Before you begin your submission, please prepare the following materials in order to successfully complete the online submission process. The deadline for all submissions is 8 April . Please note: all known building data fields from the CTBUH tall building database will automatically populate the award submission form, reducing the number of required fields for each submission. Submitters retain the ability to add additional building information and amend any of the existing fields, where appropriate.
Part 1: Basic Project Information
- Project Name
- Project Address
Part 2: Written Description
- Timeline of key milestones. At least one of the following must be entered:
- Date when the geotechnical aspects of the building have been completed
- Date when building was completed (topped out structurally and architecturally, fully clad and at least partially occupiable)
- Structural Material (optional)
- Total Building Weight and Average Area Pressure
- Foundation Area
- Geologic Profile (soil, rock, groundwater), along with the pertinent engineering parameters)
- List all companies involved in the development/implementation of this project. (include discipline)
Please prepare answers to the following questions within the given word counts. Note: Projects submitted to the CTBUH Awards Program will also be included in the CTBUH Tall Buildings + Urban Habitat publication. Please keep in mind that the text description you enter here will also be referred to in the creation of the book. View sample pages from a recent edition.
- Describe the main geotechnical engineering innovations in the building. (400 word maximum)
- Describe how this engineering achievement was realized. How does the geotechnical engineering address the structure? For foundations, the geologic setting and the environmental conditions (high wind or high seismic for example) play an important part of setting the stage of the project, and should be included in the overview. (200 word maximum)
- Explain how the innovations are efficient, cost-effective, and replicable to other projects. (200 word maximum)
- Describe any special construction technology or methodology used in the project’s foundation. This can include how they assisted with challenges overcome, safety, quality control, etc. (200 word maximum)
Part 3: Participation Consent
Participation in the CTBUH Awards Program requires consent to the following:
- “Award of Excellence” winners are expected to comply with the following responsibilities:
- Representatives of the project (for Best Tall Building, Urban Habitat, 10 Year, Interior Design and Renovation categories, this must be both the owner/developer and design architect/urban planner/interior architect) must present at the conference for consideration of also winning the category overall and Audience Awards. All speakers representing the project need to be CTBUH organizational members. These presentations will form the basis for the jury’s selection of Overall Category Winners.
- Attend the annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner at the close of the conference to collect the award(s).
- Support the Council, which does not charge any fees to administer the awards program, by way of all speakers paying the subsidized speaker registration rate at the Conference.
- All projects entered to the CTBUH awards will also be eligible for inclusion in the CTBUH Tall Buildings + Urban Habitat publication which features a global overview of tall building completion annually. The book is published by CTBUH and distributed globally, thus providing excellent promotion for the submitted projects and companies involved.
- While it is typical that most submissions are included in the publication, CTBUH reserves the right to determine that a project will not be included for reasons that include, but are not limited to: a project does not meet the eligibility requirements for inclusion; appropriate, high resolution images were not provided in the submission; the project was submitted for multiple award categories and will only be included in the book once, etc.
- Right to Usage of Materials: All submitted text, images, and drawings are provided with the understanding that they may be used in CTBUH’s Tall Buildings + Urban Habitat publication, as well as on the CTBUH website, press releases, award announcements, and other means of publicity for the purpose of promoting the awards events and “Award of Excellence” winners and Overall Category Winners. This includes the building’s profile page on the CTBUH database, as well as future use in CTBUH publications. Copyright clearance and payment of any fees for artwork is to be organized by the submitter prior to submission. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) confirms that all material will be properly identified with the appropriate copyright notice and credit line, as supplied during the upload process.
Part 4: Drawings & Images
A selection of drawings and images are required which should not exceed the file size constraints as noted below. Your submission must include the following required images/drawings:
- Foundation Plan (1 image)
- Cellar/Basement Floor Plan, if applicable (0-1 image)
- Key Section of the relevant system (1 image)
- Key Geotechnical Images (unlimited number)
- Drawings, Plans, Diagrams, and/or Construction Images explaining the geotechnical engineering innovations (unlimited/at least 1 image)
It should also be noted that, though materials should be sufficient to inform and inspire the jury in making their decision on “Awards of Excellence” winners, supplementary, final photography and other materials can be submitted prior to the final category judging at the conference event. If photography showing the building’s construction as substantially complete, both exterior and interior, is not available by the submission deadline, it is strongly advised to hold your submission until the following year.
General Requirements
Images and drawings should be submitted as individual files and should be medium to high resolution (300dpi at 8.5 in. x 11 in. (215.9 x 279.4 mm) size). Whenever possible, drawings should be submitted as vector-based graphics (EPS, PDF).
