Following the news that construction has begun on the world’s largest building in Saudi Arabia, we have rounded up 10 record-breaking structures, including the tallest, the narrowest and the heaviest.
Largest building: Boeing Everett Factory (1967)
Although the Mukaab in Saudi Arabia is set to become the world’s largest building, the current record-holder is the Boeing Everett Factory in the USA, which was built in 1967.
With a volume of 13,400,000 cubic metres, the building was built for the construction of Boeing 747 planes and has been expanded several times since. Around 5,000 aircraft have been built at the facility.
Tallest building: Burj Khalifa (2009)
Rising 828 metres above Dubai, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper became the tallest building in the world by a huge margin when it was completed in 2009.
Designed by architect Adrian Smith while at SOM, the landmark structure is now the centrepiece of a large shopping development in the city’s downtown area. Fifteen years after the building was completed it is still close to 200 metres taller than any other building in the world.
Narrowest house: Keret House (2012)
The world’s narrowest house is squeezed into a gap between two buildings in the centre of Warsaw. Named Keret House, the unique building was designed by Polish architect Jakub Szczesny as a temporary home for travelling writers.
Raised on stilts, the steel-framed, two-storey house is just 122 centimetres across at its widest point.
Tallest home: Antilia (2010)
At 173 metres high, the 27-storey Antilia building is the world’s tallest single residence. The 6,070-square-metre home was designed by architecture studio Perkins & Will for Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, although shortly after completion it was reported that he had chosen not to live in it full time.
The building contains nine high-speed lifts, a 50-seat theatre, several terrace gardens, swimming pools, a spa and health centre, temple, three helipads and a garage for 168 cars.
Heaviest building: the Palace of the Parliament (1997)
Designed by architect Anca Petrescu for Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu, the vast Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, is believed to be the world’s heaviest building.
Weighing just over four million tons, the building opened in 1997 and now contains the Romanian Parliament. Its huge weight is causing the building to sink by around six millimetres per year.
Biggest cantilever: One Za’abeel (2024)
Earlier this year the mixed-use One Za’abeel skyscrapers by Japanese studio Nikken Sekkei completed in Dubai. The development includes two skyscrapers connected by a horizontal structure called The Link.
This structure, which is dramatically suspended 100 metres above a highway and topped by a pool, projects out 67.5 metres to create the world’s longest cantilever.
Largest office building: Surat Diamond Bourse (2023)
Recently overtaking the Pentagon near Washington DC, which had held the title since it was completed in 1943, the Surat Diamond Bourse is now officially the world’s largest office.
The 660,000-square-metre office building on the outskirts of Surat in India was designed by architecture studio Morphogenesis to be a “city within a city”. It holds the world’s largest community of diamond traders.
Skinniest skyscraper: Steinway Tower (2022)
Over the past decade a series of super skinny skyscrapers have appeared on the New York skyline, and the skinniest of them all is the Steinway Tower, also known as 111 West 57th Street, by SHoP Architects.
With a height-to-width ratio of 24:1, the 435-metre-high residential tower is the world’s skinniest skyscraper. The building contains 60 apartments that each occupy an entire floor.
Largest stadium: Narendra Modi Stadium (2020)
With a capacity of 132,000, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, has the largest capacity of any stadium in the world.
Opened in 2020 and designed by architecture studio Populous, the giant stadium was designed to host domestic and international cricket matches and has two distinct tiers that encircle the whole ground.
Tallest timber building: Ascent (2022)
The 25-storey Ascent tower in Milwaukee, USA, officially became the world’s tallest timber building when it completed in 2022.
The 86.6-metre-tall mass-timber tower was designed by Korb + Associates Architects. It has a concrete base and lift core, with the main structure made from glulam and cross-laminated timber.
However, with Michael Green Architecture, Icon Architects, Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Fraser & Partners all working on plans for taller mass-timber structures, it may not hold the title for long.
