Plans unfold in Europe, Canada and China.

Metropol Tower Istanbul to be among Europe’s Tallest

At 250 m and 58 stories, Metropol Tower Istanbul, taking shape in the eastern part of the city in the master-planned Ateşehir district, will be among Europe’s tallest buildings upon completion in 2017, SkyRise Cities reported. Designed by British architecture firm RMJM, Metropol is part of a three-tower, 500,000-m2 complex that will have approximately 1,200 apartments. It has a curvy glass façade on one side, and will stand above a 30,000-m2 retail complex. The development signals Istanbul’s arrival as a major city that is projected to be Europe’s largest by 2020 with a population of 16.4 million.

Sitework Started for Germany’s Tallest Residential Building

Sitework has started on the 47-story Aktivhaus, slated to be the tallest residential building in Germany, SkyRise Cities reported. Located in Frankfurt next to the Skyline Plaza retail mall, Aktivhaus will be notably “green,” with energy from solar panels powering the building and landscaped balconies providing summer shade. Aktivhaus will house 240 apartments. It was designed by gsp Städtebau and Magnus Kaminiarz & Cie. Architektur. 

Tallest Building for U.K. City Greenlighted

What will become the tallest building in Salford, U.K., a 44-story, 130-m-tall residential structure at Exchange Court in the Greengate area, has been given the green light by city officials, Construction Enquirer reported. AQ Investments planned to start construction in June, with an expected completion in late 2018. The new building will contain approximately 350 apartments. It represents continued activity on the part of AQ, which has approximately 1,600 apartments under construction across four other sites in the area.

Shanghai Mixed-Use Development Includes Four Towers

A mixed-used development taking shape on 70,000 landscaped square meters in Shanghai adjacent to the Shanghai South Railway Station includes a pair of 120-m-tall office towers designed by Benoy and a pair of 150-m-tall office towers designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, global architecture firm Benoy reported. The entire development, the Xuhui Vanke Center, consists of 12 buildings situated along a mile-long “urban parkland.” It includes a 100,000-m2 retail podium, museum and arts complex, and is scheduled for completion in 2019. Developers are confident Xuhui Vanke Center’s location at Shanghai’s second-busiest public-transit station will help ensure its viability.

Bund SOHO Named Inaugural China Best Tall Building

China International Exchange Committee for Tall Buildings (CITAB) and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) jury has named Bund SOHO in Shanghai the inaugural China Best Tall Building. It was among four buildings in the running (ELEVATOR WORLD, April 2016). Designed by von Gerkan, Marg and Partners Architects of Hamburg, Germany, Bund SOHO is part of a mixed-use development that includes four high-rise office buildings standing between 60 and 135 m tall that “are composed as elongated, shifting volumes, creating a vivid urban space with small squares and alleys leading to the waterfront.”

CITAB-CTBUH observed the development respects its historic surroundings yet fulfills the requirements of a modern office complex. “It is like a ship’s prow, pushing the frontier forward of the established central Bund into new, uncharted territories, with visible confidence,” the jury stated.