accompanying 96th floor cocktail lounge
192-437: A 5,200 square feet (480 m ) grocery store accessible only to apartment residents and office tenants. In 2007, operation of the grocery store was taken over by the local Potash chain of grocery stores. As of February 2023, Potash continues to operate the grocery store. The elevators that serve the top three public floors are credited as the fastest in both North America and the Western Hemisphere. Manufactured by Otis ,
256-399: A fire in a car on the seventh floor required approximately 150 firefighters to extinguish. On November 16, 2018, an express elevator cable broke. Initial reports stated that an elevator with six passengers plunged 84 stories from the 95th to 11th floor. Since express elevators are not accessible from floors within the express zone, a team of firefighters had to break through a brick wall from
320-522: A fully engaged fire hose at him and by blasting fire axes through nearby glass from the inside. Fearing for Goodwin's life, Mayor Jane Byrne intervened and allowed him to continue to the top. On December 18, 1997, comedian Chris Farley was found dead in his apartment on the 60th floor of the building. On March 9, 2002, part of a scaffold fell 43 stories after being torn loose by wind gusts around 60 mph (100 km/h) crushing several cars, killing three people in two of them. The remaining part of
384-406: A public oasis with seasonal plantings and a 12-foot (3.7 m) waterfall. A band of white lights at the top of the building is visible all over Chicago at night, and changes colors for different events. For example, at Christmas time the colors are green and red. When a Chicago-area sports team goes far in the playoffs, the colors are changed to match that team's colors. The building is a member of
448-479: A restaurant. Months later, it was announced that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (the architectural firm that designed the building in the 1970s) would be involved in re-imaging the two floors. Housed within several of the lower levels of the building is a parking garage , which cars enter and depart via a spiral vehicle ramp. The building features a two-level outdoor plaza along its Michigan Avenue face. The plaza contains retail and dining tenants. The top level of
512-662: A rise in the construction of supertall skyscrapers internationally, which accelerated in the 2010s, especially in China. East Asia has become a hotspot for building such tall skyscrapers. The first supertall buildings to be built in Mainland China were CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou and Shun Hing Square in Shenzhen , both built in 1996. In the 2010s, China overtook the United States to become
576-466: A significant boom in the construction of supertall buildings, which began with The New York Times Building in 2007. and accelerated in the 2010s with the development of the Hudson Yards complex and residential supertall skyscrapers on Billionaires' Row . Currently, New York City has 17 supertall buildings, and 2 more under construction. In 2018, two more US cities gained their first supertall buildings:
640-558: A supertall building in construction in Abidjan , Ivory Coast , will be the first such building in West Africa . This list includes completed skyscrapers that stand between 300 and 599 m (984 and 1,965 ft) in height, based on standard height measurements. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. This list does not include topped out buildings that have not been fully completed. This list does not include
704-548: Is a 100- story , 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper located in Chicago , Illinois . Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the building was officially renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue in 2018. The skyscraper was designed by Peruvian-American chief designer Bruce Graham and Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). When the building topped out on May 6, 1968, it
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#1732844061686768-491: Is home to TILT, a moving platform that leans visitors over the edge of the skyscraper to a 30-degree angle, a full bar with local selections, Chicago's only open-air SkyWalk, and also features free interactive high-definition touchscreens in six languages. The 44th-floor sky lobby features the highest indoor swimming pool in the United States . The project, which would become the world's second tallest building at opening,
832-405: Is home to several offices and restaurants, as well as about 700 condominiums , and at the time of its completion contained the highest residence in the world. The building was named for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company , a developer and original tenant of the building, which itself was named for the U.S. Founding Father John Hancock . In 2018 John Hancock Insurance, years after leaving
896-647: Is on the 48th to 56th floors with a lobby and restaurant on the 60th floor. Accommodations include 219 rooms, 39 of them suites . The building also includes television studios, restaurants, a retail mall, and a parking garage. The entire project contains about 1,566,000 square feet (145,500 m). The property is co-owned by Comcast and Liberty Property Trust , and had an estimated construction cost of $ 1.5 billion. Comcast's NBC owned-and-operated station WCAU (channel 10), along with Telemundo 's owned-and-operated station WWSI (channel 62) announced plans to move their studio operations and offices from City Avenue ,
