Five of the tallest residential towers in the world

These skyscrapers take city living to lofty heights — as New York and Dubai dominate

Dubai Marina, where skyscraper homes are a common sight. Photo: Unsplash

Emirati property development company Binghatti and luxury brand Jacob & Co have proposed plans to build the world’s tallest residential structure in Dubai.

The skyscraper project named the Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences comprises more than 100 storeys and is planned to be constructed in Business Bay. A date for completion has yet to be announced.

Although people do live inside Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, it does not qualify as a residential building as less than 85 per cent of its area is used for homes. While the city's Marina 101, standing at 425 metres and 101 floors, is the fourth tallest in the world, it remains unfinished.

Until it opens, here are the world's five highest residential properties.

1. Central Park Tower

Architect: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Location: New York City

Rising from New York’s Midtown Manhattan neighbourhood, on a stretch dubbed Billionaires' Row, Central Park Tower is the world’s tallest residential skyscraper.

The building is 472 meters tall with 98 above-ground storeys and three basement floors. Known as one of the “pencil towers” due to its characteristic high and slender ratio, the skyscraper is made of glass cladding, arranged into fluted panels that are insulated and laminated, creating a serpentine pattern on the exterior of the tower.

2. 111 West 57th Street

Architect: SHoP Architects

Location: New York City

Also known as Steinway Tower, 111 West 57th Street is in Midtown Manhattan.

It is the fourth-tallest building in the United States as well as the thinnest skyscraper in the world. Due to its extreme slenderness, with a width-to-height ratio of about 1:24m, the top stories of the tower sway several feet during high winds.

111 West 57th Street is 435 meters high and has 84 storeys above ground level or 85 including the roof slab. The tower has a glass facade with upright support piers made of terracotta.

3. 432 Park Avenue

Architect: SLCE Architects

Location: New York City

Residential skyscraper 432 Park Avenue is also in Midtown Manhattan. It overlooks Central Park and is 425.5meters high with 84 numbered stories and a mezzanine above ground.

The tower's exterior features a unique lattice design forming a regular grid of three-metre apertures created by concrete made from white cement. Behind the lattice, the tower is divided into 12-storey blocks separated by open double-story mechanical spaces, which reduce the tower’s wind load.

4. Princess Tower

Architect: Adnan Saffarini Office

Location: Dubai

Princess Tower is a 107-storey, 413.4-metre-tall skyscraper and is the third tallest building in Dubai, after Burj Khalifa and Marina 101, which is a residential building yet to be completed.

Upon its completion, Princess Tower was the tallest residential building in the world from 2012 to 2015, until 432 Park Avenue was built in New York City.

The tower, which comprises 763 units, 957 underground parking bays spread over six floors, has an exterior covered with aluminium curtain wall cladding, with a concrete core and concrete peripheral columns with spandrel beams. Princess Tower is an example of modern architecture, designed with clean sleek contemporary lines and a large dome reminiscent of the art deco style.

5. 23 Marina

Architect: 23 Marina

Location: Dubai

Standing at 392.8 m and 88 storeys, 23 Marina is a luxury residential tower in Dubai Marina. In total, it has 57 swimming pools, and the building's duplex apartments have private elevators — the building has 62 in total.

The exterior features blue and white cladding, and uses aluminium and tinted blue glass.

Construction started in October 2006 and was completed in May 2012.

Twisting towers around the world - in pictures