TALLEST BUILDINGIN THE WORLD 2026 EDITION
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THE TEAMS BEHIND THE TOWERS

A skyline is a collective effort.

From the first sketch to the final steel connection, these are the firms behind the top 10. Explore their background, project responsibilities and the engineering decisions that distinguish their work.

ARCHITECT

Architectural firms

The firms responsible for building form, floor planning and architectural delivery. Design and local roles are credited separately.

4 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Kohn Pedersen Fox

KPF was founded in New York in 1976 by A. Eugene Kohn, William Pedersen and Sheldon Fox. Four buildings in this top 10 carry its design credit, spanning headquarters, hotels and mixed-use towers.

What to look for in their work

Its featured projects use very different profiles: Ping An’s pointed crown, Lotte’s taper, Guangzhou CTF’s stepped programme and CITIC’s widening top. These are architectural commissions delivered with separately credited structural engineers and local design partners.

Firm / project background ↗

3 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Founded in 1936, SOM combines architecture, structural engineering and urban planning within one practice. Its skyscraper lineage includes Chicago’s John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, followed by Burj Khalifa.

What to look for in their work

Compare its buttressed-core work in Dubai with the curved composite mega-frame in Tianjin. Both show how architectural shape and structural behaviour can be developed together. One World Trade Center has a different division of responsibility: SOM designed the architecture, with WSP credited for structural engineering.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

BIAD is credited as architect of record and structural designer on CITIC Tower, with Arup leading structural design through the schematic and preliminary stages.

What to look for in their work

The team credits show how design responsibility changes through a project’s stages. Farrells, KPF, BIAD and Arup contribute different parts of the route from concept to a building ready for construction.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

CCDI

CCDI is the local design institute credited alongside KPF on Ping An Finance Centre.

What to look for in their work

The local design credit is distinct from KPF’s design architecture and Thornton Tomasetti’s structural design. Keeping all three visible gives a more accurate picture of the project team than naming only the international architect.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Dar Al-Handasah

Dar Al-Handasah is credited for architecture and engineering of the Makkah tower. SL Rasch and Mayr | Ludescher | Partner have separately identified responsibilities for the upper clock structure.

What to look for in their work

This project is a useful example of scope boundaries within one building: the main tower, late-added clock assembly and upper steelwork have distinct design responsibilities.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

East China Architectural Design & Research Institute

ECADI is credited for architecture and structural engineering of record on Tianjin CTF Finance Centre.

What to look for in their work

This dual role sits alongside SOM’s design work. The distinction matters for a tower whose curved frame and enclosure require closely coordinated architectural and structural documentation.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Farrells

Farrells is credited as concept architect for CITIC Tower. KPF is credited as design architect and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design as architect of record.

What to look for in their work

Concept, design and record credits describe different stages and responsibilities. They should all remain visible when explaining how the initial architectural idea became a coordinated construction design.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Fender Katsalidis

Fender Katsalidis designed Merdeka 118 beside the stadium associated with Malaysia’s independence. The commission combines a national landmark with the practical demands of a mixed-use tower and its surrounding public realm.

What to look for in their work

The design architect establishes the overall architectural proposition. On Merdeka 118, RSP is separately credited as architect of record, with several engineering firms and the Samsung–UEM construction joint venture responsible for other parts of delivery.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Gensler

Gensler is an architecture, design and planning practice. Shanghai Tower illustrates its approach to a large building as a collection of places to live, work and gather, with stacked neighbourhoods and atria inside a double enclosure.

What to look for in their work

The distinction between enclosure and frame matters here. The outer facade twists around the tower, while Thornton Tomasetti’s core, outriggers and super-columns provide the primary structure. Architectural and structural authorship should be read together.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Leigh & Orange

Leigh & Orange is credited as associate architect on Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, alongside KPF and Guangzhou Design Institute.

What to look for in their work

The associate credit records architectural collaboration. Structural design is separately credited to Arup; the project’s changing floor plates and terracotta enclosure should be read with that division of responsibilities in mind.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

RSP Architects

RSP is Merdeka 118’s architect of record, working alongside design architect Fender Katsalidis.

What to look for in their work

The record role distinguishes architectural delivery from concept authorship. Use the project team source to identify that responsibility, then follow the engineering dossier for the concrete, outrigger and spire systems coordinated within the design.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

SL Rasch

SL Rasch designed the clock-tower top at Makkah after the underlying towers had already been structurally calculated. The addition made control of self-weight a fundamental design constraint.

What to look for in their work

Large clock faces, hands, supporting structure and the crescent required different materials and specialist interfaces. The lightweight crown cannot be understood simply as more floors stacked on the hotel.

Firm / project background ↗

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Structural engineers

The teams that turn architectural geometry into load paths, foundations and systems for wind and earthquake resistance.

3 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Arup

Arup’s featured work spans Merdeka 118, Guangzhou CTF and CITIC Tower. The credited scopes include structural design, geotechnics, fire engineering and engineer-of-record services, varying by project.

What to look for in their work

Its CITIC account describes exploring more than 800 design options with linked geometric and structural models. At Merdeka, its account instead emphasises excavation restraint, concrete technology and the spire’s dynamic response.

