CTBUH 2024 Best Tall Building Worldwide

WOHA Wins Again

John Hill

3. October 2024

Photo © Darren Soh

During its annual international conference that took place in London and Paris last week, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named Pan Pacific Orchard, a 23-story hotel in Singapore, as the 2024 Best Tall Building Worldwide. Designed by Singapore's WOHA, it is the second such accolade for the firm, coming six years after Oasia Downtown Hotel was named 2018 Best Tall Building Worldwide.

Although they look decidedly different, the similarities between the 2018 and 2024 winners designed by WOHA, the firm of Richard Hassell and Wong Mun Summ, are numerous, most notably the fact each tower functions as a hotel and they include large sky terraces from which guests look onto the city. While the sky gardens at Oasia Downtown Hotel are behind large openings set in a bold red facade that also acts an armature for climbing plants, Pan Pacific Orchard stacks four “strata” in such a way that, when seen from the east (top photo), the tower appears to be more open than solid.

There is a clear logic to the building's form. Lifted four floors above the sculpted ground plane is the first of the three full floors that serve as the bases for the elevated terraces. Each six-story sky terrace is defined by hotel rooms on two sides, with L-shaped plans mirrored from one strata to the next. Additional structural support takes the form of large circular columns that are covered in plants. The alternating “L”s and round columns give the building its ribbon-like east elevation but they also allow for the continuity of the vertical structure, which is aided by the trusses framing the full floors beneath each terrace.

Photo © Darren Soh

Each strata and associated sky terrace has a distinct character. The entrance strata, called the Forest Terrace, features a water plaza edged by trees. The second strata, the Beach Terrace, has a lagoon and beach surrounded by palm groves. The third strata, the Garden Terrace, has a bar and lounge flanking a lawn and garden. The fourth strata, the Cloud Terrace, features a ballroom and event space sitting below the solar roof canopy. Mirrored surfaces further heighten the already elevated experience of each terrace.

In addition to the solar roof panels, also hidden from view are a bevy of sustainability features that earned the building a Green Mark Platinum rating and were singled out in CTBUH's announcement, including harvesting rainwater for irrigation and processing food waste via an on-site biodigester. These green features and the way the terraces increase biodiversity and provide naturally cool spaces for the hotel gueists, CTBUH CEO Javier Quintana de Uña said: “Pan Pacific Orchard represents the best in responsible vertical urbanism today.”

Photo © Darren Soh

The full list of CTUBH Award of Excellence Winners is here, though more details on each project found on the CTBUH website.

2024 CTBUH Award of Excellence Winners (Regional):

Best Tall Building Worldwide: Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore
Best Tall Building Americas: Boston University Center for Computing & Data Sciences, Boston
Best Tall Building Asia: Greenland Hangzhou Century Center, Hangzhou
Best Tall Building Europe: Kaktus Towers, Copenhagen
Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa: One Za'abeel, Dubai
Best Tall Building Oceania: T3 Collingwood, Melbourne

2024 CTBUH Award of Excellence Winners (Height):