Towers

The World's Tallest Buildings and Structures: Timeline

The subject of the world's tallest building(s) was traditionally a minefield for quizzers, but it was finally settled in September 2008 when the Burj Khalifa in Dubai became the tallest structure ever built.

I say finally, but records are of course made to be broken ...

The problem lies in how you define a building (as opposed to a tower or a structure), and – even more contentious – how you measure its height. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) defines a "building" as "(a) structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and "has floors".

(The CTBUH is a non–profit international organization, based in Chicago – the home of the skyscraper.)

Wikipedia notes that 'Tall churches and cathedrals occupy a middle ground: their lower areas are regularly occupied, but much of their height is in bell towers and spires which are not. Whether a church or cathedral is a "building" or merely a "structure" for the purposes of determining the title of "world's tallest building" is a subjective matter of definition (this article treats churches and cathedrals as buildings).'

As for measuring the height of a building: the default criterion used by the CTBUH is "height of the architectural top of the building", which includes spires but not antennae, masts or flag poles.

In the following table, a free–standing structure that doesn't qualify as a building is listed as a tower. I'm using the distinction made by Wikipedia: the Buildings are listed on the History of the World's Tallest Buildings page, the Towers are listed in the Timeline of World's Tallest Freestanding Structures, and the Structures are listed in the Timeline of Guyed Structures on Land.

The heights of each of these structures, and their locations (there isn't always room to put them here) are given in later sections of this page.

Tallest Building			Tallest Tower			Tallest Structure
2560 BC		Great Pyramid
1221		Old St. Paul's
1311		Lincoln Cathedral
1549		St. Mary's Church, Stralsund
1647		Great Pyramid
1874		Church of St. Nicholas, Hamburg
1876		Rouen Cathedral
1880		Cologne Cathedral
			1884		Washington Monument
			1889		Eiffel Tower
1890		Ulm Minster
1901		Philadelphia City Hall
1908		Singer Building
1909		Metropolitan Life Tower
1913		Woolworth Building
1930		Bank of Manhattan Trust Building
1930		Chrysler Building
1931		Empire State Building
						1954		Griffin TV Tower
						1956		KOBR–TV Tower
						1959		WGME TV Tower
						1960		KFVS TV Mast
						1962		WTNM/WBRL–TV Tower
						1963		KLVY–TV Mast
			1967		Ostankino Tower
1972		World Trade Center
1974		Sears/Willis Tower				1974		Warsaw Radio Mast
			1975		CN Tower
						1991		KLVY–TV Mast
1998		Petronas Tower
2004		Taipei 101
2010		Burj Khalifa

Strictly speaking, by my definition above, the Great Pyramid isn't really a building. I've called it one as it adds more than a little historical perspective to the rest of the list.

And the same applies in the next section:

Tallest Buildings

The following table is a timeline of the tallest buildings (man–made structures with space for living, working or worshipping) since the Pyramids:

				Metres	Feet
Egypt		The Great Pyramid of Cheops, at Giza	c. 2560 BC	146	481
England		Old St. Paul's Cathedral, London	1221	149	489
England		Lincoln Cathedral	1311	160	525
Estonia		St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn	1549	159	522
Germany		St. Mary's Church, Stralsund	1625	151	495
Egypt		The Great Pyramid	1647	146	481
Germany		St. Nicholas's Church, Hamburg	1874	147	483
France		Rouen Cathedral	1876	151	495
Germany		Cologne Cathedral	1880	157	515
Germany		Ulm Minster	1890	162	530
USA		Philadelphia City Hall	1901	167	548
New York		Singer Building	1908	187	612
New York		Metropolitan Life Tower	1909	213	700
New York		Woolworth Building	1913	241	792
New York		Bank of Manhattan Trust Building	1930	283	928
New York		Chrysler Building	1930	319	1,046
New York		Empire State Building	1931	381	1,250
New York		World Trade Center	1972	417	1,368
Chicago		Sears Tower (but see below)	1974	442	1,450
Kuala Lumpur		Petronas Towers	1998	452	1,483
Taipei		Taipei 101	2004	509	1,671
Dubai		Burj Khalifa	2007	830	2,717

Tallest Towers

The following towers (free–standing structures) were taller than the tallest buildings at the times when they were built:

Washington, USA		Washington Monument	1884	169	555
Paris, France		Eiffel Tower	1889	300	986
Moscow, Soviet Union		Ostankino Tower	1967	537	1,762
Toronto, Canada		CN Tower	1975	553	1,815

Tallest Structures

The following radio and TV masts were the tallest man–made structures at the time they were built:

Oklahoma, USA		Griffin Television Tower	1954	480	1,576
Caprock, New Mexico, USA		KOBR–TV Tower	1956	491	1,610
Raymond, Maine, USA		WGME TV Tower	1959	495	1,624
Missouri, USA		KFVS TV Mast	1960	511	1,677
Cusseta, Georgia, USA		WTVM/WBRL–TV & WVRK–FM Tower	1962	533	1,749
Blanchard, North Dakota, USA		KVLY–TV Mast	1963	629	2,063
Poland (84 km west of Warsaw)		Warsaw Radio Mast	1974	646	2,121

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

... is the campanile (bell tower) of Pisa Cathedral.