960-468: Is the floor where the building transitions from offices to residential, with offices occupying floors below and residences occupying floors above. On its 44th floor, the John Hancock Center has a resident swimming pool . The pool area has double-height ceilings. The pool is the highest pool in the United States when measured by distance above ground level. On its 44th floor, the building has
1024-657: The Burj Al Arab hotel in 1999, the first supertall building in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia became the next country in the Middle East with a supertall building with the construction of the Kingdom Centre in 2002. Qatar completed its first supertall building, Aspire Tower , in 2007, while Kuwait completed its first supertall skyscraper, Arraya Tower , two years later. The Central Bank of
1088-506: The Comcast Center , the headquarters of Comcast Corporation. A hotel, representing the highest hotel in the nation, and restaurant are located on the top floors. The building's central floors are offices for Comcast software developers and engineers , and the lowest floors have television studios and retail stores. Construction on the building began in mid-2014 and was completed on November 27, 2017. The first personnel began moving into
1152-792: The Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia . Construction is underway on Waterline in Austin and Waldorf Astoria Miami in Miami , both of which would be the first supertall buildings in their respective cities. The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong was the first supertall skyscraper to be built outside of the United States in 1990. This preceded
1216-420: The United States with 35 and 31 supertall buildings respectively. The city with the most supertall buildings is Dubai at 31 entries, followed by Shenzhen and New York City with 20 and 18 supertall buildings respectively. As of 2024 , there are 70 cities across the world with at least one supertall building, and 235 completed supertall buildings in the world. The first supertall skyscraper to be completed
1280-560: The entire 99 stories. This forced the owner to stop development until the engineering problem could be resolved, resulting in a credit crunch. The situation is similar to the one faced during the construction of 111 West Wacker, then known as the Waterview Tower . Wolman's bankruptcy resulted in John Hancock taking over the project, which retained the original design, architect, engineer, and main contractor. The building's first resident
1344-491: The "On Hold" table below. This list includes unfinished buildings with no construction activity that were planned to be supertall skyscrapers. The height column indicates the intended height. This list ranks cities by number of completed supertall buildings. This list is inclusive of megatall buildings (buildings above 600 meters in height). It does not include supertall buildings that are topped out or under construction. John Hancock Center The John Hancock Center
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#17328440616861408-662: The Hancock is an annual stair climb race up the 94 floors from the Michigan Avenue level to the observation deck. It is held on the last Sunday of February. The climb benefits Respiratory Health Association . The record time as of 2007 is 9 minutes 30 seconds. The building is home to the transmitter of Univision 's WGBO-DT (channel 66), while all other full-power television stations in Chicago broadcast from Willis Tower . The City Colleges of Chicago 's WYCC (channel 20) transmitted from
1472-486: The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company (the owners of the building at the time) to replace the plaza with a "$ 20 million glass and marble three-story atrium". One rationale cited by building's management was they claimed that access to the building's ground level was complicated by the need of pedestrians to circumnavigate around the courtyard in order to reach the street-level entrance to
1536-536: The Philadelphia- Bala Cynwyd boundary, to several of the lower floors of the building. The stations completed the on-air move on October 21, 2018, though some operations (such as the base for the station live vehicles) will remain in Bala Cynwyd for the time being. Supertall building China is the country with the most supertall buildings at 109 entries, followed by the United Arab Emirates and
1600-829: The Republic of Turkey in Istanbul , currently under construction, will become the first supertall building in Turkey . Azrieli Spire Tower in Tel Aviv and Beyond Tower in Givatayim , both in construction, will become the first supertall buildings in Israel . Europe currently has nine supertall buildings, all completed since 2010. With the exception of The Shard in London , United Kingdom and Varso Tower in Poland ,
1664-801: The United States to have a supertall building in North America – T.Op Torre 1 in Monterrey , which was built in 2020. Torre Rise is currently under construction in the same city, which would become the tallest building in all of Latin America if completed. While Canada has no completed supertall buildings, it has three under construction – The One , Skytower at Pinnacle One Younge , and Concord Sky , all of which are in Toronto . In Australia, supertall buildings have been built in Gold Coast and Melbourne , making Australia
1728-726: The World Federation of Great Towers. It has won various awards for its distinctive style, including the Distinguished Architects Twenty-five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects in May 1999. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, the John Hancock Center was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component (AIA Illinois) and
