Tall Buildings Conference & Awards 2024 Event Preview

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Showcasing the UK’s Unique

High-Rise Superstructures

Tall buildings present unique challenges, they can divide opinions but undeniably represent the pinnacle of construction ingenuity.

As one of the most prominent specialist events, the Tall Buildings conference, exhibition and awards bring together those at the forefront of design, engineering and technical innovation.

This Tall Buildings Preview features prominent speakers taking part in the 2024 conference and showcases previous winners of the awards.

‘Laboratories in the Sky’ – Employing New Technologies and Techniques

Conference Chair Steve Watts, Director, Turner & Townsend Alinea – offers his perspective on developing ‘laboratories in the sky’, employing new technologies and techniques.

The Future of Tall Buildings

Conference speaker Roger Ridsdill-Smith, Head of Structural Engineering, Foster and Partners, takes a look back at the history of high-rise and asks – are tall buildings a feature of a sustainable, carbon- and material-aware future? Or should they be consigned to the past?

Conference Keynote Speaker

Conference keynote speaker, Philip White, Head of Operational Strategy, Health & Safety Executive – outlines the requirements of the new Building Safety Act and the secondary legislation.

Risk Reduction - A Holistic Approach

Nick Atkinson, Company Director, Ambar Kelly, discusses risk reduction, ensuring buildability, accuracy and comprehensive fire protection.

Tall Buildings Conference Programme

The high-rise sector is grappling with a set of unprecedented challenges. The Tall Buildings Conference is the place for industry professionals to come together in a collaborative environment to debate thorny issues, consider best practice and unite to find a progressive and proactive way forward.

Vox Pops

Eszter Gulacsy, Technical Director, Mott Macdonald; Ashley Bateson, Director & Head of Sustainability, Hoare Lea; Tina John, Senior Architectural Design Manager, Pocket Living and Angie Jim Osman, Partner, Allies and Morrison – take part in a vox pop on achieving circularity in the design of tall buildings.

Tall Buildings Awards

Peter Murray OBE, Co-Founder of NLA and host of the Tall Buildings Awards invites those behind the structures that are breaking new ground to join in the celebrations.

Previous Winners

The Tall Buildings Awards celebrate the best industry talent and outstanding high-rise accomplishments in the UK, no matter the form or budget.

Meet the Judges

Responsible for determining the outcome of the Tall Buildings Awards, we are proud and privileged to introduce the 2024 judging panel.

FRONT COVER IMAGE: Amory Tower © Make Architects

‘LABORATORIES IN THE SKY’

EMPLOYING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TECHNIQUES

Conference Chair Steve Watts offers his perspective on why ‘total design’ is fundamental in developing a cohesive approach to the construction of tall buildings.

Tall buildings have always been used to represent the best and worst of society, from the dramatic skylines that signpost a city’s progress to global icons planted as a backdrop to stories of financial distress. That will probably never change but what has changed is the need for high-rise endeavours to be subject to wider and deeper scrutiny on their credentials – qualities that take the traditional squabbling siblings of form and function to a more granular level of detail, addressing an abundance of regulations, guidance and global best practice whilst using the skills and imagination of designers and specialist consultants to create buildings that are magnets for occupiers, delightful for the public, kind to the environment and, of course, solid business cases for their backers.

That has never been easy and now the bar has been raised further. The good news is that the challenges faced by tall buildings, and the often-fine line between commercial success and failure, have forced their design teams to squeeze every possible efficiency out of them but also to treat them as ‘laboratories in the sky’, employing new technologies and techniques where they can.

Those experiences will stand designers in good stead for future challenges, and the increasing requirement to consider the impact that towers make beyond their immediate environs –indeed, the part they must play in

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sustainable urban densification – is welcome. This is something that is relevant to most geographies and is brought into focus in the UK by news that our population is set to reach 76million by 2026, passing the 70million mark a decade earlier than previously forecast.

As I write this, I am reading that discussions are taking place about discounted rail and tube fares in London on Fridays to encourage people back to the office. This alone is surely not enough, and tall buildings have an important role to play in the continuing debate about hybrid working, by providing state-of-the art offices that are much more than mere offices, offering a variety of workspaces that are enhanced by high quality amenities and infrastructure.

This is perhaps part of the bifurcation of the office market, which appears to be widening. A Devono report on the London office market late last year stated that availability in the capital was at its highest level since 2004 (25million square feet) yet tower spaces are now commanding £120 per square foot, up 45% over five years.

The residential sector displays a similar dynamic as international buyers remain willing to pay a premium for luxury apartments in prime locations (deals in Manhattan in 2023 enjoyed a boom

that was in contrast to New York’s general market). However, residential towers in the UK face particular hurdles in responding to a plethora of regulations and guidelines that have come into force in recent years. Ever more stringent requirements on overheating prevention, insulation levels, fire strategies and natural light provision, amongst other things, are putting severe pressures on costs and area efficiencies. Uncertainties surrounding the Building Safety Act are adding to the friction and prompting some residential developers to pause and consider, but I do think that ultimately all these irritants will help to create better buildings.

