New Atlas’s “top 10 buildings of 2020” is an editorial selection, not an official award or an objective ranking. Its ten projects range from a community therapy center built with mud and bamboo to supertall towers, and show how architecture can respond to very different users, sites and structural challenges.
What New Atlas meant by “the best buildings of 2020”
In an article published December 4, 2020, Adam Williams of New Atlas selected ten projects for their commitment to design excellence. The article does not set out a scoring rubric, so its “best” means the publication’s curated choices—not winners in a universal competition. A separate Latvian event called “The Best Building of 2020 in Latvia” is a different competition and is not the subject of this list.
The selection crosses building types: hotel and mixed-use development, museum and workshop, housing, community services, a church, offices, a restaurant and a cancer support center. That variety makes the projects most useful to compare by what they do, how they meet structural or site constraints, and how they approach materials and environmental performance.
The ten buildings in New Atlas’s selection
1. Opus — Dubai
Zaha Hadid Architects designed Opus as two towers joined by an atrium and skybridge, creating the impression of a glass cube with a void at its center. New Atlas reported a height of 93 m (305 ft); the building includes the ME Dubai hotel alongside other uses. It is the list’s most direct link to travel, though the roundup is not a visitor or booking guide.
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#1 Best Overall
2. Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet — Switzerland
BIG designed this museum and workshop for the watchmaker as a spiral inspired by a timepiece. New Atlas reported 108 structural glass panels and a green roof. The project combines a public-facing cultural role with the practical work of making and presenting watches.
3. Eden — Singapore
Heatherwick Studio’s residential tower gives each floor one apartment, with garden-like private balconies. New Atlas describes window placement as part of the building’s natural-cooling approach. Here, the design concept is closely tied to residents’ access to outdoor greenery and the way air moves through the homes.
4. Anandaloy — Bangladesh
Anna Heringer designed Anandaloy as a two-floor community building made with mud and bamboo. It houses therapy facilities for people with disabilities and an upper-floor clothes-making enterprise for local women. New Atlas reported an area of 253 sq m (2,723 sq ft) and noted that the project won the second annual Obel Award. The award’s stated aim is to “test the boundaries of architecture and transcend the age in which they are created.”
5. The Crystal — Chongqing, China
Safdie Architects’ Crystal is an elevated horizontal structure within Raffles City Chongqing. New Atlas reported that it is 300 m (984 ft) long, weighs 12,000 tons and is supported by four towers 250 m (820 ft) above ground. The figures convey the project’s central engineering challenge: carrying a very long occupied volume across a cluster of towers high above the city.
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6. Genesis — London
Denizen Works designed Genesis as a floating church based on a canal boat. Its hydraulically operated roof lowers so the vessel can pass beneath bridges and raises to provide more headroom when conditions allow. The design is shaped by a constraint specific to its setting: a building that must function while moving along canals and fitting under their bridges.
7. Lakhta Center — Saint Petersburg
Designed by Gorproject and RMJM, Lakhta Center is a 462 m (1,516 ft) tower with five twisting wings and office, observation and restaurant uses. New Atlas described it as Europe’s tallest tower and said it had been named the world’s best new skyscraper at the time of its 2020 article. Those are time-bound descriptions from the roundup, not claims about current rankings.
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8. McDonald’s Disney World — Florida
Ross Barney Architects designed this restaurant with environmental strategies that New Atlas described as net-zero on an annual electrical basis and naturally ventilated for much of the year. The building also uses low-flow plumbing and visitor-powered exercise bikes. Its inclusion broadens the list beyond landmark towers and cultural institutions: a familiar commercial building can also make environmental performance central to its design.
9. Maggie’s Leeds — England
Heatherwick Studio’s Maggie’s Leeds is a cancer support center at St. James’s University Hospital. Its design responds to a sloping site and organizes spaces including counseling rooms. New Atlas described sustainably sourced timber and reported 23,000 bulbs and 17,000 plants, details that place the building’s landscape and interior character alongside its support function.
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10. One Vanderbilt — Manhattan, New York
KPF designed One Vanderbilt as an office tower clad in terracotta and glass. KPF reported its height as 1,401 ft (427 m) and said its steel had 90% recycled content. New Atlas also described rainwater collection, high-performance glazing and efficient heating. Together, these details point to a design that pairs a large commercial program with material and building-system choices intended to improve performance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the projects compare
The most revealing contrasts are not simply between tall and short buildings. They concern who the building serves, what its structure must accomplish, and how its materials or environmental features relate to its use.
| Comparison | Examples from the selection |
|---|---|
| Different users and purposes | Opus combines hotel and mixed-use functions; Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet combines museum and workshop; Eden provides housing; Anandaloy serves therapy and local enterprise; Genesis is a church; One Vanderbilt is an office tower; Maggie’s Leeds is a cancer support center; and the McDonald’s Disney World project is a restaurant. |
| Structural concepts and constraints | The Crystal spans horizontally above its supporting towers; Genesis changes roof height to negotiate canal bridges; the Audemars Piguet museum takes a spiral form; Opus joins two towers around an atrium and skybridge; Lakhta Center twists through five wings. |
| Materials and environmental features | Anandaloy uses mud and bamboo; Maggie’s Leeds features sustainably sourced timber; One Vanderbilt uses steel KPF reported as having 90% recycled content, alongside rainwater collection and high-performance glazing; the McDonald’s restaurant incorporates natural ventilation, low-flow plumbing and visitor-powered bikes. |
| Landscape and community role | Eden gives apartments garden-like balconies; the Audemars Piguet museum has a green roof; Maggie’s Leeds integrates plants with a healthcare-support setting; Anandaloy combines disability therapy with a clothes-making enterprise for local women. |
These are comparison lenses for the projects described in New Atlas’s selection, not categories or scores published by the magazine. The reported dimensions, quantities and performance descriptions are attributed to New Atlas or KPF; they are not independent measurements or site inspections.
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