Sydney's Quay Quarter Tower has made history by becoming the first building ever nominated as a finalist for Prince William's prestigious Earthshot Prize. The 206-meter-tall skyscraper, which was transformed through an innovative upcycling process, is competing in the "Build a Waste-Free World" category of the 2025 awards.
The tower, originally completed in 1976 as the AMP Center, underwent a comprehensive renovation in 2022 by Danish architecture studio 3XN in collaboration with Australian studio BVN. Located in Sydney's iconic Circular Quay area, the building has been hailed as the "world's first fully upcycled skyscraper" and represents the most comprehensive building transformation ever attempted at this scale.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, recognizes innovative solutions that address the world's most pressing environmental challenges. The awarding body praised the Quay Quarter Tower's retrofit for providing a "commercially viable and scalable solution to decarbonizing the built environment." The building is one of three finalists in its category, selected from nearly 2,500 nominees worldwide.
3XN expressed their pride in the nomination, telling media outlets, "We see it as a reflection of both architecture's impact and its potential." Rather than demolishing the existing structure, the architectural teams chose to renew and transform the tower, resulting in significant environmental benefits. This innovative approach saved more than 12,000 tons of embodied carbon while retaining 65 percent of the skyscraper's original structure and 95 percent of its core.
Fred Holt, partner at 3XN, emphasized the broader implications of their work, stating, "The demolition cycle is one of the greatest threats to our global climate goals. Quay Quarter Tower proves that transformation at significant scale is possible and, critically, commercially viable." He expressed hope that their approach could help redefine urban development and offer a blueprint for meeting low-carbon ambitions as cities worldwide continue to grow.
The angular glass form of the renovated tower serves as a demonstration that retrofitting decades-old buildings can provide both environmental and economic benefits. The project aims to establish a new standard for sustainable development practices in the construction industry, showing that major architectural transformations can be both environmentally responsible and financially sound.
This year's Earthshot Prize marks the halfway point in Prince William's ten-year program. The prince commented on the significance of reaching this milestone, saying, "As we reach the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, I am truly inspired by this year's finalists, which embody the urgent optimism sitting right at the heart of our mission. In just five years, The Earthshot Prize has shown that the answers to our planet's greatest challenges not only already exist, but that they are firmly within our grasp."
The Quay Quarter Tower joins 14 other finalists competing across five categories in the 2025 awards. One winner from each category will be selected by Prince William alongside members of the award council, with the announcement scheduled for November 5, 2025. The building has already received international recognition, having been previously named Best Tall Building Worldwide by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Previous Earthshot Prize winners have included groundbreaking technologies such as systems designed to capture and convert waste heat into clean electricity and dissolvable binders for electric vehicle batteries. The inclusion of an architectural project among this year's finalists highlights the growing recognition of the construction industry's role in addressing climate change and environmental sustainability.