1792-454: The architects of the building an estimate that 700 feet of antenna structure would be required to accommodate all of the city's radio and television stations. In 2002, the eastern antenna tower was extended to a height of 378 feet (115 metres) in order to enable WBBM-TV to add new digital antenna equipment at a height greater than the roof height of the Sears Tower (Willis Tower). Subsequently,
1856-695: The building in late July 2018, and the tower was open to the public in October of that year. The lead architect was Foster and Partners , with Kendall/Heaton Associates the collaborating architect, and interior design by Gensler with Foster and Partners in collaboration. The L.F. Driscoll Company was the construction contractor. The tower contains approximately 1.566 million rentable square feet, including 1.334 million rentable square feet of office space, 230,112 square feet of hotel space, and 2,682 rentable square feet of retail space. A set of five tuned sloshing dampers containing 125,000 gallons of water are located in
1920-527: The building until November 2017, when it departed the air as part of the 2016 FCC spectrum auction. On February 12, 2018, John Hancock Insurance requested that its name and logos throughout the building's interior be removed immediately; John Hancock had not had a naming-rights deal with the skyscraper's owners since 2013. The building's name was subsequently changed to its street address as 875 North Michigan Avenue. On November 11, 1981, Veterans Day , high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate Dan Goodwin , for
1984-410: The building's lobby. They also cited a belief that the building's entrance was too understated for a building of its level of prominence. This atrium proposal faced backlash from local residents who felt that such an addition would mar the appearance of the landmark building. In 1989, newly-elected mayor Richard M. Daley criticized the proposed atrium and the plans were ultimately abandoned. In 1994,
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2048-414: The building's owners in the mid-2010s which would have added features such as video screens and decorative prisms to the plaza. Since its completion, the tower has been topped by two antenna structures. These antenna superstructures support a large number of broadcast antenna equipment. At the time of the tower's completion, both antenna structures were 350 feet (110 metres) in height, and RCA had given
2112-462: The building, requested that its name be removed; the owner is seeking another naming rights deal. From the 95th-floor restaurant, which closed in late 2023, diners were able look out at Chicago and Lake Michigan . The observatory (360 Chicago), which competes with the Willis Tower's Skydeck , has a 360° view of the city, up to four states, and a distance of over 80 miles (130 km). 360 Chicago
2176-517: The ceiling of the 57th floor, beneath the hotel lobby. The moving water is a counteracting force on windy days to reduce swaying of the upper part of the tower. A-shaped steel braces are embedded between hotel rooms on the east and west sides, to stiffen the upper part of the building against strong, prevailing winds. The building consists primarily of workspace for Comcast employees and the Four Seasons Hotel , formerly on Logan Circle . The hotel
2240-457: The country with the most supertall buildings. Other cities in China that have built multiple supertall buildings since 2000 include Guiyang , Nanjing , Nanning , Tianjin , and Wuhan . Taiwan completed its first supertall building, 85 Sky Tower , in the city of Kaohsiung in 1997. This was followed by Taipei 101 in Taiwan's capital of Taipei 7 years later, which became the tallest building in
2304-407: The elevators travel 96 floors at a top speed of 1,800 ft/min (20 mph; 9.1 m/s). It has been said that they would be capable of reaching the 95th floor in 38 seconds if they could run the entire trip at their top speed. Located on the 94th floor, 360 Chicago Observation Deck is 875 North Michigan Avenue's horizon observatory. The floor of the observatory is 1,030 feet (310 m) above
2368-424: The expected acquisition of 875 North Michigan Avenue's 856,000 square feet (79,500 m ) of office space and 710-car parking deck. The Chicago firm did not disclose a price, but sources said it was about $ 145 million. This was the last step in that piecemeal sale process. In May 2016, Hearn Co. announced that they were seeking buyers for the naming rights with possible signage rights for the building. Hustle up
2432-852: The first supertall building in Southeast Asia when it was completed in 1997. They were followed by the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia in 1998, which overtook the Sears Tower as the tallest buildings in the world at the time, and the World Trade Center as the tallest twin towers in the world. Vietnam received its first supertall building in 2012 upon the completion of Landmark 72 in Hanoi . Likewise, Indonesia completed its first supertall building, Autograph Tower in 2022. Dubai completed
2496-567: The four tallest buildings in the world : the Burj Khalifa , Merdeka 118 , Shanghai Tower , and The Clock Towers , which are over 600 meters and classified as "megatall". This list includes skyscrapers under construction that are planned to be between 300 and 600 meters (984 and 1,968 feet) tall. based on standard height measurements. The "year" column indicates the expected year of completion. This list does not include buildings whose construction has been suspended indefinitely, which are listed in
