China Tops the List of the World’s 6 Largest Buildings

China is proving that it can be a world leader in construction.

Clearly, China is dedicated to getting to the top of as many superlative lists as possible. The country already holds the title of world’s biggest population, biggest national bank account, biggest manufacturing nation, biggest consumer of natural materials and much more. Plus, if it can ever get past the permitting phase and overcome some serious criticism on local, national, and international levels, the Sky City One Tower will undeniably claim the title of World’s Tallest Building.

Currently this project is facing several obstacles, since it plans to use very quick construction thanks to modular building methods that have only just begun to be implemented in Mainland China. Still, if the project does happen it is expected to reach 835 meters and overtake the record set by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at 830 meters above ground.

For now though, China will have to be content with having the world’s largest building based on floor space: the New Century Global Centre. Here is a look at what engineers and developers have been able to accomplish with the structure, as well as a brief look at five of the other mega-huge structures it outsizes.

1. The Century Global Centre

Located in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the Century Global Centre boasts an astounding 1.760 million square meters of floor space split between hotels, office, retail, dining, and entertainment use. In an effort to propel southwest China’s economy up to levels similar to cities on the east coast, the structure is intended to give Sichuan’s growing middle class a place to spend their hard-earned RMB rather than traveling outside the province or the country when they need some shopping therapy.

Beyond just the shopping malls and movie theaters, there is also a water park and even a 300 meter long indoor beach complete with waves and year-round sunrise and sunset effects from the 150 meter long LED display. To put the Century Global Centre’s size into perspective, if its entire footprint was spread out into a single level it would cover more space than Vatican City and is nearly as large as Monaco. And that’s without including the vast outdoor areas that surround the building.

2. Dubai International Airport

Until the Century Global Centre is fully opened on August 22, 2013, the Dubai International Airport will remain the largest operational building in the world at 1.713 million square meters. In continuous operation since 1965 when it was just a single runway, Dubai International Airport now features three passenger terminals as well as several cargo terminals and was the first airport to retrofit its loading areas to accommodate the giant Airbus A380. Like any huge international airport, there is shopping a plenty, as well as the world’s largest VIP passenger lounge. And thanks to its massive size, Dubai International is now one of the busiest airports in the world in terms of total annual passengers, and as of May 2013 claims the title of the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passengers.

3. Abrah Al-Bait Endowment Tower/Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower

The Abrah Al-Bait Endowment Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia is astounding for both its incredible size in terms of floor space and its towering height. At nearly 1.576 million square meters, it was the largest building in the world when it was opened and it held the title of the second tallest building in the world until August 3, 2013, when the final structural beam for the Shanghai Tower was fixed into place. Still, Abrah Al-Bait continues to hold on to a few other records including the world’s tallest clock tower and world’s tallest religious edifice.

4. CentralWorld

Bangkok, Thailand’s Central World has had a shaky past due to financial difficulties and a weak economy, competition in the retail market, arson and missed deadlines, but it has still managed to grow and is finally fully open after nearly a decade of renovations. Today, the 1.024 million square meter facility is home to one of the world’s largest shopping malls, along with office space and the Centara Grand Central World Hotel.

5. Aalsmeer Flower Auction

The Aalsmeer Flower Auction house in Aalsmeer, Holland may hold the record for having the fifth largest amount of floor space in the world at 990 million square meters, but it is their title as the building with the largest footprint on Earth that they are most proud of, with 518 million square meters of which to boast. Furthermore, Aalsmeer Flower Auction also holds the top spot for number of flowers sold on an average day, at around 200 million individual stems, as well as total annual sales at around $48 billion.

6. Beijing Capital International Airport

Rounding out the list, China again makes an appearance with Beijing Capital International Airport coming in at 986 million square meters. This also puts it in at the number two slot of the world’s largest airports, around half the size of Dubai’s, thanks to the addition of Terminal 3 just ahead of the 2008 Olympics that the city hosted. And due to China’s ever expanding international business and domestic and international tourism industries, Beijing Capital International is also the second busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft landings and takeoffs, just behind Atlanta, Georgia’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport.

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