One inherent advantage of tall buildings is the fact that they are difficult to demolish, with notable examples of iconic towers enjoying second lives or more including Tower 42 in London and The Chrysler Building in New York. This is a trend that will grow, given the imperative to minimise carbon emissions and the hardening attitude of planning authorities, who will need more convincing that demolition cannot be avoided. As Thomas Heatherwick put it in his recent provocative book “Humanise”, the most sustainable building is one that is designed to last a thousand years. He also said that “boring” and “unloved” buildings have the opposite effect, and whilst

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there is subjectivity in this argument (and the need to include commercial considerations in the debate), I get his point.

Tall buildings must do a lot more, for many more people, and obviously they will not always be the right solution, but where they can support sustainable density, then we need the best possible tall building. To get that requires ‘total design’, by which I mean architects, engineers and other specialists designing together rather than ‘throwing their particular design over the wall’ for others to comment on. The likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have promoted designers thinking like engineers and vice-versa. The best examples of tall buildings are founded on such an approach being extended across the whole team.

Some values will never go out of fashion, and for me teamwork is top of the list.

Hear more from Steve Watts, Director, Turner & Townsend Alinea at the Tall Buildings Conference taking place on Tuesday 25 June 2024.

For the full speaker lineup, go to: www.tallbuildingsconference.co.uk

IMAGES

01-03 ©Edmund/ Turner & Townsend Alinea

CONFERENCE SPEAKER

ROGER RIDSDILL SMITH, FOSTER + PARTNERS CONSIDERS THE FUTURE OF TALL BUILDINGS

Until the cathedral building period of the Middle Ages, the tallest manmade structures in the world were the Pyramids in Egypt – at around 150m above ground level. The cathedral spires were more slender but not much taller. As late as 1880, Cologne Cathedral was the tallest building in the world, with a 157m spire.

There were two reasons for this. Firstly, these medieval structures were built in much the same way as the structures that came before them: with loadbearing masonry. Stone blocks or bricks were piled on top of one another to create heavy loadbearing walls. Their height was limited by the capacity of the ground beneath the wall to support its mass and the stability of the entire structure against sideways loads acting on the building, such as wind and earthquakes.

Secondly, height was limited by the difficulty of getting to the top of these structures. In the absence of reliable

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mechanical hoists, the building’s users were obliged to use stairs, which might be practical for maintenance and the occasional visit, but unrealistic for use by large numbers of people.

The explosion in tall building construction came at the end of the nineteenth century, enabled by two major technological advances. Structural steel became plentiful and affordable due to the innovations brought about during the industrial revolution. And the invention of the safety elevator enabled large numbers of people to access high levels without the risk of catastrophic failure

if a pulley or rope were to break. Tall towers were born in Chicago and New York, as a result of the economic benefits of living and working in dense cities, as well as city planning incentives and the desire of the population to live and work in these cities.

Foster + Partners Tower design

Today, the structural team at Foster + Partners work with the architects on tall buildings around the world. Our philosophy is that structural design should be efficient and legible, distilled to the point where nothing further can be removed.

A recent example of this is the JP Morgan headquarters building at 270 Park Avenue for which Foster + Partners’ integrated structural and architectural team developed the winning concept. The brief called for a building around 420 metres tall, on a narrow site just 43 metres wide and, crucially, over underground railway lines that lead into Grand Central Station.

The team incorporated the constraints of the site into a simultaneously structural and architectural solution. The loadbearing columns of the tower are gathered into fan structures above ground level, bringing the loads on each facade down to just three points. Inside the building, the loads come down on double columns at a further three points.

The external bracing on the east and west facades provides stiffness and strength to the building over and above that provided by the internal core and outriggers. The building doubles the density of the previous building on the site and 97 per cent of the building materials from the original building were recycled, reused or upcycled.

The future of tall towers

Fifty years ago, the debate about tall towers was sociological. Were they a new form of social inequality, fragmenting communities and creating isolated monotenure estates within the city?

At the turn of the millennium, the focus shifted instead to the ownership and use of new towers. Following the rush to build luxury residential developments in the centre of the city, was anyone actually living in these new buildings, or were they simply vehicles for lucrative investment?

Today, the debate has moved on again, to ask whether it is morally defensible to construct tall buildings at all in the current climate crisis. Are tall buildings a feature of a sustainable, carbon- and material-aware future? Or should they be consigned to the past?

Anti-intuitively perhaps, a consistent picture emerges from research by urban economists. When compared with suburban and rural areas, households in urban environments have lower annual carbon emissions. The primary reason for the difference is the reduction in private transport use. A recent study of household carbon consumption in the United States found that the carbon footprint of transportation in suburbs is around 50% higher than that of large principal cities, and as a result, the total household carbon footprint is about 25% higher. Even when the increased embodied carbon of construction of towers compared to low-rise buildings is taken into account, the result remains unchanged.

Tall buildings have historically developed in step with technological innovation and societal need. A tipping point occurred around the second half of the nineteenth century, beginning on the east coast of the United States, when technological advances, economic need, and

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planning legislation jointly encouraged the development of tall buildings – that have since transformed our cityscapes worldwide.

We are at a tipping point now with regard to our climate. We need to build efficiently, reuse and recycle wherever possible, and minimise carbon in building construction and use. And we must consider the carbon footprint of buildings as part of the overall context of development. Increased density, which tall buildings can contribute to, results in lower overall carbon emissions and creates places for people to live and thrive in.

