End of life of a tall building

It is logical to assume that a tall building will need to have a longer life than its lower rise counterparts, as the cost of demolition will be high and the practicalities will be challenging. There may be a reluctance to remove tall buildings that help define a city’s skyline, so the ability to accommodate change and adaptation is fundamental to the good design of these structures. Decisions regarding all life stages of a tall building should be assessed by considering the primary driver of their construction: the property market. In fact, ‘skyscrapers should best be understood both as the locus of business and as businesses themselves’ [Willis, 1995, p. 217]. Consequently, save for the few tall buildings that are owned by public institutions, commercial skyscrapers are primarily exploited to provide the greatest return on the significant investment made for their construction or acquisition. This chapter explores the practicalities of legacy, change of use, adaptation or, where inevitable, demolition of tall buildings.