Towering Over the World Trivia Quiz

Answer: South Africa

The Carlton Centre can be found in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a 50-floor skyscraper and shopping centre, towering over the world and facing winds at a height of 223m / 732ft. It was associated with the Carlton Hotel until that establishment closed in 1998.

The top floor is called the Carlton Panorama and is known as "Top of Africa". At the time of writing (2018), it still held the record as Africa's tallest building.

Answer: Britam Tower

Britam Tower (Nairobi, Kenya), a 32-floor office building that was built in 2017, was built to stand at 195m / 640ft tall. Many businesses are based in the tower, with targeted clients being financial institutions, diplomatic missions, private companies and multinational corporations. Britam Tower looks like a black pyramid with a chunk taken out of it. It has alternate energy through the use of three helical wind turbines on the high tower that rises above the 32 useful floors on the site. As of 2018, it was the second tallest building on the African continent.

NECOM House is in Nigeria, while UAP Tower is also in Kenya, but is not as tall as Britam Tower The Ponte City Apartments are in South Africa.

Answer: United Arab Emirates

The Burj Khalifa contains 163 floors and became the tallest in the word when it was completed in 2010. Standing at a massive 828m / 2717ft, 57 elevators and 8 escalators service this tower was built to reflect traditional Islamic architecture. The building is designed in such a way as to reduce the vibration from wind loading on the structure.

The words "Burj Khalifa" are Arabic for "Khalifa Tower".

Answer: Taiwan

Taipei 101, with 101 floors and standing 509 m / 1670 ft tall held the title of the tallest building in the world from 2004-2010. It has also held the titles of "tallest and largest green building in the world" and "fastest elevator in the world" (travelling at 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph)) - imagine the wind rushing past if the elevator doors were open!

Answer: Residential building

Q1, Gold Coast, Australia, stands at 322m / 1058ft tall and encompasses 78 floors. Floors 11-78 hold the only beachside observation deck in Australia. Due to its location on the beach, studies of wind, movement and tension played an important part in its design.

There appears to be a bit of competition between UAE and Australia here, the Q1 building took the crown of "tallest residential building" from Dubai's 21st Century Tower before being overtaken by the Mariana Torch.

Answer: Melbourne

The Eureka Tower, Melbourne, Australia, is a residential building measuring 297m / 974.5ft. At the time of construction, the tower was tallest building in Australia when measured to the roof (not including antennae or other towers). Named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victoria Gold Rush, it was also the building with the most floors available for inhabiting in the world (91).

Answer: Russia

Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg, Russia is a whopping 462.5m / 1516ft tall, with 87 floors. Lakhta Center became the tallest building in Europe when external construction finished in 2018. Many green technologies are harnessed within this building due to the harsh weather conditions that the building is subject to including: bird-safe central lighting to prevent birds flying into it (WWF award), ice-storage from night time temperatures used to naturally feed air-conditioning during the day, motion detectors for economising energy and water usage.

Despite the construction of a transit station to serve the building, traffic is expected to become much worse once it is in full occupancy, and air quality will also suffer.

Answer: The Shard

The Shard (London, England), at time of construction was England's tallest building containing 95 stories and standing 309.7m / 1017ft high. This building is taller than every natural high point in London and is famous for its observation deck on the 72nd floor (244m / 801ft high).

Answer: Gran Torre Santiago

Gran Torre Santiago (officially known as Costanera Center Torre 2), Chile (300m / 984ft) is 64 stories high and has six basement floors. Construction was halted for a time due to the global financial crisis in 2008-09. South America is the continent with the shortest average height for skyscrapers.

At time of construction Gran Torre, Santiago was the tallest in South America and the only tallest building on a continent that was shorter than 1000ft.

Answer: New York City

At construction (2013), the One World Trade Center (NYC, NY, USA) was the tallest building in the Western hemisphere, standing at 531.3m / 1776ft. It was built on the northwest corner of the of the World Trade Center site, in the place of the original 6 World Trade Center.

The building contains 104 floors, 73 elevators, and is designated as a historic site, office, observatory and commercial use space.