Your opinion of what height a building becomes a skyscraper?

[Tom In Chicago]

I have no opinion on this matter. . . for the record. . .

. . .

[samne]

100 m or 300'...thats about 30 stories = highrise

150m or 500'.... 50 stories = Skyscraper!

[LMich]

My definition of what makes a building a skyscraper is rather old fashioned and visual. For me, it's being able to stand on a sidewalk below a building (no more than a dozen feet outward from said building) and not being able to easily discern the roofline.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

I have no opinion on this matter. . . for the record. . . .

okay, so why did you post?

I agree with what urbanlife said about the context playing a big role but I also think the width of a building matters. If a building is really thin it appears taller which is why I am going to say 100m because i've seen residential buildings that aren't even 300 feet tall that are thin so they appear really tall.

[Tom In Chicago]

^I was looking for a reaction. . . thanks for playing. . .

[stormkingfan]

The old 7 World Trade Center was 573' tall. Not too far from 600', but when you looked at its north or south faces, because of its width, it looked more like a high-rise. The CBIC tower in Montreal, on the other hand, is not much taller, but it appears taller than it really is from the east or west, because it's slender.

It was said before that even a 14-storey bldg could be considered a skyscraper. Everything's relative. If it's located among 4- or 5-storey bldgs, then there's going to be a break in the town's profile.

For the longest time, I've always considered buildings over 600' a skyscraper, but if there's a big cluster of 600-700 footers viewed from a distance, then there doesn't seem to be anything that appears to be scraping the sky. Just this huge "box" these buildings are corporately forming. Until an 800 footer is placed in the middle of them.

[Matthew]

How many people in the middle of downtown Memphis could say they don't see any skyscrapers? How many people can stand beside Sacramento's tallest building and say they don't see any skyscrapers?

I agree with urbanlife. It varies from city to city.

[fordgtman1992]

Originally Posted by Dac150

Highrise: 300' - 499'

Skyscraper: 500' - 999'

Supertall: 1,000' +

Agreed.

[jodelli]

FWIW, I agree with two points being made here. The further back in time, the less should be the height requirement, as even the early 10-12 story buildings were marvels in their time.

Secondly, 150-300 m (approx. 500-1,000 ft) seems to neatly sum it up these days.
Also I remember a list a few years back of skyscrapers in New York City, and 500' was the cut off, so that was the assumption I made. (it was in the World Almanac, I believe)

[RLS_rls]

Coming from a small town I would consider 12 floors to be a skyscraper in a generic sense. Really though 200' seems a bit more legitimate.

[Zapatan]

I agree with urbanlife, it all depends on what's around it... what could be called a
"skyscraper" in say, Richmond, Va is a midrise in Chicago or NYC. I remember standing on top of a 22 story, ~80 meter hotel in Guadalajara, with only 2 story buildings around it and it felt like a supertall.

But in general, this is how I've always looked at it... buildings under 100 meters can still be considered tall buildings if nothing surrounds them but I'll start at 100 just to make things easier.

100+ meters - highrise
150+ meters - small skyscraper
200+ meters - skyscraper
250+ meters - large skyscraper
300+ meters - small supertall
350+ meters - supertall
400+ meters - large supertall

Buildings beyond 500 meters are megatalls as far as I'm concerned.

[Amanita]

I think skyscraper is subjective too, dependent on location. A building 20 stories tall here in Halifax would be a skyscraper, not so much in NYC.

[JohnMarko]

I would say 20 stories is a "highrise" or skyscraper.

But compared to current era buildings, many consider this too low.

I've noticed that for people who hate tall buildings, anything approaching ten stories is (incorrectly) considered a "highrise".

Up to 10 stories - low-rise.
10-15/20 stories - mid-rise.
Anything over 20 stories - high-rise.

As things got craziers, then you get "supertalls", etc.

But that's just me and you asked...