Salesforce Tower declared ‘best tall building worldwide’

Though some locals snicker at the profile of Salesforce Tower, it appears that the Pelli-Clarke-Pelli designed edifice is not without admirers: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) awarded San Francisco’s tallest building the “best tall building worldwide” in its most recent round of architectural honors.

Chicago-based CTBUH is “an international non-profit organization whose membership includes architects, engineers, planners, construction professionals, and educators” specializing in tall buildings.

CTBUH has granted its annual architectural awards—dubbed simply the CTBUH Annual Awards—since 2002, recognizing what it considers the best new tall buildings around the world and the best designers.

“The CTBUH Annual Awards program recognizes projects and individuals 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,” according to the organization’s site.

Salesforce Tower took top honors this year, beating out new buildings from Seoul to Sydney to Tel Aviv.

Jurists deemed Salesforce Tower “a building that gives back,” a designation that is sure to thrill Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff:

Salesforce Tower was recognized for its multipronged focus on occupant health, sustainability, structural efficiency, and a significant level of integration with the surrounding urban habitat. The building stands as the centerpiece of a new transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood recently freed up for development following the demolition of an aging transit center. The result is not just a contribution to the city skyline, but a highly successful exercise in human-centric and resilient design for tall buildings.

In previous years, buildings like Singapore’s Oasia Hotel and Shanghai’s Shanghai Tower won Best Tall Building.

Nearby 181 Fremont also won two awards for engineering this year and was a runner up for best building in the 200 to 299 meters category. Winners were announced at CTBUH’s annual conference last week, held this year in Shenzhen, China.