# Tallest Concrete Buildings



## jesuscalixto (Mar 2, 2009)

I want to know wich are the world tallest Concrete buildings, not with a Steel skeleton nor stuff like that; i mean, really really Full Concrete, Both Skeleton and most of the Exterior...by that Definition i`ve been searching and i came up with *"Complejo Parque Central* in *Venezuela*, it is 738ft (225mts) Height of pure concrete, do you guys know other ones


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## toddhubert (Jan 6, 2008)

It's CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou, its structural height is 391 m (1,283 ft) 80 stories including two tall antenna-like spires on the top. Completed in 1997, it is the tallest concrete building in the world. 









You can find more info on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CITIC_Plaza


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## jesuscalixto (Mar 2, 2009)

Yeah but that´s my point, in Wikipedia there are a Bunch of Buildings that say that "they are the tallest concrete building"....soooo....

Another thing is that the Structural material is concrete, Facade material glass and the Facade system is curtain wall, so that makes it lighter....

im from Massachusettes, i study civil engineering at MIT and i spent 1 week looking for real concrete complete buildings, and lets be clear of something, never the international organizations give a crap about latin america, i was able to find this twin buildings, and if you pay attention, not only the Structural Material is Concrete but also the facede system and Material, that is what caught my attention, a In and Out Concrete Building at that Height


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

Also that one mostly has a curtain wall façade

Thing is, high buildings are generally built from a 'plan libre' - the façade is rarely load bearing. Concrete is a rather expensive (and sort of unlogical) material to make a non-load-bearing façade with. But it has been in fashion for a while to work with concrete panels. 

for the real 'concrete look', one could think of say the Copan building in São Paulo:









It has a concrete construction and a concrete façade. From the side everybody knows it from, at least, the other side is a very worn curtain wall.









The Ameritrust Tower by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith









Ponte City Tower, Johannesburg, South Africa









Morro Vermelho building, Brasilia, by João Filgueiras Lima










that's what i'd call full concrete buildings. The only sort of high one that comes in mind is Ponte City (173 m)

On the other hand, Burj Khalifa and Ryugyŏng Hotel too are mostly concrete buildings, they just have the wrong façade.


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## desertpunk (Oct 12, 2009)

Water Tower Place in Chicago. The world's tallest concrete tower when it was built in 1973.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

The Trump Tower in Chicago is made of concrete as well. They couldn't make it with a steel frame because the footprint is too small for the proposed height.

The roof is 1,170 feet high, compared to CITIC Plaza's roof height of 1,056. CITIC Plaza is 1,283 in total height compared to Trump's 1,389. 

So maybe Trump is highest. Although like CITIC, it has a glass curtain.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

*Central Plaza* used to be the tallest building in HK and the tallest re-enforced concrete building in the world.


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## HK999 (Jul 17, 2009)

trump tower in chicago is the tallest, here's the link: CTBUH

1. Trump International Hotel & Tower, 423m
2. CITIC Plaza, 390m 
3. Central Plaza (HK), 374m


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## gabrielbabb (Aug 11, 2006)

In Mexico I think it's WTC Mexico the tallest concrete building...
207m
87,000 m2 of concrete area

TODAY











During its restauration (80's - 90's)





When it was El Hotel de México (70's) :S [Visual Terrorism]



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## yveslachance (May 11, 2010)

This one is some communist concrete supertall! 
The Ryugyong hotel is 330m tall and has 105 floors. Located in Pyongyang, capital of North Korea.
Construction started in 1987 bu stopped in 1992:









The building was left with no windows and interior for 16 years, until construction continued in 2008


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

This curtain wall is such a strange decision. It kills the thing architecturally, but it also just seems rather pointless on a 75% closed concrete façade.


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

The Petronas Towers have a reinforced-concrete skeleton, even though its exterior facade has steel and concrete.


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## Joneswilliamsc (May 17, 2010)

Its really very nice buildings. I like all of them too much. I have never seen in real such type of buildings. I have seen his very nice buildings in pictures only. Now I wish to see it in real. It is really highlighted that every one want to or impressed to watch them.


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## TheCanadianEuro (Oct 4, 2009)

I believe the Manulife Building in Toronto was at one point the tallest concrete structure in Canada,at 51 stories in 1974.


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## CCs77 (Jul 30, 2008)

Well the Parque Central Twin Towers were suposed to be the tallest concrete towers at the moment of it construction. Nevertheless neither they are a full concrete building, but instead they have a very interesting structure.
Although they DO use concrete to support all the loads of the building, both vertical and horizontal ones, inside the building they have a steel skeleton as a way to make the structure less heavy.

Let´s explain you better how it works. If you see the picture at the top of the page, you'll see there are concrete columns visible in the exterior of the building along whit four volumes, one each side of the tower, make up of concrete walls. Well, that elements form a perimetral structure that transmit ALL the loads, as I said before, both vertical and horizontals, to the ground.
So, what about the steel structure? If you take another look at the picture, you'll see that the curtain wall is interrupted every certain number of floors by a "ring" of concrete. That isn't a ring, it is what is called a "macrolosa", a super-slab that carries what is like a complete inside building, several stories high, made with a conventional steel structure. In other words, Each tower is composed of five different steel buildings, four of them 12 to 15 stories high, and the top one, four stories high, each of them completely independent from the one bellow. This way, the entiry structure is much less heavier than if it were built only in concrete.

Finally, if you look again at the picture, you'll see a crane attached from one of the towers, but it is not to construct it, but to re-construct it, due to a massive fire back in 2004. that year, a massive fire burn all the 20 upper floors, damaging the steel structure so it has to be replaced completely. They removed the last two intern buildings (of 12 and 4 stories) When they do that you can see as that entire space, 12 stories high, was completely empty, looking like an enourmous cage.


P.D. I hope I can explain myself about the building, and excuse me if my english is not so well. If you have any doubt about that explanation, don`t doubt to ask.


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## 863552 (Jan 27, 2010)

Sydney has quite a few.


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## VisionoftheWorld (Jun 6, 2010)

jesuscalixto said:


> Another thing is that the Structural material is concrete, Facade material glass and the Facade system is curtain wall, so that makes it lighter....
> 
> im from Massachusettes, i study civil engineering at MIT and i spent 1 week looking for real concrete complete buildings, and lets be clear of something, never the international organizations give a crap about latin america-


I love concrete buildings to, it sounds like you are leaning toward interest in the architectural style once known as 'Brutalism' ; and in Mass you're right in the middle of one of the Brutalist capitals of the world- Boston City Hall is one of the most famous concrete structures in this style; also the Government Service Center; as well as several buildings on the Cambridge campus. You're right about Latin America being ignored- especially when considered Brazil was at the forefront of advancing the modernist movement back in the 1950s.
Truth be told I'm pretty sure the tallest concrete building is the CN Tower:
553m


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## Architorture (Sep 22, 2004)

i want to see some tall slip form structures...


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## elking (Dec 27, 2012)

I like Central Plaza


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## Kyll.Ing. (Nov 26, 2012)

^Protip: If a thread hasn't been posted in for nearly THREE YEARS and you have NOTHING but a one-liner to add to it, don't post. Seriously.


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