The year ahead for construction looks dramatic with the arrival of desert skyscrapers, an incredible Formula 1 track and entire new city districts. Notably amongst the top 10 projects from around the world is Melbourne’s very own 308 Exhibition Street on budget and on schedule for completion by Australia top builder, Multiplex later this year.
List here are ten of the most exciting construction projects coming on line this year as chronicled by respected by respected international property journalist Fred Mill for B1M with the full report found here.
- Toranomon-Azabudai District
Let’s kick off in Tokyo, where something huge is emerging from the concrete jungle: the Toranomon-Azabudai District – a new superdevelopment in the bustling business area of Minato. The goal is to create a city within a city with three enormous, mixed-use towers and a public space landscaped by Thomas Heatherwick.
In 2022 the central tower – snappily named, The Main Tower – topped out at 325 metres and simultaneously became Japan’s tallest building and Tokyo’s first supertall skyscraper. While it’s common for skyscrapers to taper in towards their top, this structure keeps its huge floor plate most of the way up the building.
Tokyo is in a seismic zone, and the building is so strong that it’s designed to be a safe shelter to flee to and for its occupants to carry on working even if a magnitude nine earthquake hits Tokyo.
2. Tun Razak Exchange
Staying in Asia in 2010, the Malaysian government devised a plan to develop the nation into a high-income country by 2020 (now three years ago). The Tun Razak Exchange, Malaysia’s first dedicated international financial hub, was a vital part of the strategy.
Inspired by the success of places like Canary Wharf in London, Pudong in Shanghai and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, the Tun Razak Exchange is a hugely ambitious 70-acre district filled with some 2.5M square 3. Iconic Tower
Regarding megaprojects, few places have a better pedigree than Egypt and have iconic buildings in the desert. No, not the Great Pyramid of Giza, a new skyscraper called The Iconic Tower. Work began in 2019, and it topped out in 2021 at 393 metres making it Africa’s tallest building and its first supertall skyscraper.
It’s being built as the centrepiece of the business district of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital. Long story short: Egypt’s capital, Cairo, has suffered from chronic overcrowding for decades, so in 2015 the government came up with the bold idea of building an entirely new city in the desert.
When the tower opens in 2023, it’ll be one of 20 proposed skyscrapers in the district being built at an estimated cost of USD 3BN. But the investment will be worth it
if they last as long as some of their neighbours.
The project was hit hard by covid, and Malaysia’s strict movement control order added considerable delays to much of the construction. Nevertheless, in 2022 Exchange 106, South East Asia’s tallest building, was completed, and it’s set to be joined by two substantial residential blocks in 2023.
- 308 Exhibition Street
But you know what’s better than a shiny new skyscraper? How about two shiny new skyscrapers? That’s what’s been built in Melbourne at 308 Exhibition Street – and joining the two towers together is one of the most elaborate sky bridges we’ve ever seen.
Sky bridges are nothing new, but they are becoming an increasingly elaborate way of making skyscrapers stand out from a tall crowd. At 308 Exhibition Street, an ornate gold-trimmed sky bridge will join a residential tower with a hotel tower on the 46th floor and create access between the two.
The golden sky bridge started with wooden planks and a strong stomach to get to this stage. A plywood deck was initially laid out using a cantilever from the shorter of the two buildings. Once in place, steel tendons were fitted between the two towers and a concrete slab was poured.
A roof was then fitted between, creating the effect of a ribbon wrapping around one floor of the apartment building and two floors of the hotel.
One side of the roof has been fitted with a movement joint to allow the bridge to flex. This provides stability to the two towers during seismic tremors and strong wind – in case you were worried, the golden ribbon was just for show.
- Four Frankfurt
Speaking of skyscrapers, if you think of somewhere that can’t get enough of them, you’d probably go for something like Dubai, Shanghai or New York. But, if you’ve been paying attention to our videos, you probably won’t think of Europe because Europe doesn’t really do skyscrapers.
Except there’s one place where that’s not entirely true. In Frankfurt, Europe’s new skyscraper capital, a new development is seeing four new towers built, aptly named Four Frankfurt.
Frankfurt’s historic centre and the bustling financial district have always been considered separate places, but Four Frankfurt aims to change that. It sits between the two and creates a mixed-use neighbourhood with offices, a hotel and residential apartments split between its towers.
All those different uses come with challenges for the construction team, most notably in the concrete cores. Each of the four skyscrapers turns away from the others at strategic points to maximise sunlight and to create more views for each tower. Adding to the complexity, each structure needs a different configuration of toilets, drainage pipes and columns.
That meant that each concrete core had to be constructed differently, but the team has pulled it off and remains on schedule to complete it in 2023.