2560-414: The inside floorplan. Such original features have allowed 875 North Michigan Avenue to become an architectural icon. It was pioneered by Bangladeshi-American structural civil engineer Fazlur Khan and chief architect Bruce Graham . The interior was remodeled in 1995, adding to the lobby travertine , black granite, and textured limestone surfaces. The elliptical-shaped plaza outside the building serves as
2624-405: The observation deck, the company extensively renovated the space in 2014. The observatory boasts more floor space than its direct competitor, Skydeck at the Willis Tower. The observation deck currently includes a cocktail lounge named the "CloudBar". After the closure of the building's 96th floor cocktail lounge, 360 CHICAGO has advertised it as being the highest cocktail lounge in the city. It
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2688-601: The only Oceanian country with supertall skyscrapers. South Asia currently has only one supertall building, Lokhandwala Minerva in Mumbai , India , which was built in 2023. South America's sole supertall building is Gran Torre Costanera in Santiago , Chile . Similarly, Africa has only one supertall building, the Iconic Tower , located in Egypt's New Administrative Capital . Tour F ,
2752-405: The parking garage to extricate the passengers, none of whom suffered injuries. Elevators to the 95th/96th floor were closed thereafter pending investigation. Subsequent investigation documented only a controlled descent from the 20th floor to the 11th floor. A piece of cladding fell from the building on January 5, 2022. One of the most famous buildings of the structural expressionist style,
2816-551: The plaza is at street level, while the lower level is sunken below the street level. Current tenants include The Cheesecake Factory and The North Face . Past tenants have included Best Buy . The plaza was originally rectangular in shape. Per the Chicago Tribune , the plaza was modeled after the plaza at New York City's Rockefeller Center . The plaza's design featured a fountain pool that would be turned into an ice rink in colder weather. In 1988, plans were unveiled by
2880-411: The plaza was renovated, with the sunken portion transforming from its previous rectangular shape to an elliptical shape. In 1999, Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin wrote that this renovation had made the plaza a more "welcoming" space. This renovation came after the more dramatic late-1980s renovation plans were abandoned. A further $ 10 million renovation for the plaza was considered by
2944-555: The purpose of calling attention to the inability to rescue people trapped in the upper floors of skyscrapers, successfully climbed the building's exterior wall. Wearing a wetsuit and using a climbing device that enabled him to ascend the I-beams on the building's side, Goodwin battled repeated attempts by the Chicago Fire Department to knock him off. Fire Commissioner William Blair ordered Chicago firemen to stop Goodwin by directing
3008-611: The purview of New York City and Chicago until the completion of the JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston . Two more American cities gained a supertall skyscraper in the 20th century: Atlanta with the Bank of American Plaza , and Los Angeles with the U.S. Bank Tower , both office buildings. After the September 11 attacks , New York City was left with only two supertall buildings. This preceded
3072-798: The remainder are in Russia –six in Moscow and one, the Lakhta Centre , in Saint Petersburg . All supertall buildings in Moscow are located in Moscow International Business Centre . The first of these was Moscow Tower in the City of Capitals complex, which was built in 2010. After Brexit , Varso Tower remains the only supertall building in the European Union. Mexico is the only country besides
3136-502: The restaurant and bar were listed for sale. In September 2023, the Signature Room abruptly ceased operations, with ownership citing "severe economic hardship" that they attributed to the impact of the earlier COVID-19 pandemic . In June 2024, 360 CHICAGO (operators of the building's observation deck) acquired the 95th and 96th floors, announcing that while their plans for the floors were not yet finalized they do not intend to operate
3200-412: The skyscraper's distinctive X-braced exterior shows that the structure's skin is part of its " tubular system ". This is one of the engineering techniques which the designers used to achieve a record height; the tubular system is the structure that keeps the building upright during wind and earthquake loads. This X-bracing allows for both higher performance from tall structures and the ability to open up
3264-413: The stage swung back-and-forth in the gusts repeatedly slamming against the building, damaging cladding panels, breaking windows, and sending pieces onto the street below. On November 21, 2015, a fire broke out in an apartment on the 50th floor of the building. The Chicago Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire after an hour and a half; five people suffered minor injuries. On February 11, 2018,
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#17328440616863328-485: The street-level below. The entrance can be found on the concourse level of 875 North Michigan Avenue, accessible from the Michigan Avenue side of the building. The observatorywas previously named "John Hancock Observatory". It has been independently owned and operated since 2014 as an subsidiary of the Paris , France -based observation deck company Magnicity (formerly known as the "Montparnasse 56 Group"). After its acquisition of