IMAGES

01 An illustration of the High Gothic Cologne Cathedral under construction.

© INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo

02 The Home Insurance Building, Chicago, following its completion in 1885. Designed by American architect William Le Baron Jenney

03 Model of 270 Park Avenue showing structural bracing on the façade, and the fan columns at ground level.

© Foster + Partners

04 The 420m tall skyscraper at 270 Park Avenue will be New York City’s largest all-electric tower with net zero operational emissions and indoor air quality that exceeds the highest standards in sustainability, health and wellness. © dbox / Foster + Partners

CONFERENCE SPEAKER

PHILIP WHITE, DIRECTOR OF BUILDING SAFETY ON THE BSR STRATEGIC PLAN

On 30 November 2023, it was announced that Philip White, Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) Director of Building Safety (DoBS), will continue in his current role leading the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) on a permanent basis. Since taking over from Peter Baker in April 2023, his task is to fully establish the BSR in Health & Safety Executive.

The Building Safety Regulator is leading a critical change across the construction industry in England and the built environment. The strategic plan establishes a vision where everyone is competent and takes responsibility to ensure buildings are of high quality and are safe.

Philip White said: “This strategic plan sets out the guiding principles we have put in place to keep us focused on our priorities in delivering the new regime, and we will keep it under continuous review. We will ensure we have the right capability and capacity to meet this challenge as our remit continues

to evolve, working with others sharing knowledge, expertise, and data.

“Our focus is clear and resolute as we oversee a culture of higher standards, putting building safety first. Our regulatory activities will be conducted in a way which is transparent, accountable, proportionate, and consistent.

“Throughout the next three years, BSR will continue to work across all sectors to ensure that those working in the building industry engage fully with the new regime. Our aim is that people will see fundamental changes to the safety and standard of all buildings and increased competency among industry professionals that raises those standards year on year.”

Overhaul of Building Regulations

Through these changes the government has made it clear that those who commission, design and construct buildings maintain the liability for ensuring compliance with the building regulations. This is reinforced by the obligation of clients to declare a project as compliant on completion.

• Duty holder responsibilities are now in force with new duties being to plan, manage and monitor activities in relation to building regulations.

• Higher-risk construction projects are subject to a new building control

measures overseen by the Building Safety Regulator with increased accountability among stakeholders.

• A golden thread of information is now required for each higher-risk building.

The overhaul of regulations will require building owners to demonstrate safety at each of three new ‘gateways’planning and design, construction and occupation. Compliance will be monitored by the Building Safety Regulator with significant powers to demand documents and to stop works, and a new National Regulator for Construction Products with the power to remove dangerous products from the market. These regulations affect predominantly England, with a significant amount relating to Wales and very little applying to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

This represents the most significant change to regulation of building safety for a generation and means residents and other building users can be confident that industry is working together to make sure the tragedies of the past will never be repeated.

The Building Safety Regulator will:

• Improve the safety and standards of all buildings.

• Make sure residents of higher-risk buildings are safe and feel safe in their homes.

• Help restore trust in the built environment sector.

This will be done by:

• Delivering consistent standards within the building control profession.

• Overseeing and driving improvements across the whole built environment.

• Regulating the planning, design and construction of new higher-risk buildings.

• Working in partnership with co-regulators.

• Ensuring those who are responsible for occupied higher-risk buildings manage risk so that residents are safe.

Practical and Comprehensible

Commenting in the foreword to the strategic plan, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, said: “The system that regulates our buildings must be practical and comprehensible. The Regulator must lead the sector in creating a built environment fit for the future. This first three-year strategic plan is a significant moment in this mission. It looks forward and lays out a solid foundation on which the Regulator can build its ambition in future years.”

Chair of the Health and Safety Executive, Sarah Newton, added: “This is a strong, coherent strategy built on collaboration with all BSR’s

stakeholders, with a keen focus on ensuring industry takes ownership and responsibility for delivering a safe system throughout the lifecycle of a building. This must be front of mind for everyone. And everyone must be aware of their legal responsibilities. Collaboration and collective responsibility are key for delivering better standards.”

Leading a Critical Change in Culture and Behaviours

As HSE’s DoBS, Philip will continue to perform the duties of the Chief Inspector of buildings working closely with BSR’s statutory industry and resident committees to ensure both industry and residents are heard at the heart of the new regime.

He will keep the programme on course to deliver against agreed timelines and milestones including championing the need for culture change in industry and highlighting the need for collective responsibility to improve building safety.

Philip’s extensive regulatory experience and proven leadership will be vital to the success of the BSR in the coming years, ensuring the strength of HSE continues to be brought to bear in creating an effective regulator that’s fit for purpose for the future.

Philip White will be addressing the Tall Buildings Conference on 25 June 2024.

RISK REDUCTION ENSURING BUILDABILITY, ACCURACY

AND COMPREHENSIVE FIRE PROTECTION

While tall buildings are an increasingly common sight in UK city skylines, their design and construction can often face various safety challenges and risks – some easily visible, others less so. Nick Atkinson, Company Director at Ambar Kelly, discusses the need for tall building design and construction to utilise a more holistic approach to not only improve safety but also help contractors meet buildability targets.