6. Tren Maya
Moving away from skyscrapers to something more earthbound, some major infrastructure projects will be completed in 2023. Significant infrastructure comes with enormous benefits but often some sizeable controversy too. For a perfect example of this, head down to Mexico and look at Tren Maya.
Doing the benefits bit first, Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula has been a thriving tourism hotspot since the 1970s when cities like Cancun and Cozumel started to make the most of their idyllic coastal, Caribbean locations.
But it wasn’t just dreamy white beaches and impossibly blue seas used to lure the leisurely crowds. The peninsula is also home to some of Mexico’s greatest Mayan archaeological sites, such as the world-famous Chichen Itza.
That is hard to get to, though, with long slow bus journeys on roads that have seen better days. The solution is Tren Maya, a $10BN 1,500-kilometre railway constructed to connect important tourist sites with coastal cities and airports.
Overall, it’s a great way further to develop an invaluable sector of Mexico’s economy. That may be true but the land it’s going through is heavily contested and primarily covered with jungle.
That’s prompted loads of legal fights and delays, but still, the project is on track to open in December 2023. The economic benefits of the train will likely put to rest any concerns about its cost, but the row over its construction will continue for some time to come.
7. Las Vegas Grand Prix
Fasten your seatbelts from one high-speed project to another because this year will see the inaugural Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix.
In November 2023, we’ll see some of the fastest cars in the world race down Las Vegas’ iconic strip. The 6.12-kilometre route will take drivers around 17 corners, a chicane and three high-speed straits allowing them to reach up to 212 miles per hour.
The B1M is no stranger to Formula 1 or the difficulty of staging a race in a highly built-up area, and Las Vegas will be no exception. Safety is critical, and one of the most important jobs for construction crews is to keep the high-speed action well and truly on the race track.
To do this, 4,000 concrete barriers are being constructed, each containing over three and a half tonnes of reinforced concrete. Traffic in Las Vegas is similar to in many other major cities, but a few days later this year, you can guarantee this will be one place with no traffic jams.
8. MSG Sphere
The Grand Prix might be a new addition, but when it comes to eye-catching construction, Vegas has been in a world of its own for the best part of a century. It’s full of world firsts and replica buildings. But what do you do when you’ve rebuilt the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Eiffel Tower, ancient Rome, downtown Manhattan and Venice?
You keep the ball rolling and build the MSG Sphere, a next-generation immersive cinema set to open in 2023. At over 100 metres tall and nearly 160 metres wide, it’s the largest spherical structure on earth.
This absolute beast comprises four concrete cores tied together with reinforced steel. On top of that, a series of tensioned ring beams were fitted, helping make up the 11,000-tonne roof.
But, surprise, building a 19,000 x 13,500-pixel curved cinema screen takes work. Due to supply chain issues and inflation, it was recently reported that the cost of the sphere had ballooned to nearly $2.2BN. We’ll have to wait to see if the gamble pays off.
- SeaWorld Abu Dhabi
While Las Vegas might have been the original destination of choice for outlandish construction, there’s somewhere that’s been working hard to catch up: the UAE. The country already boasts the world’s tallest building, the world’s deepest pool and a series of man-made islands shaped like the world – but very soon, it will also have the world’s giant aquarium.
When it opens later in 2023, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi will host over 150 species of marine life in 58 million litres of the artificial ocean, which you can see with views like the Endless Vista, a 20-metre high window into the aquarium stretching over several levels.
If you’ve ever had a goldfish, you’ll know there’s more to keeping a pelagic pet than just filling a tank with water, and the fussy fish at the SeaWorld aquarium is no different. Just the right level of natural light will be allowed into the tanks to support marine life without preventing algae growth.
Then, there’s the actual aquarium itself. How do you build a giant tank without cracking under the enormous water weight? Well, the secret is, you don’t use glass. Acrylic is the material of choice for most aquariums as it’s 17 times more potent than glass and more pliable, allowing it to be bent into different shapes.
10. Aquatics Centre
Finally, we can only finish our roundup by mentioning the Olympics. It’s one of the most prestigious sporting events a country can host … and expensive.
Historically, host cities have been mainly picked thanks to ambitious plans for monumental construction projects and citywide development schemes. But in recent years, such moves have drawn criticism – especially when stadiums go on to sit empty or become white elephants.
But all that is about to change with the Paris 2024 Olympics, where sustainability is high on the agenda. The Aquatics Centre is set to be completed in 2023, and amazingly, it’s the only permanent building constructed for these games.
Energy use is being carefully monitored, and the roof is being constructed at the minimum permitted height while still enabling sight lines from the stands. The idea here is to create a smaller space which requires less heating. Ninety per cent of the building’s energy needs will be met from renewable or recovered sources, and around a quarter of that from the roof alone.
When it comes to sustainability, this is one building that will make a splash.
Images Credit: The B1M
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