Firm / project background ↗

2 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Founded in 1936, SOM combines architecture, structural engineering and urban planning within one practice. Its skyscraper lineage includes Chicago’s John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, followed by Burj Khalifa.

What to look for in their work

Compare its buttressed-core work in Dubai with the curved composite mega-frame in Tianjin. Both show how architectural shape and structural behaviour can be developed together. One World Trade Center has a different division of responsibility: SOM designed the architecture, with WSP credited for structural engineering.

Firm / project background ↗

2 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

LERA

LERA is credited for structural design on Merdeka 118 and Lotte World Tower. Its Lotte account explains how long-span floors and eight mega-columns support a changing mix of uses.

What to look for in their work

At Lotte, serviceability is especially revealing: long corner cantilevers need deflection and vibration checks, not just sufficient strength. Structural decisions also determine how open the rentable floor plates can be.

Firm / project background ↗

2 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Thornton Tomasetti

Thornton Tomasetti is credited for Shanghai Tower and Ping An’s structural designs, with curtain-wall peer review also identified at Shanghai. It is the structural designer of Jeddah Tower.

What to look for in their work

The completed projects illustrate two different design questions: reducing wind excitation through Shanghai’s form, and combining a core with super-columns and perimeter bracing at Ping An. Jeddah extends the comparison to an interconnected concrete-wall system.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

BIAD is credited as architect of record and structural designer on CITIC Tower, with Arup leading structural design through the schematic and preliminary stages.

What to look for in their work

The team credits show how design responsibility changes through a project’s stages. Farrells, KPF, BIAD and Arup contribute different parts of the route from concept to a building ready for construction.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

East China Architectural Design & Research Institute

ECADI is credited for architecture and structural engineering of record on Tianjin CTF Finance Centre.

What to look for in their work

This dual role sits alongside SOM’s design work. The distinction matters for a tower whose curved frame and enclosure require closely coordinated architectural and structural documentation.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Mayr | Ludescher | Partner

The firm’s Makkah scope covers structural design and execution planning above approximately 347 metres, where the tower transitions toward a lighter crown.

What to look for in their work

Its published scope includes erection planning, fabrication quality control and temporary crane supports. That combination connects permanent structural design with the stability of partially assembled work.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Robert Bird Group

Robert Bird Group is credited as a structural design consultant on Merdeka 118, alongside LERA. Arup holds the separate civil and structural engineer-of-record credit.

What to look for in their work

Multiple structural credits indicate a shared design process. The project source does not assign every member or calculation to a single consultant, so those individual responsibilities should not be inferred from the overall credit.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

WSP

WSP, formerly credited on the project as WSP Cantor Seinuk, provided structural engineering for One World Trade Center.

What to look for in their work

Its account highlights the high-strength concrete core and a mix replacing more than half the cement with industrial by-products. Material selection affected structural dimensions as well as the environmental specification.

Firm / project background ↗

BUILDER

Builders & contractors

The firms responsible for construction delivery. Joint-venture partners are listed individually; specialist and main-contractor roles are distinguished.

2 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

China Construction Eighth Engineering Division

China Construction Eighth Engineering Division is the main contractor credited on both Guangzhou CTF and Tianjin CTF. Similar names and equal heights conceal two different structural designs.

What to look for in their work

Guangzhou uses a core, mega-columns and delayed outrigger connections. Tianjin uses an integrated curved composite frame. Contractor portfolios are most informative when the actual structural systems are compared.

Firm / project background ↗

2 TOP-10 PROJECTS↗

Samsung C&T

Samsung C&T’s Engineering & Construction business appears on both the tallest and second-tallest completed towers. It worked in a joint venture with BESIX and Arabtec at Burj Khalifa, and with UEM on Merdeka 118.

What to look for in their work

These projects make concrete placement, climbing work platforms, crane logistics and control of the construction sequence central delivery problems. The joint-venture credit describes shared construction responsibility; it does not transfer architectural authorship to the contractor.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Arabtec

Arabtec was a construction joint-venture partner on Burj Khalifa alongside Samsung C&T and Six Construct. This is a historical project credit, rather than a claim about the company’s present operations.

What to look for in their work

Shared contractor credits should not be treated as three independently built towers. The relevant engineering story is the coordinated delivery of the concrete superstructure, its setbacks and the eventual steel spire.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

BESIX / Six Construct

BESIX is a construction group founded in 1909. Six Construct, its regional construction business, participated in the Burj Khalifa joint venture with Samsung C&T and Arabtec.

What to look for in their work

Its Burj Khalifa account describes the practical challenge of placing concrete at extreme height in a hot climate. Pumping, mix temperature and night working connect the material specification to the daily site programme.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

China Construction Third Engineering Bureau

China Construction Third Engineering Bureau is the principal contractor credited on CITIC Tower. The Institution of Structural Engineers highlights the tower’s hydraulically raised steel work platform.