When designing and constructing tall buildings, having ‘joined up thinking’ is often a prudent strategy. Working closely with principal designers and contractors, taking a holistic approach can help to incorporate complex and fragmented plans and enable everyone involved to factor in details for the riser shaft, which too often falls through the gap in professional thinking.

With tall buildings presenting unique challenges in terms of design and construction, it is imperative that architects and contractors consider both the visible and invisible safety risks, such as the fast spread of fire and falls from height.

However, while the majority of tall building designs account for the relevant safety aspects, especially in riser shafts, a lack of co-ordination between contractors and subcontractors can occasionally lead to things being missed. For example, most installed fall prevention systems are constructed from GRP, a combustible material, that can further the spread of fire, rather than prevent it. With contractors needing to focus on so many different aspects of safety and buildability, it is imperative to rely on a riser flooring system that enhances fire protection, prevents falls and helps those involved in the project meet buildability targets. Ambar Kelly’s modular steel riser provides the ultimate solution.

Enhanced Fire Protection

There have been two major fire related accidents that highlight the fatal risk of the stack effect (chimney effect) – the King’s Cross station fire in 1987 and the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

The former was due to a discarded match lighting a combustible material, which developed into a ‘flash over' due to the previously unknown ‘trench effect’ of the gas/fire rising in a shaft (escalator & sidewalls).

The latter was due to an electrical appliance fault that ignited combustible material. A report by Doctor Barbara Lane later found that the subsequent fire was at least partially due to the incomplete/missing horizontal cavity barriers allowing the inordinately fast spread of the fire through the gap between the cladding and building frame. Doctor Lane found there were at least six separate pathways for fire to travel through. As a result, more combustible material was allowed to be rapidly ignited due to the chimney effect.

The presence of a shaft and combustible material in both cases allowed minor events to develop into infernos with tragic consequences. To prevent such fires occurring in risers

the risk can be eliminated by providing a proprietary modular steel riser flooring system, a non-combustible class A1 floor at every level stopping the chimney effect and the vertical spread of fire.

Reducing the Risk of Falls at Height

During construction projects, there is a risk of falls at openings or slab edges. While riser shaft designs will often incorporate fall protection products, contractors often source the cheapest product (a GRP grating) to remain competitive. While often labelled as fire resistant, it is actually combustible (usually class C or D) and allows smoke and flames to reach further parts of the riser together with adding to the fire load.

Installing a modular steel riser flooring systems such as RiserSafe® throughout the riser shaft, enables MEP services to be easily installed between floors while providing a solid base on which to stand. In fact, this flooring system will completely cover the riser openings in the shaft, preventing accidents and the spread of harmful smoke and flames.

Working With the Golden Thread in Mind

With riser flooring a permanent part of the building that allows maintenance teams to enter during building use, the associated risks of fire and fall should be addressed in the designer’s risk assessment and specified by the design team. The design team will

RISERSAFE® – TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

RiserSafe® has been developed by Ambar Kelly to promote project teams to manage the riser zone during the life of the building. RiserSafe® eliminates the risks which are commonly associated with risers of falls, fire, cost and time by incorporating the needs of PQSs, designers, main contractors and trade contractors alike.

Our unique, patented, RiserSafe® product is the only riser system on the market that has been tested for fire protection at BRE facilities.

We understand risers, we understand buildings and we understand your needs.

Find out more, visit: ambar-kelly.com 01707 324523 | info@ambar-kelly.com

often play no part in the selection or specification of the riser flooring, resulting in combustible flooring being installed by frame subcontractors and used as temporary fall protection. This is later left in place as permanent flooring without reviewing its suitability for fire prevention. It is encapsulated within a fire compartment which is fine until an unplanned event like a new pipe being installed, could compromise the compartment occurs in the future. Then it’s just a matter of time for the next discarded match or faulty electrical device…

Specialising in the design and construction of the market leading RiserSafe® system, Ambar Kelly takes pride in offering a cost effective, practical, fireproof and proven modular riser flooring system that fully takes buildability and sustainability into account.

For more information on RiserSafe® visit: www.ambar-kelly.com

Tall Buildings

SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS INCLUDE:

CENTRAL LONDON

08:30 Registration, Exhibitor Viewing & Networking

09:30 INTRODUCTION FROM CONFERENCE CHAIR

Steve Watts, Partner - Turner & Townsend alinea

SESSION: TALL BUILDINGS TRENDS

09:40 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Peter Murray, Co-Founder - New London Architecture Findings From The London Tall Buildings Survey

10:10 Tom Nancollas, Interim Assistant Director (Design)City of London

Tall Buildings in the City

10:30 Roger Ridsdill Smith, Senior Partner - Head of Structural Engineering - Foster + Partners The Future of Tall Buildings

10:50 Q&A Panel Discussion

11:05 Refreshment Break, Exhibitor Viewing & Networking

SESSION: BUILDING PERFORMANCE & INNOVATION

11:45 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Philip White, Director Of Building Safety, Building Safety Regulator (BSR) - Health and Safety Executive (HSE) The Impact of the Building Safety Act

12:05 Doug Baldock, Chartered Engineer – WSP High Performance: The Route to Net Zero

12:25 David Fitzpatrick, General Manager UK and Radek Sikorski, International Business Development Manager - SMAY Ventilation Systems

How Does a Pressurisation System Impact the Fire Safety in a High-rise Building?

