Cayan Tower, a 306-m building developed by Cayan Real Estate Investment and Development in Dubai, UAE, has been declared the 'Best Tall Building' in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

The 80-storey skyscraper has been designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) architectural group, the same group which did the concept design for the Burj Khalifa also in Dubai and Trump Tower in Chicago, US.

The jury selected the 'Best Tall Building' in the four regions of the Americas, Middle East and Africa, Europe and Asia and Australasia from 88 entries after a year-long selection process.

Cayan Tower's dynamic twisting shape challenges conventional architecture and redefines standards of luxury, said the jury.

Situated in a key location at the mouth of Dubai Marina, Cayan residential tower spirals in a smooth curve by an astonishing 90 degrees to give every apartment a stunning view of the sea or marina, it added.

CTBUH honoured William Baker, the partner and George Efstathiou, the consulting managing partner for SOM with the “Best Tall Building” award at a glittering ceremony held at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

The global award for the tallest building went to One Central Park at Sydney, Australia. The CTBUH presented the award to Michael Goldrick, the project management director, Frasers Property and Bertram Beissel, the partner at Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

“Every member of the team challenged us to deliver something that was out of the box,” said Goldrick, the project management director at Frasers Property, after winning the honours.

“The Ateliers Jean Nouvel team put together challenges we never really envisioned. It really drove us to deliver what I think for Sydney and Australia is a really iconic building,” he added.

“Seeing this project for the first time stopped me dead,” said juror Antony Wood, the executive director, CTBUH, commenting on the One Central Park.

“There have been major advances in the incorporation of greenery in high-rise buildings over the past few years - but nothing on the scale of this building has been attempted or achieved. One Central Park strongly points the way forward, not only for an essential naturalisation of our built environment, but for a new aesthetic for our cities – an aesthetic entirely appropriate to the environmental challenges of our age,” he added.

Lauding the project, Bertram Beissel, the partner at Ateliers Jean Nouvel, said: "This was about the visibility of sustainable design."

"If we do all these sustainable things and no one can see them, do they really exist? The choices we make for a sustainable future cannot be made in the future. They must be made today," stated Beissel during the winning project presentation.

The audience vote, taken separately, submitted via text message, and kept from the jury’s view until after their verdict had been announced, was also for One Central Park.

The winners of the evening in different categories were:

Best Tall Building Worldwide: One Central Park, Sydney, Australia
• Presented by Michael Goldrick, Project Management Director, Frasers Property and
Bertram Beissel, Partner, Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Americas:
Winner – Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, Portland, US
• Presented by Leslie Shepherd, Chief Architect, United States General Services
Administration and James Cutler, Founding Partner, Cutler Anderson Architects

Finalist – The Point, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Finalist – United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, US
• Presented by Michael Adlerstein, Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Capital Master Plan and John Gering, Managing Partner, HLW International
Asia & Australasia:
Winner – One Central Park, Sydney, Australia
• Presented by Michael Goldrick, Project Management Director, Frasers Property and Bertram Beissel, Partner, Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Finalist – 8 Chifley, Sydney, Australia
Finalist – Abeno Harukas, Osaka, Japan
Finalist – Ardmore Residence, Singapore
Finalist – FKI Tower, Seoul, South Korea
• Presented by Juan Betancur, Director, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Finalist – Ideo Morph 38, Bangkok, Thailand
Finalist – Sheraton Tai Lake Resort, Huzhou, China Finalist – The Interlace, Singapore
• Presented by Tiang Wah Eng, Vice President, Design Management, CapitaLand and Ole Scheeren, Principal, Buro Ole Scheeren
Finalist – The Jockey Club Innovation Tower, Hong Kong, China
Finalist – Wangjing SOHO, Beijing, China
Europe:
Winner – De Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Presented by Jos Melchers, Director, MAB Development and Ellen van Loon, Partner, OMA
Finalist – DC Tower, Vienna, Austria
Finalist – NEO Bankside, London, UK
Middle East & Africa:
Winner – Cayan Tower, Dubai, UAE
• Presented by William Baker, Partner and George Efstathiou, Consulting Managing Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.-TradeArabia News Service