Europe's Ten Tallest Buildings • London, Moscow

The Mercury City tower, in Moscow, Russia, has nearly topped out. Photo: Courtesy Liedel Investments Limited

As Moscow's Mercury City skyscraper approaches its topping out point, with construction completion expected in late 2012, it is worth reflecting on the building's place among the skyscrapers of Europe. At 339 meters (1,110 feet) tall, this new tower will be the tallest on the continent upon its completion, edging out The Shard, a recently completed building in London, a 310-meter (1,020-foot) building that currently holds the position.

The 70-story Mercury City tower is a reinforced-concrete-frame structure with a copper-tinted curtain wall glazing system. The tower's plan narrows as it rises, and a series of vertical and diagonal bevels give the building its distinctive asymmetrical form.

26 high-speed elevators by ThyssenKrupp provide Mercury City's primary vertical conveyance.

• Height: 339 meters (1,110 feet)
• Stories: 70 (plus 5 floors underground)
• Area: 180,160 square meters (1,939,200 square feet)
• Architect:  Frank Williams & Partners Architects with M.M. Posokhin
• Developer: Mercury Development Company/ LLC RASEN STROY
• Year Completed: estimated late 2012

Of the five tallest buildings in Europe, four are in Moscow. The Shard, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, is the only building outside of Moscow in the top five. And a fifth Moscovite building rounds out the European top ten.

To put these buildings into another kind of perspective, the Mercury City tower is less than half the height of the Burj Khalifa which, at 828 meters (2,717 feet), is currently the tallest building in the world. Upon its completion, Mercury City will likely rank 37 or 38 in a listing of the world's tallest buildings.

Photo: Courtesy Baron Phillips Associates

2. The Shard, London, England

• Height: 310 meters (1,020 feet)
• Stories: 95
• Area: 111,000 square meters (1.2 Million square feet) 
• Architect: Renzo Piano with Adamson Associates
• Builder: Mace
• Owner: Sellar Property Group
• Developer: Sellar Property Group 
• Year Completed: 2012

Photo: Courtesy Capital Group

3. Capital City Moscow Tower, Moscow, Russia

• Height: 302 meters (990 feet)
• Stories: 76
• Architect: NBBJ
• Builder: Ant Yapi Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. Şti.
• Owner: Capital Group
• Developer: Bovis Lend Lease
• Year Completed: 2010

Photo: Courtesy SECALT S.A. Luxembourg

4. Naberezhnaya Tower C, Moscow, Russia

• Height: 268 meters (879 feet)
• Stories: 61
• Area: 150,000 square meters (1,600,000 square feet) 
• Architect: RTKL & ENKA Architectural Office
• Builder: Enka İnşaat & Sanayi A.Ş.
• Owner: City Center Investment B.V. 
• Developer: City Center Investment B.V.
• Year Completed: 2007

Photo: Dmitriy Vorobiev

5. Triumph Palace, Moscow, Russia

• Height: 264 meters (866 feet)
• Stories: 54
• Area: 168,633 square meters (1,815,150 square feet)
• Architect: TROMOS
• Developer: Don Stroy
• Year Completed: 2005

Image: Tabanlioglu Architects

6. Sapphire Tower, Istanbul, Turkey

• Height: 261 meters (856 feet)
• Stories: 54
• Architect: Tabanlioglu Architects
• Developer: Biskon Yapı

Photo: Ian Lambot / Foster + Partners

7. Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

• Height: 259 meters (850 feet)
• Stories: 58
• Area: 109,200 square meters (1,175,400 square feet)
• Architect: Norman Foster
• Owner: Commerzbank
• Year Completed: 1997

Photo: Courtesy Capital Group

8. Capital City St. Petersburg Tower, Moscow Russia

• Height: 257 meters (843 feet)
• Stories: 65
• Architect: NBBJ
• Builder:  Ant Yapi Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. Şti.
• Owner: Capital Group
• Developer: Bovis Lend Lease
• Year Completed: 2003-2010

Photo: Michael Hierner

9. MesseTurm,  Frankfurt am Main, Germany

• Height: 256 meters (840 feet)
• Stories: 55
• Area: 61,711 square meters (664,300 square feet)
• Architect: Murphy/ Jahn
• Builder: HOCHTIEF AG
• Owner: Tishman Speyer Properties
• Developer: Tishman Speyer Properties
• Year Completed: 1990

Photo: Courtesy Ria Verschuren

10. Torre de Cristal, Madrid, Spain

• Height: 250 meters (820 feet)
• Stories: 53
• Architect: César Pelli
• Builder: Dragados
• Owner: Mutua Madrileña
• Year Completed: 2008

Note: Images and information for this posting courtesy of Emporis.