How Tall Can We Build? Construction Materials and Methods for Skyscrapers of the Future

Brief 

Many urban planners predict that by 2050, more than 6 billion people will live in cities, and in places where building outwards isn’t an option, the only way to keep up with the growing density is to build up.While the sky’s the limit, how does this impact the constructability of projects, and what feats of construction methods and materials have enabled us to build into the clouds?

Insight

Many urban planners predict that by 2050, more than 6 billion people will live in cities, and in places where building outwards isn’t an option, the only way to keep up with the growing density is to build up. Building taller always comes with numerous challenges and also a not-so-subtle competition for architecture firms to have their name tied to the biggest buildings.

Almost as fast as a building is named one of the tallest in the world, another one makes its way to the drawing board, a few years later taking the title. While the sky’s the limit, how does this impact the constructability of projects, and what feats of construction methods and materials have enabled us to build into the clouds?

First, it’s important to understand how to technically define tall buildings. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) defines two sub-groups of buildings that achieve significant heights. A “supertall” building is defined as being 300 meters (984 feet) or taller, and a “megatall” structure reaches at least 600 meters (1,968 feet) high.

At today’s pace, at least one supertall skyscraper is completed annually, with 132 supertall skyscrapers having completed construction as of June 2020. The Burj Khalifa is still the world’s tallest skyscraper, measuring 2,722 feet, or just over half a mile.

Recently, after 8 years of construction, the Merdeka 118 in Malaysia completed construction and measured only 500 feet shorter than the Burj Khalifa. It’s predicted that the world’s first mile-high building could be completed within the next 30 years, also bringing in a new trend of buildings that stand over 3,200 feet tall.