A big gesture from New Zealand’s largest city, Sky Tower is not a building to be dismissed. At the time of its completion it was the tallest structure in the country and the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. While from a distance the tower appears to be a smooth ever-so-slight curve into the sky, a closer inspection shows that it sports eight vertical ribs at the bottom. These legs help support the tower and disperse both weight and the force of wind. If the wind blows too hard in one particular direction, concrete collars spread the stress around for the other legs to absorb. Further up the tower are the main facilities most people will use: Three observation decks plus restaurants and other amenities, and broadcasting facilities for radio, television, and other communications links. Many of the antennae are hidden inside the steel tube that makes up the tower’s mast. Others ring the top of the pod like a crown. In case of an emergency, there is a refuge level in the lower section of the pod, and one of the elevator shafts is fireproofed.

• The tower is designed to withstand an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale and winds up to 125 miles-per-hour.
• The tower is built from 15,000 cubic meters / 405,000 cubic feet of concrete.
• The tower also includes 2,000 tons of steel reinforcement, and 660 tons of structural steel.
• The mast weighs 170 tons.
• 3 March, 1997 - The Sky Tower opens to the public.
• 5 October, 1998 - AJ Hackett bungee jumps from the tower, leaping from a height of 594 feet.

Photograph courtesy Wendy Cain.