3392-491: The tower and eliminated the striped paint scheme, as striped paint is not required if structures are topped by such lights. A sizable number of television and radio stations utilize the antenna towers. Many stations maintain broadcast equipment on both the John Hancock Center and the Willis Tower's antenna structures in order to have both a primary and backup broadcasting point. In November 2012, Boston-based American Tower Corp affiliate paid $ 70 million to acquire ownership of
3456-420: The western antenna tower was reduced to a height of 285 feet (87 metres). For a long time, the antenna towers utilized incandescent red lights and a red and white paint scheme to provide a visibility to aviation in compliance with federal regulations. However, in order to forgo the expense and effort of annually reapplying striped paint to the antenna towers, the tower instead installed red strobe lights atop
3520-740: The world at the time. Japan and South Korea both constructed their first supertall buildings in the 2010s; Japan with Abeno Harukas in Osaka in 2014, and South Korea with the Northeast Asia Trade Tower in Incheon in 2012. In North Korea , construction of the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang has been completed, but the hotel remains unopened as of 2024. Baiyoke Tower II in Bangkok , Thailand became
3584-527: Was Ray Heckla, the original building engineer, responsible for the residential floors from 44 to 92. Heckla moved his family in April 1969, before the building was completed. The 1988 film Poltergeist III was set at the John Hancock Center and was filmed in early 1987. On December 10, 2006, the non-residential portion of the building was sold by San Francisco –based Shorenstein Properties for $ 385 million and
3648-442: Was conceived and owned by Jerry Wolman in late 1964. The project was financed by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. Construction of the tower was interrupted in 1967 due to a flaw in an innovative engineering method used to pour concrete in stages, that was discovered when the building was 20 stories high. The engineers were getting the same soil settlements for the 20 stories that had been built as what they had expected for
3712-528: Was formerly named "BAR 94". In the summer of 2014, 360 Chicago added its TILT attraction. TILT, which requires an additional fee to experience, features a series of floor-to-ceiling windows that slowly tilt outside the building to 30°. The observation deck also features an open-air "skydeck" area. For several years in the 2010s, during its winter season, the observation deck would feature the "world's highest skating rink", with an artificial ice rink being seasonally installed. At one point, observation deck had
3776-455: Was named "Images". From 1993 until 2023, the 95th floor was home to a restaurant named the "Signature Room", with the accompanying cocktail lounge on the 96th floor being named the "Signature Lounge". The name alluded to the famous signature of early American figure John Hancock . The restaurant was an upscale establishment that offered patrons scenic views. It enforced a dress code for patrons. It received numerous awards. In April 2023,
3840-638: Was purchased by a joint venture of Chicago-based Golub & Company and the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds. Shorenstein Properties had bought the building in 1998 for $ 220 million. Golub defaulted on its debt and the building was acquired in 2012 by Deutsche Bank , who subsequently carved up the building. The venture of Deutsche Bank and New York–based NorthStar Realty Finance paid an estimated $ 325 million for debt on 875 North Michigan Avenue in 2012 after Shorenstein Properties defaulted on $ 400 million in loans. The observation deck
3904-433: Was recognized by USA Today Travel magazine, as one of AIA Illinois' selections for Illinois 25 Must See Places. The building is only partially protected by a fire sprinkler system, as the residential floors do not have sprinklers. Including its antennas, the building has a height of 1,500 feet (457 m), making it the thirty-third tallest building in the world when measured to pinnacle height. The 44th level skylobby
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#17328440616863968-566: Was sold to Paris-based Montparnasse 56 Group for between $ 35 million and $ 45 million in July 2012. That same month, Prudential Real Estate Investors acquired the retail and restaurant space for almost $ 142 million. In November 2012, Boston-based American Tower Corp affiliate paid $ 70 million for the antennas. In June 2013, a venture of Chicago-based real estate investment firm Hearn Co., New York–based investment firm Mount Kellett Capital Management L.P. and San Antonio–based developer Lynd Co. closed on
4032-679: Was the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1930, which was 319 meters (1,047 feet) tall. This was followed a year later by the Empire State Building , which rose to a height of 381 meters (1,250 feet). No supertall buildings would be constructed for 38 years until the completion of the John Hancock Center in Chicago in 1969. The John Hancock Center was the first supertall to be built outside New York City. Supertalls remained
4096-486: Was the second-tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building , in New York City , and the tallest in Chicago. It is currently the fifth-tallest building in Chicago and the thirteenth-tallest in the United States , behind the Aon Center in Chicago and ahead of the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia . When measured to the top of its antenna masts , it stands at 1,500 feet (457 m). The building
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