Health & Medicine

The Tallest Hospital Buildings in the World

From Mexico's brand-new, 179-meter Hospital Ángeles Andares to Denmark's Herlev Hospital, these are the 19 tallest hospital and medical buildings in the world, ranked by architectural height (to the top of the building, including spires and other built-in features, but not antennas). Houston alone has five of them, and the United States has nine. Only finished buildings whose main use is patient care count: hospitals, outpatient centers and towers of doctors' offices. Research labs and mixed-use towers with a clinic on a few floors don't, and neither do towers still under construction, such as Houston Methodist's 155.8-meter Centennial Tower, due to open in 2027. Height databases don't always agree, so figures for the same building can differ by a few meters between sources.

Hospital Ángeles Andares, the tallest hospital building in the world, Zapopan, Mexico

Pictured: Hospital Ángeles Andares in Zapopan, Mexico, #1 at 179 m.

Rank Building Height City Country Main use Floors Completed
1Hospital Ángeles Andares179 m (587 ft)Zapopan (Guadalajara)MexicoHospital + doctors' offices312025
2Memorial Hermann Tower — Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center165.2 m (542 ft)HoustonUnited StatesHospital + doctors' offices332009
3Outpatient Center — Houston Methodist Hospital156.1 m (512 ft)HoustonUnited StatesOutpatient & clinics262010
4Changzheng Hospital inpatient tower — Naval Medical University152.8 m (501 ft)ShanghaiChinaHospital372019
5Guy's Tower (Tower Wing) — Guy's Hospital148.65 m (488 ft)LondonUnited KingdomOutpatient & clinics341974
6Li Shu Pui Block — Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital148.5 m (487 ft)Hong KongChinaHospital382008
7O'Quinn Medical Tower at St. Luke's — Texas Medical Center145.3 m (477 ft)HoustonUnited StatesMedical offices291990
8Wuhan Union (Xiehe) Hospital tower144.8 m (475 ft)WuhanChinaHospital322006
9Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower — Texas Children's Hospital139.3 m (457 ft)HoustonUnited StatesHospital252018
10Block K — Queen Mary Hospital137 m (449 ft)Hong KongChinaHospital271991
11David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care — Memorial Sloan Kettering136.3 m (447 ft)New York CityUnited StatesOutpatient & clinics252019
12Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago136 m (447 ft)ChicagoUnited StatesHospital232012
13Hospital Sírio-Libanês tower133.8 m (439 ft)São PauloBrazilHospital272015
14Shirley Ryan AbilityLab131.4 m (431 ft)ChicagoUnited StatesHospital272016
15Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza — Texas Medical Center131 m (430 ft)HoustonUnited StatesMedical offices282007
16Abdali Medical Center125 m (410 ft)AmmanJordanHospital352019
17Galter Pavilion — Northwestern Memorial Hospital122.7 m (402 ft)ChicagoUnited StatesHospital221999
18Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital120.1 m (394 ft)TaichungTaiwanHospital262008
19Herlev Hospital120 m (394 ft)Herlev (Copenhagen)DenmarkHospital251976

The Top 10

#1

Hospital Ángeles Andares — 179 m

The newest building on this list is also the tallest. Grupo Empresarial Ángeles started building this private hospital in Zapopan's Andares district, on the edge of Guadalajara, in June 2022, with a budget of about 4 billion pesos. It was presented in October 2025 and opened its doors in January 2026. The tower rises 179 meters over 31 floors, with four more levels below ground, which makes it the tallest hospital in Mexico, the third-tallest building in the Guadalajara area and, by some distance, the tallest hospital building anywhere. Its upper floors are mostly doctors' consulting rooms, more than 400 of them, stacked above the hospital's beds, operating rooms and 24-hour emergency department.[1]

#2

Memorial Hermann Tower — 165.2 m

Before Andares opened, this 33-story tower on Houston's west side was the tallest hospital building in the world. It anchors the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center campus, and its first hospital floors, for women's and children's care, opened in December 2009. The original plan split it into about ten floors of hospital space and ten of physicians' offices. Its owner, the developer MetroNational, markets it as a Class A office building of about 900,000 square feet with Memorial Hermann as its main tenant. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) gives it 165.2 meters and counts 35 floors.[2]

