Picture caption: The New York skyline, featuring One World Trade Center. Picture credit: Tom Ritson on Unsplash

Oklahoma City Council seems determined to put their city on the map, by granting permission for the “unlimited” height skyscraper, Legends Tower. Having initially approved plans for a 533-metre (1,750-feet) skyscraper earlier this year, they have now approved an “unlimited height” for the structure, which is set to be 581-metres (1,907-feet) tall.

The tower will form part of the $1.6-billion Boardwalk at Bricktown development, which is made up of four structures in total, one of which will be the tallest skyscraper in the US, and the fifth tallest building on the planet.

Currently, One World Trade Center in New York is America’s tallest building, at 541-metres (1776-feet) tall. This new tower in Oklahoma City is an interesting planning decision, given the challenges with movement on the upper floors of towers this tall, and the fact that the city is in the US region known as Tornado Alley.

The state of Oklahoma sees, on average, 56 tornadoes per year, and holds the record for the largest tornado outbreak in one day. On 27th April 1942, they saw a record-breaking 115 tornadoes.

Work on the Oklahoma tower – conceived by architects AO and developer Matteson Capital – will begin in autumn 2024. The project team has expressed their goal to, “Transform the city into a global destination.” However the tower’s design, which you can easily find via an internet search, is not especially groundbreaking. I wonder how much of a draw it will be for the city, which is relatively small, with a population of 1.4 million residents.

We seem to have moved on from the times when iconic buildings such as 30 St Mary Axe, aka the Gherkin, or the Art Deco Empire State Building became a much-loved feature of a city’s skyline, to a world where it often seems to be about being the tallest, rather than creating something attractive, distinctive or architecturally ambitious.

Not only that, but achieving this height is undoubtedly pointless. After all, it seems unlikely that the Manhattan skyline will allow itself to be outdone by Oklahoma City. How long do you give it before the plans for another iconic New York skyscraper are unveiled? The only remaining question is this: Do we think Norman Foster will be involved in the Big Apple’s next contribution to competitive skyscraper building?

Of course, I hope I’m wrong and the Oklahoma project is a roaring success with no weather-related challenges. It may well be that this complex of hotels, condos, apartments, entertainment venues, stores and restaurants gives the city a much-needed boost. But it’ll be interesting to see whether this tower is completed before plans for a taller one are unveiled elsewhere in the US.

In the meantime, if you need assistance with the structural elements of an upcoming project, please do get in touch.