Three projects in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region - Bahrain World Trade Centre 1, Rose Rayhaan by Rotana in Dubai (UAE) and Beirut Terraces (Lebanon) - are among the finalist projects from around the world to be honoured at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's (CTBUH) first annual Tall + Urban Innovation Conference.

The event, which is being held at Chicago from May 30 to 31, will see owner/developers and design teams of 45 finalist projects compete in front of an international audience and live juries for winning distinctions across eight categories.

In addition, the winners in each regional category will be judged for the single title of 2018 Best Tall Building Worldwide, said a statement from the CTBUH.

Incorporating what was previously known as the CTBUH Annual Awards Event, the CTBUH 2018 Tall + Urban Innovation Conference will explore and celebrate the very best in innovative tall buildings, urban spaces, building technologies, and construction practices from around the world.

Following the finalist project presentations, distinguished juries will deliberate and select winners in each category, which will be announced at a ceremony on the second day of the conference.

The main jury is responsible for selecting the Best Tall Building Regional Finalists and Winners, as well as the overall worldwide Winner.

The jury comprises awards jury chair Karl Fender, the director at Fender Katsalidis Architects; Mohammed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Properties; Kamil Merican, the chief executive of GDP Architects; CTBUH chairman Steve Watts, partner at alinea consulting; and CTBUH executive director Antony Wood.

"These finalists truly represent the pinnacle of excellence in the field of tall buildings," remarked Fender.

"Being recognised by the world’s premier authority on tall buildings is a great honour, and the opportunity to showcase these quality projects to a global audience helps drive innovation across all disciplines in our industry," he added.

The finalists for the Tall + Urban Innovation Conference Awards in the Best Tall Building: Americas are:
*150 N. Riverside, Chicago
*35xv, New York City
*American Copper Building, New York City
*Gaia Building, Quito

The finalists for the Best Tall Building: Asia & Australasia are:
*Chaoyang Park Plaza, Beijing
*Huangshan Mountain Village, Huangshan
*International Towers Sydney, Sydney
*Lotte World Tower, Seoul
*Marina One, Singapore
*Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore
*Poly International Plaza, Singapore
*Tencent Seafront Towers, Shenzhen
*Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen

Best Tall Building: Europe
*Angel Court, London
*Canaletto, London
*The Silo, Copenhagen
*Tribunal de Paris, Paris
*Upper West, Berlin

The finalists for the Best Tall Building: Middle East & Africa are:
*Azrieli Sarona, Tel Aviv
*Beirut Terraces, Beirut
*Rothschild Tower, Tel Aviv
*Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town

The finalists for the Urban Habitat Award are:
*Greatwall Complex, Wuhan
*International Towers Sydney, Sydney
*National September 11 Memorial, New York City
*Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore
*Soho Fuxing Plaza, Shanghai
*SkyPark, Hong Kong

The finalists for the Construction Award are:
*461 Dean Street, New York City
*Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen
*56 Leonard Street, New York City
*The EY Centre, Sydney
*111 Main, Salt Lake City

The finalists for the Innovation Award are:
*Hickory Building Systems
*3D Printed Building
*Tallwood House Timber Construction
*MULTI
*Cast Connex High Integrity Blocks
*Hi-Res CFD for Wind Loading Tall Buildings
*Hummingbird – Tuned Damper
*A New Research-based Tower Typology

The finalists for the 10-Year Award are:
*Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai
*Bahrain World Trade Center 1, Bahrain
*Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg
*Hegau Tower, Singen
*San Francisco Federal Building, San Francisco
*Manchester Civil Justice Center, Manchester
*Lumiere, Sydney
*Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, Dubai

Hosted at the Radisson Blu Aqua, located in the base of the famous Aqua Tower in Chicago – itself a Finalist for the Best Tall Building Americas award in 2010 – the conference will include not only an awards ceremony, but also a dinner, a VIP networking reception, and presentations from some of the most distinguished names in the tall building industry.

“Part of our mission at CTBUH is to investigate and highlight the cutting-edge in sustainable urbanism in order to promote a better urban future, and this year’s finalists exemplify the world’s foremost examples in this regard,” remarked Wood.

Registration for the 2018 Tall + Urban Innovation Conference is now open at tallinnovation2018.com,he added.-TradeArabia News Service