12:45 Martin Murray, Specification Sales Manager - Geberit A Case Study on Geberit SuperTube

13:05 Q&A Panel Discussion

13:15 HEADLINE EXHIBITOR AUDIENCE ADDRESS Obex Protection

Steve Watts

Tom Nancollas

Philip White

David Fitzpatrick

Martin Murray

Peter Murray

Roger Ridsdill Smith

Doug Baldock

Radek Sikorski

EVENT PROGRAMME

13:25 Lunch, Exhibitor Viewing & Networking

SESSION: SHOWCASING LONDON’S DESIGN’S

14:30 Brendan Geraghty, Chief Executive - The Association for Rental Living (ARL)

How Can BTR Project Designers Assist With Keeping Operational Costs Low?

14:40 John Fleming, Founder & Chairman - Tide Construction & Vision Modular

A Case Study on College Road Scheme

15:00 PANEL DEBATE

Can Skyscrapers be Circular?

Ashley Bateson, Director & Head of SustainabilityHoare Lea

Eszter Gulacsy, Technical Director - Mott Macdonald

Tina John, Creative and Architectural Design ManagerPocket Living

Angie Jim Osman, Partner - Allies and Morrison

15:30 Alec Vallintine, MD - Construction - Canary Wharf Contractors

A Case Study on Wood Wharf, Phase 3

15:50 Nicola Carniato, Director - AKT II

A Case Study on One Park Drive

16:10 Simon Harold, Business Development Director - PCE

A Case Study on Fulton & Fifth

16:30 Q&A Panel Discussion

16:40 CLOSING COMMENTS FROM CONFERENCE CHAIR

Steve Watts, Partner - Turner & Townsend alinea

16:45 Conference End

TALL BUILDINGS AWARDS

17:00 Tall Buildings Awards Drinks Reception

17:45 Tall Buildings Awards

18:30 Final Photos & Event End

19:00 Delegates Depart

Simon Harold

Brendan Geraghty

Ashley Bateson

Tina John

Alec Vallintine

Nicola Carniato

John Fleming

Eszter Gulacsy

Angie Jim Osman

VOX POP: CAN TALL BUILDINGS ACHIEVE CIRCULARITY?

The Tall Buildings Conference taking place on 25 June 2024, will feature a panel discussion surrounding circular construction – here we ask the participants four key questions.

Ashley Bateson Director, Hoare Lea

Q: Can superstructures achieve the guiding principles of circular construction?

AB: Every construction project should adopt principles of circularity. This entails seeking to reduce extraction of new resources, maximising use of reclaimed and recycled materials, and aiming to eliminate waste. There are important environmental and carbon benefits in achieving these objectives. Superstructures certainly have a role in adopting circular principles and we have seen good progress in this in recent years.

Q: Is design optimisation crucial in circular construction approaches?

AB: Reviewing design options at an early is a fundamental prerequisite to optimising circularity. Early design decisions influence material volumes, materials selection and buildability. Without

Eszter Gulacsy Technical Director - Sustainability and Climate Change, Mott Macdonald

reviewing circularity in the design process, and engaging with the supply chain, can result in missed opportunities and compromised outcomes.

Q: Is it viable to plan for a tall building’s ‘end’ right at inception to enhance sustainability?

AB: It’s crucial to plan for disassembly from the outset. Success in circularity means planning a strategy for each building to be dismantled in a safe way to ensure potential reuse of materials on other projects. If we don’t plan for the end-of-life scenario we could make it impossible for large parts of the building to be reused and recycled.

Q: What are the specific challenges in meeting circular construction protocols for tall buildings?

AB: Tall buildings have particular challenges for circularity due to the inherent difficulties in repairing, replacing and disassembling parts of the building when they have reached the end of their technical life. By planning ahead however and being conscious of these needs access strategies can be put in place for repair and replacement. An example would be designing glazing sections on the facade that can be replaced from within the building to avoid the challenges of external access. This is especially critical in dense urban locations where there might be challenges for cranes. Adequately sized internal vertical transportation would be critical in the repair and replacement strategy.

materiality to make a project lower its carbon footprint may reduce the building’s adaptability, using materials with a lower embodied carbon footprint doesn’t necessarily equate to a lower whole-life carbon footprint (and this increased circularity). There is no onesize fits all solution, which is why we need to think broader than the project itself, if we want to pursue circularity.

Q: Is it viable to plan for a tall building’s ‘end’ right at inception to enhance sustainability?

Q: Can superstructures achieve the guiding principles of circular construction?

EG: Since material choice in the superstructure of tall buildings is fairly limited, to steel, concrete and timber (although this is a niche area), a desire to adhere to principles of circularity necessitates thinking more broadly than the just design process itself. Yes, we need to design for longevity and easy disassembly, minimise waste and overdesign, but we also need to think about the upstream and downstream supply chains now and in the future and question whether we need to build new to begin with at all.

Q: Is design optimisation crucial in circular construction approaches?