Construction began		1173
Second stage completed, at which point the campanile began to take on its famous lean		1178
Construction resumed		1272
Seventh floor completed		1319
Completed with the addition of the bell–chamber		1372

Britain's Tallest: Timeline

I found it surprisingly difficult to find definitive information about this, and to decide where to begin. We've already seen that both Old St. Paul's and Lincoln Cathedral were the tallest buildings in the world in their time, so it's fairly safe to assume that they were the tallest in Britain – until something taller came along. However ... Britain's tallest church is now Salisbury Cathedral, so I think it's equally safe to assume that after Lincoln's central spire collapsed and the spire of Old St. Paul's was destroyed by lightning, Salisbury Cathedral was Britain's tallest building.

The first building in Britain that was taller than Salisbury Cathedral was the Post Office Tower (completed in 1964). But most lists of Britain's tallest buildings start with either the Midland Grand Hotel (St. Pancras Station) or the Victoria Tower – part of the Palace of Westminster, a.k.a. the Houses of Parliament. I'm guessing that some sources classify the Victoria Tower as a tower, rather than a building, and that when listing the highest buildings they're excluding church spires (churches and cathedrals, as noted above, occupying a 'middle ground'). But because different quiz question setters may use different criteria, I've included the Victoria Tower, and also those buildings that were the tallest if you exclude it.

Except where otherwise stated, all of these buildings are (or were) in London.

Britain's tallest churches:

Year	Metres	Feet
1221	149	489		Old St. Paul's Cathedral
1311	160	525		Lincoln Cathedral
1549	149	489		Old St. Paul's
1561	123	404		Salisbury Cathedral

Britain's tallest building, on completion, excluding church spires:

1860

98.5

325

Victoria Tower (Palace of Westminster)

Britain's tallest building, excluding church spires and the Victoria Tower:

1869	80	263		Midland Grand Hotel (St. Pancras Station)
1911	90	295		Royal Liver Building, Liverpool

Taller than the Victoria Tower, but not as tall as Salisbury Cathedral spire:

1961	107	351		Shell Centre
1962	118	387		CIS Tower, Manchester
1963	119	390		Millbank Tower

Definitely Britain's tallest building:

1964	177	581		Post Office Tower
1980	183	600		NatWest Tower
1991	235	770		One Canada Square (Canary Wharf)
2012	310	1,017		The Shard

Heights

The following table lists selected buildings, towers and guyed structures, in order of height.

This includes all of the buildings, towers and structures listed in the first section of this page; the ones that aren't listed there are in bold type.

	Completed	Metres	Feet
Nelson's Column	1843	52	169
Leaning Tower of Pisa	1372	56	183
Lincoln Cathedral (after the collapse of the central spire)	1549	83	271
St. Mary's Church, Stralsund (after the rebuilding of the tower)	1708	104	341
Salisbury Cathedral	1315	123	404
St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn (present–day height)	(1625?)	124	407
Strasbourg Cathedral	1647	142	469
The Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza	c. 2560 BC	146	481
Church of St. Nicholas, Hamburg	1874	147	483
Old St. Paul's, London (destroyed by fire in 1666)	1221	149	489
St. Mary's Church, Stralsund (before the lightning strike)	1549	151	495
Rouen Cathedral	1876	151	495
Cologne Cathedral	1880	157	515
Blackpool Tower	1894	158	519
St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn (after Lincoln's spire collapsed, but before its own tower burnt down)	1549	159	522
Lincoln Cathedral (before the collapse of the central spire)	1311	160	525
Ulm Minster	1890	162	530
Philadelphia City Hall	1901	167	548
Beetham Tower, Manchester	2006	169	554
Washington Monument	1884	169	555
Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth	2005	170	560
Post Office Tower (London)	1964	177	581
Singer Building (New York)	1908	187	612
Metropolitan Life Tower (New York)	1909	213	700
One Canada Square, Canary Wharf	1991	235	771
Woolworth Building (New York)	1913	241	792
Bank of Manhattan Trust Building (New York)	1930	283	928
Eiffel Tower	1889	300	984
Shard London Bridge	2012	310	1,017
Chrysler Building (New York)	1930	319	1,047
Empire State Building (New York)	1931	381	1,250
World Trade Center (New York)	1972	417	1,368
Sears/Willis Tower (Chicago)	1974	442	1,450
Petronas Tower (Kuala Lumpur)	1998	452	1,483
Griffin TV Tower (Oklahoma City)	1954	480	1,576
KOBR–TV Tower (Caprock, New Mexico)	1956	491	1,610
WGME TV Tower (Raymond, Maine)	1959	495	1,624
Taipei 101	2004	509	1,671
KFVS TV Mast (Missouri)	1960	511	1,677
WTVM/WBRL–TV &WVRK–FM Tower (Cusseta, Georgia, USA)	1962	533	1,749
Ostankino Tower (Moscow)	1967	537	1,762
CN Tower (Toronto)	1975	553	1,815
KVLY–TV Mast (Blanchard, North Dakota)	1963	629	2,063
Tokyo Sky Tree	2012	634	2,080
Warsaw Radio Mast (collapsed in 1991)	1974	646	2,121
Burj Khalifa (Dubai)	2010	830	2,723

