SKYHIVE

The SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge is the third annual architecture competition by Bee Breeders seeking innovative concepts and ideas for an iconic high rise tower. Investigations that focus on unique structural methods, programmatic organization, facade typologies, forms, and building functions are encouraged.

As a building type, high-rises are subject to so many international and regional building codes, construction regulations, and financial limitations, that it is often difficult for real-world projects to be exploratory and novel. But even in the face of so many rules, standout projects find ways toward completion. This past year we witnessed the opening of a number of amazing towers around the world, such as: Zaha Hadid Architects’ 207-meter-tall twisting tower with the world's tallest atrium in Beijing, China; the 440-meter-tall torpedo-shaped CTF Finance Centre in Tianjin, China, by SOM; and the 350-meter-tall the sky-bridge-linked Raffles City Tower in Chongqing, China, by Safdie Architects. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 126 buildings of 200 meters or taller were completed in 2019.

For this particular competition, there is no defined site. Participants are free to select any hypothetical site measuring 130m x 80m which can be accessed by roads on two sides. The design can be set in the city of one’s choice, anywhere in the world. Projects typically considered successful are those designed with some relation and response to the chosen region’s skyline and context.

Submitted projects experimented with form and green building techniques, timber construction, and adaptive re-use. The jury evaluated each entry based on its sensitivity to site, the potential for the project to serve as a landmark, and especially its conceptual strength.

Bee Breeders would like to thank the participants for their design submissions. This third annual SKYHIVE competition continues to strengthen Bee Breeders’ continually-expanding repository of thought-provoking design ideas and drawings.