Supported file formats: JPG, JPEG, TIFF, TIF, EPS, PDF, DWG
Individual file sizes cannot exceed 20 MB each.
Total upload size of all files cannot exceed 500 MB
Captions & Copyright
You will be required to provide copyright information and captions for each image/drawing uploaded. For the benefit of the jury, please be as descriptive as possible in your captions. We’ve entered your company as the default copyright holder, but please revise as necessary.
Best Tall Building Award Criteria
Note: Projects are considered for two levels of recognition: (1) “Award of Excellence” winners, based on the online submission and Phase 1 judging, (2) all “Award of Excellence” winners then go forward to live presentation judging at the annual conference, for determination of the Overall Category winner and Audience Award winner in each category.
Common Criteria for Height, Region, and Function Best Tall Building Awards
It is important to note that, with the exception of the two points regarding completion date eligibility and tall building definitions below, a project does not necessarily need to meet every listed criterion. Submissions should demonstrate strengths in areas that are applicable.
- The project must be completed (topped out structurally and architecturally, fully clad, and at least partially occupiable) within a 36-month eligibility window. For the awards then, a project must have a completion date between January 1, and December 31, . In some cases, a project may be “complete” according to CTBUH completion criteria, but the presence of a crane/hoist for ongoing interior fit-out work may prevent final photography and thus submission to the current year’s awards. In such cases, a one-year grace period to the above date criteria may be granted.
- It should also be noted that, though materials should be sufficient to inform and inspire the jury in making their decision on “Awards of Excellence” winners, supplementary, final photography and other materials can be submitted prior to the final category judging at the conference event. If photography showing the building’s construction as substantially complete, both exterior and interior, is not available by the submission deadline, it is strongly advised to hold your submission until the following year.
- Projects submitted to all CTBUH awards must meet the CTBUH definition requirements for a “building,” noting that telecommunications/observation towers are not eligible. A tall building can be classed as such if at least 50% of its height is occupied by usable floor area. Projects must also be considered “tall” buildings. If a project is less than 14 stories, or less than 50 meters, it is unlikely to qualify. Please contact awards@ctbuh.org if you are unsure if your specific project will qualify.
- Submitted buildings will automatically compete in one of five height categories, as well as the relevant regional and functional categories. (See all categories listed above)
- The honor of Best Tall Building “Worldwide” is judged based on the “Award of Excellence” winner presentations at the conference. Once the jury determines the overall winner for each category, they are judged against one another, with the Worldwide Winner announced at the close of the Ceremony & Dinner.
- The contributions of the project should be generally consistent with the values and mission of the CTBUH.
Additional Notes:
- A project is only eligible for consideration of a CTBUH award in a specific category once, and cannot be submitted in a consecutive year’s awards program for the same category regardless of whether it may still meet the completion date criteria.
- A single project can submit for consideration across multiple award categories, in the same or consecutive year, though each submission needs to be crafted differently, according to the specifics of the particular awards category criteria.
- Awards in some categories may not be conferred on an annual basis if the criteria cannot be clearly met or demonstrated.
- If a juror is connected with a nominated project, he/she will not be involved in the judging of that project.
- Jury selections for all winners must be ratified by the CTBUH Board of Trustees.
- All projects entered to the CTBUH Awards will also be eligible for inclusion in the CTBUH Tall Buildings + Urban Habitat publication which features a global overview of tall building completion annually. The book is published by CTBUH and distributed globally, thus providing excellent promotion for the submitted projects and companies involved. While it is typical that most submissions are included in the publication, CTBUH reserves the right to determine that a project will not be included for reasons that include, but are not limited to: a project does not meet the eligibility requirements for inclusion; appropriate, high resolution images were not provided in the submission; the project was submitted for multiple award categories and will only be included in the book once, etc.
- “Award of Excellence” winners are expected to comply with the following responsibilities:
- In order to be considered for winning the category overall and audience awards, a representative from the project must present at the conference. For the Best Tall Building, Urban Habitat, 10 Year, Interior Design and Renovation categories, both the owner/developer and design architect/urban planner/interior architect must present. All speakers who represent the project need to be CTBUH organizational members. These presentations will form the basis for the jury’s selection of overall category winners and audience awards.
- Attend the annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner at the close of the conference to collect the award(s).
- Support the Council, which does not charge any fees to administer the awards program, by way of all speakers paying the subsidized speaker registration rate at the Conference.