What to look for in their work

This platform carried several working levels as the core rose. Its role is distinct from the permanent mega-frame: it provided an engineered working environment and construction sequence for assembling that frame.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

China State Construction Engineering Corporation

CSCEC is credited as the construction group behind Ping An Finance Centre. Its published account highlights an integrated platform that brought several construction operations together high above the ground.

What to look for in their work

The platform supported surveying, steel erection, reinforcement and concrete work. This is temporary-works engineering: the equipment that enables construction must be designed and sequenced alongside the permanent building.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Lotte Engineering & Construction

Lotte E&C was the main contractor for Lotte World Tower. Its sustainability report records the enormous foundation mat, while LERA describes the permanent structural frame above it.

What to look for in their work

A mixed-use tower requires the contractor to coordinate structural transitions as office floors give way to hotel levels and the upper lantern. Foundation placement, steel erection and concrete work are related parts of one delivery sequence.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Saudi Binladin Group

Saudi Binladin Group is credited for construction delivery at the Makkah Clock Royal Tower. It is also listed as the main contractor on the separate Jeddah Tower project.

What to look for in their work

At Makkah, the engineering challenge changes with elevation: concrete below gives way to composite and then steel construction near the crown. The clock-top specialists retain distinct design and erection-planning credits.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Shanghai Construction Group

Shanghai Construction Group delivered Shanghai Tower and published a technical account of its construction methods. Its contribution includes excavation sequencing, mass concrete and an integrated climbing platform.

What to look for in their work

The tower was built upward from its foundation while the surrounding podium used top-down construction. Reading those sequences together explains why a single construction label misses the complexity of the site.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

Tishman Construction

Tishman Construction is credited as general contractor on One World Trade Center. The project combines a high-strength reinforced-concrete core with a fabricated steel perimeter frame.

What to look for in their work

The construction interface is between two material systems with different fabrication and placement cycles. The design credit remains split between SOM’s architecture and WSP’s structural engineering.

Firm / project background ↗

1 TOP-10 PROJECT↗

UEM Builders

UEM Builders is the Malaysian construction partner credited alongside Samsung C&T on Merdeka 118. The tower’s contractor is identified as the Samsung–UEM joint venture, or SUJV.

What to look for in their work

The project required coordination between concrete construction, large outrigger zones and a long steel spire. Arup’s account also describes contractor collaboration on a concrete mix that balanced pumpability, stiffness and heat generation.

Firm / project background ↗

FULL DIRECTORY

Every firm in the top 100

All 167 firms credited as architect, structural engineer or builder across the world's 100 tallest completed buildings.

12 BUILDINGSArchitect

Kohn Pedersen Fox

Ping An Finance Centre, Lotte World Tower, +10 more

8 BUILDINGSStructural engineer

Arup

Merdeka 118, Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, +6 more

5 BUILDINGSStructural engineer

Thornton Tomasetti

Shanghai Tower, Ping An Finance Centre, +3 more

3 BUILDINGSBuilder

Brookfield Multiplex

Kempinski The Boulevard Dubai, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 1, +1 more

2 BUILDINGSArchitect

Archgroup Consultants

JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 1, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 2

2 BUILDINGSStructural engineer

BG&E

JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 1, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Tower 2

2 BUILDINGSArchitect

C.Y. Lee

Taipei 101, 85 Sky Tower

2 BUILDINGSArchitect

Gensler

Shanghai Tower, Xiamen International Center

2 BUILDINGSBuilder

Lendlease

Central Park Tower, 432 Park Avenue

2 BUILDINGSStructural engineer

LERA

Merdeka 118, Lotte World Tower

2 BUILDINGSArchitect

Moshe Safdie

Raffles City Chongqing T3N, Raffles City Chongqing T4N

2 BUILDINGSStructural engineer

WSP

One World Trade Center, 111 West 57th Street

1 BUILDINGArchitect

5+design

Minying International Trade Center T2

1 BUILDINGArchitect

Adrian Smith

Trump International Hotel and Tower

1 BUILDINGBuilder

Arabtec

Burj Khalifa

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

Arup Group

Nanjing Financial City Phase II Plot C Tower 1

1 BUILDINGArchitect

Atkins

Landmark 81

1 BUILDINGArchitect

CCDI

Ping An Finance Centre

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

CCDI Group<

Haitian Center Tower 2

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

ECADI

Wuhan Center

1 BUILDINGArchitect

HOK Omrania

Public Investment Fund Tower

1 BUILDINGArchitect

NBBJ

Eton Place Dalian Tower 1

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

P & T Group

Riverview Plaza

1 BUILDINGArchitect

Q459464

Willis Tower

1 BUILDINGArchitect

SL Rasch

Makkah Royal Clock Tower

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

SOM

Jin Mao Tower

1 BUILDINGArchitect

WilkinsonEyre

Guangzhou International Finance Center

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

William F. Baker

Trump International Hotel and Tower

1 BUILDINGStructural engineer

WSP Global

Central Park Tower

1 BUILDINGArchitect

Yahya Jan

Ciel Dubai Marina

This directory covers credited teams on the ten completed buildings featured here. It is not a ranking of firms or an exhaustive list of every project participant.

Explore teams behind future projects ↗