Tokyo’s mile-high skyscraper Sky Mile Tower to be the tallest in the world

The futuristic Sky Mile Tower will reach twice the height of the Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building.

Plans show that the 5,577 feet-high Sky Mile Tower will stand in Tokyo Bay with a cluster of islands at its feet, dwarfing everything else on the city's already soaring skyline.

The tower will feature a hexagonal design, which was found to be the most wind-resistant shape, with six interconnected "building legs" forming a slotted, tapered structure that should withstand imposing winds.

It will offer multi-level open-air sky decks at every 320 metres and shared public facilities including shops, restaurants, hotels, libraries, gyms and health clinics.

Up to 55,000 residents will be housed, with lifts running vertically between the top and bottom of each of the building's five "residential zones" and horizontally within each zone, forming a looping lift system, providing service to and from the different sky lobbies.

The eco-friendly complex will be designed to utilise waste heat from one part of the building to another for increased energy efficiency. Water will be "centrally collected, treated and stored at various levels" and distributed using gravity, eliminating the need for water to be pumped upwards from the ground level.

The Sky Mile Tower will be surrounded by an archipalego of islands, forming part of Next Tokyo, a "high density ecodistrict" designed to "adapt to climate change". The hexagonally shaped islands are designed to protect the city from flooding and other waterborne risks including "rising sea levels, seismic and increased typhoon risk". Proposed by the NY-based architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in collaboration with the NY-based engineering firm Leslie E. Robertson Associates, the development aims to accommodate half a million residents.