EG: It depends on what we mean by design optimisation and I think that definition is the crux of the problem here. Reducing

EG: As one of my colleagues has correctly pointed out, thinking about how a building is to be demolished and deconstructed has been a requirement of CDM for several years (from a safety perspective). The question is more about how to ensure that any design for demolition documentation is appropriately preserved, stored and communicated throughout the building’s life and that there are market forces that would incentivise the building owner to consider that documentation at the end of the building’s life.

Q: What are the specific challenges in meeting circular construction protocols for tall buildings?

EG: Specific supply chain and materiality requirements for example facades, space limitations for DfMA solutions, quantities of materials required and associated logistical challenges.

Angie Jim Osman Partner, Allies and Morrison

Q: Can superstructures achieve the guiding principles of circular construction?

AJO: As an industry and as designers, we’re comfortable with embracing ‘reduce’ and ‘recycle’ but haven’t yet prioritised retain, reuse and repair on the same scale, both essential for circular design. We should be shifting towards designing buildings as a kit of parts; fixing not bonding, optimised for disassembly and flexibility, enabling future lives and adaptations. Significant industry shifts are needed for circularity to be genuinely and effectively embraced. We must prioritise the retention of materials at their highest value, requiring us to design for adaptable use and efficient method of documenting materials data for prolonged life beyond its initial use.

Q: Is design optimisation crucial in circular construction approaches?

AJO: Design optimisation is essential if we are to fully embrace circularity in construction. For adaptability, our focus on configuration for various end users and re-utilisation is key to circularity. Establishing grid and span optimisation for flexibility in use enables buildings to be retained for a longer life. By designing

Tina John Senior Architectural Manager, Pocket Living

out superfluous layers, for example with internal finishes and furnishing, material cost and future waste can be greatly reduced. This requires a mindset change not only from designers but from clients and occupiers to shift away from industry norms and expectations of what the building product should be. The Building Safety legislation also forces a shift to upfront design allowing more certainty in detail and procuring elements – a positive step towards the reduction of construction waste.

Q: Is it viable to plan for a tall building’s ‘end’ right at inception to enhance sustainability?

AJO: It relies on collaboration and communication within the industry from design teams, owners and occupiers, local authorities and other stakeholders. Our practice’s research into creating material passports aims to maximise opportunities for material reuse and in turn, encourage project stakeholders to embrace a circular approach to whole-life carbon management. We have in some projects incorporated reuse of steelwork whilst in others the role of loadbearing stone for facades and floor slabs. We must also question and better define the ‘end’ of life, there is a high carbon cost of tall buildings so designing for longevity is essential, with a responsibility to the climate and to the owner/occupiers.

Q: What are the specific challenges in meeting circular construction protocols for tall buildings?

AJO: Many challenges exist – entrenched industry processes, barriers in legislation, warranty of components and materials, cost of reusing and recycling materials, timing of green infrastructure investment. These require a regional and tailored approach to projects.

Q: Can superstructures achieve the guiding principles of circular construction?

TJ: By considering the entire lifecycle of a building and adopting the methodologies of circular construction, that is the use of innovative low impact materials which have a high recycled content, design out waste, reducing construction impact and considering assembly, dismantling and reuse – all elements of a building can strive to achieve circularity.

Q: Is design optimisation crucial in circular construction approaches?

TJ: Yes, I would say the more efficient, repetitive, and well thought out the design the easier it is to apply principles of modern methods of construction (MMC) and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) which is a critical part of a circular approach. Optimising the design will ensure that you achieve cost and time

savings, have good quality control and focus on sustainable delivery.

Q: Is it viable to plan for a tall building’s ‘end’ right at inception to enhance sustainability?

TJ: All buildings and tall buildings in particular should attempt to apply the principles of sustainable design and construction from the onset, this should be an integral part of the design process and not an afterthought. Recognising here that we can no longer see construction as a linear process of ‘take-make-dispose’ is important, understanding the longevity and recoverability of materials, the lifecycle of the building and its potential adaptability should be a fundamental exercise that is carried out at the early stages of design.

Q: What are the specific challenges in meeting circular construction protocols for tall buildings?

TJ: In the current volatile construction market where inflation alongside changes to regulations and legislation are impeding schemes being brought forward – conversations around sustainability and circularity have taken a back seat. The number of starts on site have significantly declined and even more so for tall buildings. A clear way forward is required, the continued debate around the introduction of additional stairs and evacuation lifts with a lack of clarity on the details of how the changes are to be implemented has had a substantial impact on tall buildings.

HOST PETER MURRAY OBE

INVITES THE INDUSTRY TO JOIN THE CELEBRATIONS!

Tall buildings have a profound impact on our cities and their skylines. They shape them and reflect the aspirations of their inhabitants. The Tall Buildings Awards reward the very best and the teams that deliver them.

The Awards encourage excellence in an increasingly complex world that must respond to the issues of sustainability, mixed-use, community living, the circular economy and stringent legislation. The Awards turn the spotlight on the architects, the engineers, the contractors and the clients who plan and execute tall buildings that transform our cities.

They recognise the achievement of delivering projects of the highest quality.

Towers are transformative agents that must be judged on criteria that recognise their visibility and effect on surrounding areas. The Awards premiate buildings that enhance the quality of life for countless individuals.

TALL BUILDINGS AWARDS CATEGORIES

They recognise buildings with a lasting legacy, shaping cities that are not just functional but also aesthetically inspiring, sustainable and resilient.

