The worlds best tall building receives high praise

On any scale, 2021 has certainly been a huge year for Twenty5 King, Australia’s largest commercial timber building.

A major highpoint has been the number of accolades this visionary building has achieved, culminating in its most recent gong that puts it right up there in pride of place with the world’s best timber buildings.

That is the prestigious global award given to Twenty5 King from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as the 2021 “Best Tall Building, Under 100 Metres”. This is no mean feat when you consider the CTBUH is the world’s leading organisation on the design, construction and operation of tall buildings and future cities.

Founded over 50 years ago in Chicago, and based in the USA with other international offices, the CTBUH is admired worldwide for devoting itself to the increasingly important focus on ‘how urban density and vertical growth can support more sustainable and healthy cities in the future’.

Each year the CTBUH holds its Annual Awards, a program which acknowledges projects from all over the world for their excellence in contributing to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and to achieving sustainability at the highest and broadest levels.

So to receive this outstanding award on the world stage for ‘best tall building under 100 metres’ is a resounding endorsement and something everyone at Twenty5 King is justifiably proud of.

Designed to stand out amongst the world’s best

The fact that Twenty5 King was selected as a 2021 ‘Best Tall Building’ from any number of international entries from around the globe is a significant statement about the original vision of it’s sustainable cross laminated timber (CLT) design, and its overall architectural, engineering and performance excellence.

Perhaps it’s best summed up in the words of the designer of Twenty5 King, Bates Smart Director Philip Vivian, who said:

“Twenty5 King models how timber can be used as a viable alternative to steel and concrete construction. This is a new way of thinking, engineering and building that’s taking hold worldwide.”

Mr Vivian is confident timber buildings like Twenty5 King are setting a standard that will encourage a new pathway in the future: He said:

“As more people come onboard, it will become a new norm in global architecture and design.”

There is no doubt Twenty5 King’s outstanding design principals and environmental credentials as a market leader in energy management have been a major factor in the CTBUH award. Just look at the building’s outstanding sustainability achievements.

They include carbon neutral certification through Climate Active, a 6.0 Star NABERS Energy Rating and a Platinum WELL Rating. The building has also been able to divert 6.66 tonnes of waste from landfill over 2020, and achieve a 74% savings in embodied carbon when compared to a comparable steel and concrete building.

Heading a long list of awards

Winning the CTBUH award is the latest in an impressive number of accolades Twenty5 King has received over the last two years.

What stands out about this list of over 15 Australian and International awards is the fact they have been won by Twenty5 King in a number of different categories, including sustainability, interior architecture, innovation, engineering, technology and timber applications. This simply highlights the visionary design and the level of excellence that this building represents on every level.

Some of the more notable awards include the Development Innovation award from the Property Council of Australia, a gold award for architecture at the Good Design Australia Awards and 3 awards at the Queensland Architecture Awards in the Commercial, Sustainable and Interior Architecture categories.

A full list of awards can be found below.

• Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat – Overall Category Winner – Best Tall Building under 100 metres
• Engineers Australia – Australian Engineering Excellence Awards 2020 – Queensland Division
• Consult Australia Awards for Excellence 2020 – High commendation: Superior Sustainability
• Property Council of Australia Innovation and Excellence Awards 2020 – Development Innovation – Lendlease and Impact Investment Group
• Urban Development Institute of Australia (Qld) – Awards for Excellence 2020 – Winner: Environmental Excellence
• Australian Institute of Building (AIB) 2019 Queensland – Research Development and technology – Professional Excellence award – Lee Walters, Lendlease
• Australian Institute of Building (AIB) 2019 National – Research Development and technology – Professional Excellence award – Lee Walters, Lendlease
• Australian Institute of Project Management PMMA Awards 2019 – Small Project (Qld) – Twenty5 King Fit-out
• Project Management Institute (PMI) Young Professional of the Year 2019 – Zara O’Shea – Twenty5 King
• Australian Timber Design Awards 2019 – Merit Category: People’s Choice – Aurecon, Bates Smart and Lendlease DesignMake
• Australian Timber Design Awards 2019 – Excellence in Timber Applications: Commercial – Aurecon, Bates Smart and Lendlease DesignMake
• Good Design Australia Awards 2019 – Gold in Architectural (Commercial and Residential) – Aurecon, Bates Smart and DesignMake
• Queensland Architecture Awards (AIA) 2019 – Award for Interior Architecture – Woods Bagot
• Queensland Architecture Awards (AIA) 2019 – Beatrice Hutton Award for Commercial Architecture – Bates Smart
• Queensland Architecture Awards (AIA) 2019 – Harry Marks Award for Sustainable Architecture – Bates Smart
• MIPIM Asia Awards 2019 – Best Office Development – Bates Smart

Twenty5 King is located in the Lendlease master planned Brisbane Showgrounds, one of Australia’s best urban regeneration precincts.

The building is a collaboration between Impact Investment Group (IIG), Lendlease, Aurecon and architecture firm Bates Smart. JLL and NettZero have also played key roles since the building opened in 2018. A vision to push the boundaries of commercial building innovation and sustainability, with strong connections to wellbeing and place, underpins the project.

Since 2015, IIG investors have invested $280m into the Brisbane Showgrounds precinct. IIG’s Head of Property, Darren Brusnahan, says of the Lendlease masterplanned development,

“We believe it’s one of Australia’s best urban regeneration precincts and is rich in amenity with a strong environmental focus. Twenty5 King is central to this positioning.”

Bates Smart Director Philip Vivian, who designed Twenty5 King, agrees.

“Twenty5 King models how timber can be used as a viable alternative to steel and concrete construction. This is a new way of thinking, engineering and building that’s taking hold worldwide. As more people come onboard, it will become a new norm in global architecture and design.”

Twenty5 King, with its timber engineering and honest expression of warm materials, exemplifies how commercial buildings can be designed to achieve outstanding environmental performance and maximise wellbeing and productivity, raising the standard for future projects around the world.

About Bates Smart

For more than 165 years, Bates Smart has been consistently recognised as one of Australia’s top design firms. Their expertise and integrated design approach allow them to lead complex masterplanning, architecture and interior design projects across sectors and industries in Australian and global markets. The result is a built environment that positively impacts the ways in which people live, learn, work and heal. www.batessmart.com