Millennium Tower – michaelsrootsinvienna.at (en)

Measuring 202 metres in height (160 metres to the roof ridge), the Millennium Tower at Handelskai 94–96 in Brigittenau is the third-tallest building in Vienna after the Donauturm and the DC Tower 1.

The 50-storey office block was constructed in record time between 1997 and 1999 to designs by Gustav Peichl, Boris Podrecca and Rudolf F. Weber for client Georg Stumpf. It was built using a steel composite construction method that was employed for the first time in Austria.

The building’s distinctive shape, consisting of two fully glazed cylinders interlocked with one another, is partly the result of a planning dispute. Initially, only a building height of 120–140 metres was permitted. However, despite protests from the Vienna Greens, the building was constructed to a significantly greater height, a decision which was subsequently approved. The surrounding area, known as ‚Millennium City‘, features a cinema, a fitness centre and around 100 shops, and remains one of Austria’s largest shopping centres to this day.