In the face of pressing environmental challenges, tall buildings represent an opportunity to lead the way in sustainable design and construction. The Awards encourage entries that prioritise energy efficiency and resilience.

Beyond the prestige, winning the Tall Buildings Award yields commercial rewards, attracting new clients and partners who recognise the value of innovative design and forward-thinking architecture.

The Tall Building Awards celebrate innovation, vision, and commitment to shaping the future of our cities. Submit your projects and join in the celebrations!

Peter Murray OBE

Co-Founder of NLA and host of the Tall Buildings Awards

Designed for speed, scale, and simplicity, PCE’s hyTower® build system delivers benefits across construction, commercial, logistics, and sustainability. The benefits ensure quality, safety, and minimal disruption, even in tight spaces:

• Up to 50% reduction in construction programme

• Up to 80% reduction in required operatives and on-site hours

• Up to 80% reduction in site deliveries

• Up to 90% reduction in waste

• Reduced noise and dust

• Absence of scaffold and backpropping

• Extensive digital tracking and data collation, adhering to Golden Thread compliance

hyTower® for High Rise success

PCE’s award-winning hyTower® HybriDfMA build system ensures predictable quality, safety, speed, and value for the design, manufacture, and assembly of high-rise structures for commercial, residential, and mixed-use developments. With a unique supply chain model, PCE’s offsite solution ensures manufacturing of the highest quality product, at speed and scale:

• Flexible access to specialist manufacturers across UK and Europe

• Benefit of manufacturing automation and robotics

• Kit of parts delivery

• Integration of MEP, utility, balcony, windows, and non-combustible Class A1 façade

• Assembly of weathertight structures

• Safe and early access for fit-out and follow-on trades – 2 levels below leading edge

• Expedites completion for earlier operation

GAIN RECOGNITION

AND AMPLIFY YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Taking place in central London on the evening of Tuesday 25 June 2024, following the Tall Buildings Conference – the Tall Buildings Awards celebrate the best industry talent and outstanding high-rise accomplishments in the UK, no matter the form or budget.

An investment of time is required but recognising commitment and achievement, the plaudits gained through winning or being shortlisted can be extremely rewarding professionally, attract new talent to your business and provide a valuable experience for the team.

With an eminent judging panel, renowned throughout the industry, being nominated or ultimately

winning an award, offers independent recognition and endorsement. This public approval reinforces opinions, instils trust, confidence and has the potential to create new business opportunities.

The media campaign surrounding the Tall Buildings Awards generates extensive industry press coverage and creates valuable content for your own campaigns. Just being shortlisted

can draw attention to expertise and specialisms.

Join the List of Prestigious Winners Held biennially, with a growing list of outstanding winners, shortlisted companies of the Tall Buildings Awards 2024 will be promoted to a national audience, giving entrants the opportunity to make their mark on this high-profile and inspirational sector.

Delegate tickets for the Tall Buildings Conference will permit FREE entry into the Tall Buildings Awards.

Winner of Winners Hylo – HCL Architects (Horden Cherry Lee) receiving the trophy from Peter Murray OBE

PREVIOUS WINNERS

BEST RESIDENTIAL TALL BUILDING PROJECT

MAKE ARCHITECTS FOR AMORY TOWER

Best Residential Tall

Building ProjectAmory Tower is a striking new residential high-rise on the Isle of Dogs with a sleek silhouette that contributes to the local skyline. The building is slender in form and clad with articulated fins that create a textured moiré effect reflecting the water surrounding the site. The design champions local amenity. Make Architects worked hard to minimise the footprint of the building and were ultimately able to convert 70% of the site into beautifully landscaped, publicly accessible gardens.

BEST MIXED-USE OR COMMERCIAL TALL BUILDING PROJECT

HORDEN CHERRY LEE ARCHITECTS FOR HYLO

Best Mixed-Use or Commercial Tall Building Project

HYLO Bunhill Row, London is the result of re-configuring and extending a 1960s tower and podium building to create high quality office space with retail at ground floor level. Surrounded by conservation areas, the carefully sculptured massing responds to the complex site geometry and adjacent townscapes and creates new public spaces. The memory of the existing building is expressed externally with flush glazing and the new arcade linking Bunhill Row with Errol Street, recreates a historic 17th century thoroughfare. Numerous setbacks respond to street geometry creating landscaped terraces for the benefit of all.

BEST TALL BUILDING ARCHITECT

TONKIN LIU FOR TOWER OF LIGHT AND WALL OF ENERGY

Best Tall Building Architect

The Tower of Light is a 40-metre-tall structure supporting and enclosing flues for a new low-carbon energy centre in Manchester’s city centre. The biomimetic structure has built on the decade-long innovation and research, Shell Lace Structure, pioneered by Tonkin Liu and developed in collaboration with engineers at Arup. Learning from geometries in nature, the tower’s form is its strength. The super-light, super-thin single-surface structure uses the least material to achieve the most.

