The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced KfW Westarkade (Frankfurt, Germany) by Sauerbruch Hutton architects as the 2011 Overall ‘Best Tall Building Worldwide’ at its 10th Annual Awards Ceremony.
“As we design for a sustainable future, we desperately need a new definition of beauty that goes beyond skin deep,” said 2011 CTBUH Awards Chair, Rick Cook of Cook+Fox Architects of the building. “Already being touted as one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in the world, KfW Westarkade stands out as a shining example of a truly environmentally-responsible project. The building has been carefully integrated into its context, forming relationships with its neighbouring buildings, streets and parkland, while simultaneously standing out through the playful use of colour.
“Whereas many buildings use colour as a way to mask an otherwise unremarkable building, here it contributes an additional rich layer to what is already a remarkable building. Germany already has a strong reputation for achieving natural ventilation in tall office buildings, and Westarkade can now be added most positively to that list.”
Accepting the award on behalf of the KfW Westarkade project team was Axel Hinterthan from building owner KfW Bankengruppe. Joining Axel on stage to collect the award were the project’s architects Matthias Sauerbruch and Louisa Hutton of Sauerbruch Hutton.
The Council issues four regional Best Tall Building Awards annually to give recognition to projects that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and that achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level. The KfW Westarkade project was also recognized as the Best Tall Building in the Europe region. Also recognized at the ceremony were: Eight Spruce Street, New York which took the Best Tall Building Americas award, Guangzhou International Finance Center, Guangzhou took the Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia award, and The Index, Dubai took the Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award.
Also honoured on the evening were the Council’s two 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award winners: Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture won the Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award, recognized for his 40 years of designing supertall buildings including the current World’s Tallest, Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Dr. Akira Wada was awarded the Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal for his extensive impact on tall building design around the world, especially in the field of seismic design. Also recognized at the ceremony were the Council’s 2011 Fellows: Ron Klemencic of Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Brett Taylor of Bornhorst & Ward, and John Zils of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.