The Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney by Danish studio 3XN and Australian studio BVN has won the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's award for best new tall building.

The 206-metre-high skyscraper, which is a refurbishment of the modernist 1970s AMP Center, was named the winner at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's (CTBUH) annual awards for 2023.

CTBUH explained that the building was selected as it exemplifies "forward-looking strategies" for dealing with high density in a more sustainable way.

"The global construction industry confronts an emerging dilemma: should we build new structures, or should we renew existing ones to accommodate the anticipated growth in urban density?" said CTBUH CEO Javier Quintana de Uña.

"The pursued remedies can impact not only individual structures but also entire cities and the built environment in general and must take into account environmental, economic and social sustainability," he continued.

"Sydney's Quay Quarter Tower exemplifies the forward-looking strategies and solutions that address this density dilemma head-on, significantly reducing carbon emissions and helping to mitigate the impact of climate change while meeting the needs of its occupants and the surrounding community."

Located near the Sydney Opera House in downtown Sydney, the 49-storey skyscraper was entirely retrofitted and reclad.

According to 3XN, 65 per cent of the original structure – beams, columns and slabs – was retained alongside 95 per cent of the original core.

Alongside this original structure, the studios added a series of angular extensions that created five shifted volumes, which doubled the building's floor.

The building was wrapped in a facade with an external sunshade that blocks 30 per cent of solar radiance.

Alongside Quay Quarter Tower, the CTBUH also announced the winners of its regional and height-based awards.

Among the the winners was BIG's Spiral skyscraper, which was unveiled earlier this week, DJI Sky City in Shenzhen designed by Foster + Partners and the mass-timber Sara Kulturhus Centre in Sweden by White Arkitekter.

The winners of the regional and height-based categories are below:

Best Tall Building Worldwide: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
Best Tall Building, Americas: Engineering laboratories | Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Columbia
Best Tall Building, Asia: CapitaSpring, Singapore
Best Tall Building, Oceania: Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney, Australia
Best Tall Building, Europe: Sara Kulturhus, Skelleftea, Sweden
Best Tall Building, Middle East and Africa: Atlantis The Royal Resort, Dubai, UAE
Best Tall Building Special Commendation: DJI Sky City, Shenzhen, China
Best Tall Building under 100 meters: Valley, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Best Tall Building 100–199 meters: Lighthouse 2.0, Aarhus, Denmark
Best Tall Building 200–299 meters: CapitaSpring, Singapore
Best Tall Building 300–399 meters: The Spiral, New York City, United States
Best Tall Building 400 meters and above: Guangxi China Resources Tower, Nanning, China