Best Tall Building Client

BEST TALL BUILDING CLIENT BERKELEY GROUP FOR SOUTH QUAY PLAZA

South Quay Plaza plays a pivotal role in revitalising London’s historic docklands around Canary Wharf. The towers are orientated to increase visual connections and public access to the dockside, whilst maximising dual aspect views and daylight for the apartments. The sustainable residential towers provide the area with much needed mixed tenure housing, offering exceptional new homes in close proximity to public transport, open space and the vibrancy of Canary Wharf.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

BEST TALL BUILDING CONTRACTOR

MACE FOR ONE CROWN PLACE

Best Tall Building Contractor

Part of a wider central London development which revives the entire city block, One Crown Place demonstrates how an intense mixed-use scheme can contribute positively to the urban fabric. Two residential towers, planned to provide outstanding apartments and minimise local impact, sit above a six-storey office and retail podium, where an innovative structural solution allows uninterrupted, adaptable office floors. Each use is clearly expressed and has its own entrance, restoring activity to the surrounding area.

BEST TALL BUILDING FACADE & FENESTRATION ENGINEERING PROJECT REYNAERS ALUMINIUM FOR HADRIAN’S TOWER

Best Tall Building Façade & Fenestration Engineering Project

Hadrian’s Tower is one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in Newcastle-uponTyne. This 82-metre tower stands proudly as the tallest building and combines high quality architecture and construction to create a bold structure that has transformed the city skyline. It boasts panoramic views of the city, made possible by using CW 65 unitised curtain walling in its design by Reynaers Aluminium, to ensure optimum performance and sustainability while achieving an iconic appearance.

BEST TALL BUILDING MEP SERVICES PROJECT

BRIGGS AND FORRESTER LIVING FOR NEWFOUNDLAND

Best Tall Building MEP Services Project

Newfoundland, an iconic diamond facaded tower in Canary Wharf, London is the tallest built-to-rent residential high rise in the UK, topping out at 228 metres, 63 stories. Residential units occupy 58 floors which equates to 636 apartments. Further amenities include terrace, gym, lounge, self-service bar, private dining room, screening room, children’s play area and a restaurant. Briggs and Forrester Living completed MEPH services to the shell and core and fit out areas of the tower.

BEST TALL BUILDING RETROFIT OR REFURBISHED PROJECT

K

Best Tall Building Retrofit or Refurbished Project

SYSTEMS FOR GAYWOOD HOUSE

Gaywood House, an 11-storey residential tower block in southwest England, is a prime example of K Systems’ aptitude for architectural excellence. Together with approved installer Rateavon Ltd, K Systems delivered an industry-leading, insulated facade solution for Bristol City Council that fulfilled the desired criteria, improved thermal efficiency, enhanced building aesthetics and delivered an outstanding architectural structure that exceeded industry standard – all within budget and the agreed timeframe.

BEST TALL BUILDING STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

AKT II FOR ONE PARK DRIVE

Best Tall Building Structural Engineer

One Park Drive is a new, 58-storey residential tower that has been delivered for Canary Wharf Group, in south-east London. It is the centrepiece of the master planned Wood Wharf development, which now extends London’s world-famous Canary Wharf business district with a new, community-driven programme. The new tower is designed by Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with Adamson Associates, together with engineers AKT II and Sweco, and has been built by Canary Wharf Contractors.

BEST SUSTAINABLE TALL BUILDING AWARD

KENSA CONTRACTING FOR DAISYFIELD TOWERS

Sustainable Tall Building Award

Kensa Contracting completed the installation of 183 ground source heat pumps (GSHP) into homes in three high rise tower blocks in Blackburn city centre. Utilising renewable techniques to collect energy from the ground and connecting to a Kensa designed shared ground array. The project was able to provide estimated lifetime carbon savings of 6,556 tonnes of CO2 and significantly improve the local air quality by removing the outdated gas boilers and failing communal flue systems.

BEST TALL BUILDING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AWARD

PCE HYTOWER SYSTEM

Tall Building Technology Innovation Award

hyTower is a hybrid DfMA building system that is straightforward to manufacture and erect for buildings from two storeys to fifty storeys tall. Comprising factory fabricated components that can be easily manufactured, transported and safely erected and fixed together on site, providing a complete structural frame with integral core, bathroom pods, internal wall and integral facade. hyTower is a safe and quick system that provides quality, cost and programme certainty.

CELEBRATING HIGH-RISE INNOVATION

Growing in stature year on year, with 12 categories, the Tall Buildings Awards shine a spotlight on the engineering feats that are creating a legacy of iconic superstructures.

For full details on the 2024 Shortlist visit: www.tallbuildingsawards.co.uk

MEET THE JUDGES

Responsible for determining the outcome of the Tall Buildings Awards, we are proud and privileged to introduce the 2024 judging panel.

RICARDO BAPTISTA Design Director, AKT II

SUSAN MANTLE Director, Heyne Tillett Steel

ROBINS Partner, Make Architects

JENNY BURRIDGE Head of Structural Engineering, The Concrete Centre

ALAN MCCARTNEY Partner, Howells

STRONG

Global Building Standards Director, Global HQ London

ALEX CARTER Partner, Cundall

STEVE MCKECHNIE Director, Arup

WARD Operations Leader, Laing O'Rourke

HILL Chief Executive, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

RICHARDS Director, Cogent Consulting

Being nominated or ultimately winning an award offers independent validation and recognition from highly regarded industry figures.

SIMON

GARY

SAMUEL

VICTORIA

DARREN

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