Collapses (timeline)

Central spire of Lincoln Cathedral collapses in a storm – leaving St. Olaf's, Tallinn, as the world's tallest building		1549
Spire of St. Olaf's burns down after being struck by lightning, leaving St. Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany (on the Baltic coast) as the world's tallest building		1625
Steeple tower of St. Mary's (Stralsburg) burns down after being struck by lightning, leaving the Great Pyramid as the world's tallest structure and Strasbourg Cathedral as the world's tallest church (until 1874, when both were surpassed by St. Nicholas's, Hamburg)		1647
Campanile of St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice (built between the 9th and 12th centuries) collapses		1902
Warsaw Radio Mast collapses – leaving the KVLY–TV mast once again as the world's tallest structure		1991

General

47–storey, 554–foot (169 metre) tower built on Deansgate, Manchester, 2005–6 – Britain's tallest building outside London, said to be Europe's tallest residential building; houses the Manchester Hilton Hotel in its lowest 23 floors, including Cloud23 bar on the 23rd			Beetham Tower
Tallest building in Hong Kong			Central Tower
Official name of the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster – which houses Big Ben – since 2012 (changed in honour of the Diamond Jubilee; previously known as St. Stephen's Tower)			Elizabeth Tower
The first building to have over 100 floors: corner of 5th Avenue and 4th Street, New York; official address 350 Fifth Avenue			Empire State Building
Tower of London: the Bloody Tower was known, until Tudor times (and the murder of the princes) as the			Garden Tower
Broadcasting Tower – winner of the Best Tall Building Overall Award in 2010 (British city)			Leeds
The Devereux, Flint, Bell, Wakefield, Cradle, Bloody, Brick, and Martin towers are parts of the			Tower of London
Named after a Genoese tower on Corsica, unsuccessfully attacked by two British warships in 1794; around 140 were built throughout the British Empire over the next 50 years, mostly along the south coast of England			Martello Towers
New building on the site of the World Trade Centre (New York) – opened in 2014, and colloquially known as the Freedom Tower; the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere			One World Trade Center
376–foot (114.5 m)–tall "sculpture and observation tower" in London's Olympic Park: designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor and structural engineer Cecil Balmond, and partly named after its sponsor, Luxembourg–based steel company ArcelorMittal			Orbit
The Lakhta Center – named after the district that it stands in, and Europe's tallest building when topped out in January 2018 – is in			St. Petersburg
Britain's tallest building (and the world's 87th tallest, in 2016); completed in 2012; Prince Andrew abseiled down it 2 months after its inauguration ceremony			Shard London Bridge
605–foot tower in Seattle, Washington, built for the 1962 World's Fair			Space Needle
Centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, opened 2005 – then the tallest building in Britain outside London (558 ft); sponsored by Emirates from 2015			Spinnaker Tower
Completed in 2012 as the world's second tallest building (634m / 2,080ft)			Tokyo Sky Tree
Official name of the Central Tower in the Palace of Westminster (cf. Elizabeth Tower)			Victoria Tower
The great stone keep of the Tower of London – its oldest part (built c. 1078 – c. 1100)			White Tower
New name (since 2009) for the Sears Tower, Chicago – the world's tallest building from 1974 to 1998			Willis Tower

According to the the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a skyscraper is over 100 metres tall; a skyscraper over 300 metres tall is		Supertall
... and a skyscraper over 600 metres tall is		Megatall

© Haydn Thompson 2017–21