Brussels' ZIN named the world's best high-rise

Brussels, 4 November 2026 – ZIN, Befimmo's mixed-use project in the Brussels North District, won the International High-Rise Award 2026/27 last night at Frankfurt's Paulskirche. Organised by the City of Frankfurt, the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) and DekaBank, the award is regarded as the world's leading architecture prize for high-rise buildings. It is presented jointly to the developer and the architects.

ZIN was selected from more than 1,000 towers completed worldwide over the past two years. From 30 nominees in 12 countries, the international jury chose five finalists: ZIN, One Pearl Bank (Singapore), Tencent Tower (Guangzhou), AGE 360 (Curitiba) and 88 Walker (Sydney). ZIN is the first Belgian project to win the award.

Transformation instead of demolition

The jury described ZIN as a paradigm shift in high-rise construction, putting transformation, resource efficiency and mixed use ahead of demolition and new build. Befimmo retained the concrete cores and underground levels of the former 1970s WTC towers and connected them with a new double-height volume.

Today ZIN combines offices, homes, a hotel, sports, food and drink, and publicly accessible spaces including a rooftop garden and a greenhouse. Among its occupants is the Flemish Government. ZIN brings life to the North District beyond office hours, a quality the jury explicitly valued.

Jean-Philip Vroninks, CEO Befimmo

“With ZIN, we’ve shown that the future of high-rise lies in transforming what’s already there. This recognition belongs to a team that dared to choose the harder path, together with our architects, partners and public authorities. It’s also a strong signal for Brussels’ North District, BXNord, which is becoming a vibrant, mixed urban neighbourhood.”

Prize and exhibition

The winners receive a statuette by artist Thomas Demand and €50,000 in prize money. The exhibition Best High-Rises 2026/27 runs at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt from 5 November 2026 to 4 January 2027.

ZIN joins previous winners including Bosco Verticale (Milan, 2014), VIA 57 West (New York, 2016), Quay Quarter Tower (Sydney, 2022) and CapitaSpring (Singapore, 2024).

About ZIN

ZIN (Boulevard Roi Albert II, Brussels) is a mixed-use project of around 115,500 m², 129 metres tall, completed in 2024 and certified BREEAM Outstanding. Architecture: 51N4E (Brussels), l'AUC (Paris) and Jaspers-Eyers Architects (Brussels).

Over Befimmo

Befimmo is een vastgoedinvesteerder, -operator en -ontwikkelaar met een kwaliteitsvolle portefeuille in de belangrijkste stadscentra van België en Luxemburg. In samenwerking met haar dochterondernemingen Silversquare en NABS en partner Sparks ontwikkelt en beheert Befimmo hoogwaardige mixed-use projecten en kantoren op maat.

Befimmo erkent het belang en het veranderingspotentieel van werk- en leefruimtes. Het is haar prioriteit om aan de behoeften van haar klanten te voldoen, met name op het vlak van gepersonaliseerde diensten, mobiliteit en digitalisering.