#3

Houston Methodist Outpatient Center — 156.1 m

Houston Methodist opened this 26-floor tower in the Texas Medical Center in July 2010. Measured from the street to the top of its spire, it stands 512 feet, which made it the tallest building in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex. With about 1.6 million square feet, 760,000 of them for patient care, it was also the largest building in the medical center used only for patient care. Four more floors were fitted out in 2015. Its neighbor, Houston Methodist's Centennial Tower, topped out at about 511 feet in 2025, just short of it, and is due to open in 2027.[3]

#4

Changzheng Hospital inpatient tower — 152.8 m

Changzheng Hospital, on Fengyang Road in central Shanghai, is the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Naval Medical University, formerly the Second Military Medical University. It traces its roots to a hospital founded in 1900 and has more than 1,700 beds. Its tall inpatient tower, which has a helipad on the roof, is listed at 152.8 meters and 37 floors, completed in 2019. That figure comes from Wikipedia's list of tallest hospitals and couldn't be checked against CTBUH, and Baidu's encyclopedia entry for the hospital counts 38 floors, so treat its exact height and date with some caution.[4]

#5

Guy's Tower — 148.65 m

When it was completed in 1974, this 34-story concrete tower at Guy's Hospital, near London Bridge, was the tallest hospital building in the world. Taller towers in Houston and Hong Kong later passed it. By the 2010s its concrete was crumbling, so architects Penoyre & Prasad and engineers Arup gave it a new aluminum skin. On May 28, 2014, a 14-meter light sculpture by the German artist Carsten Nicolai, called aeolux, was switched on at the top. It raised the tower from about 143 meters to 148.65 meters and briefly won back the world title. Today King's College London's dental school fills the upper floors, above the hospital's medical departments.[5]

#6

Li Shu Pui Block, Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital — 148.5 m

Guinness World Records lists this 38-story block in Happy Valley as the world's tallest hospital, even though five buildings above it on this list are taller. Designed by Wong & Ouyang, it went up in three phases between 1988 and 2008. The last phase added a 20-story extension on top of the original hospital block. Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital is a private hospital founded in 1922, with more than 400 beds in this building alone. Its taxi stand sits right at the foot of the tower.[6]

#7

O'Quinn Medical Tower at St. Luke's — 145.3 m

With its twin spires, this tower at 6624 Fannin Street is often called the Texas Medical Center's most recognizable landmark. Designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates and completed around 1990, it holds about 446,000 square feet of doctors' offices and clinics, and it is named after the Houston attorney John O'Quinn in recognition of his gift to St. Luke's. Texas Children's Hospital bought it from Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in September 2016. A newer, much shorter O'Quinn Medical Tower opened on Baylor St. Luke's McNair campus in 2023. Databases list it at 145 meters and 29 floors. Some property listings give fewer floors, because several of them are parking.[7]

#8

Wuhan Union Hospital tower — 144.8 m

Wuhan Union Hospital, known in Chinese as Xiehe, is the main teaching hospital of Tongji Medical College at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Across its four campuses it has about 5,000 beds, which makes it one of the biggest hospitals in China. Its tall medical building at the main campus was finished in October 2006 and is listed at 144.8 meters, with 32 floors (some early descriptions say 33). The hospital was one of the first to treat patients during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.[8]

#9

Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower, Texas Children's Hospital — 139.3 m

Texas Children's built this tower by adding 19 new stories on top of an existing six-story base in the Texas Medical Center. The first phase opened on May 22, 2018, with six operating rooms and 84 intensive-care beds, and the heart center moved in that September. Its designer, CannonDesign, calls it the tallest children's hospital in the world. CTBUH lists it at 139 meters (457 feet). The hospital's own figures, which give the tower as about 400 feet tall, measure it differently. A helipad on the roof lets critically ill children be flown straight in.[9]

#10

Block K, Queen Mary Hospital — 137 m

Queen Mary Hospital, a public hospital on Pok Fu Lam Road, is the largest hospital on Hong Kong Island, with about 1,700 beds, and the main teaching hospital of the University of Hong Kong. Block K, its 137-meter tower, was completed in 1991. Height databases give it 27 floors, while project architect Louis Davies counts 28 and calls it one of the tallest hospital buildings in Asia. In late 2024 the hospital opened Hong Kong's first chest pain center.[10]

Hospitals Health Buildings Architecture Records

Sources

  1. Wikipedia's "Anexo:Edificios más altos de Guadalajara" (179 m, 31 floors), Líder Empresarial's "Hospital Ángeles Andares, ¿cómo es y cuándo abrirá en la AMG?" (179 m, 31 floors plus 4 basement levels, tallest hospital in Mexico, third-tallest building in the Guadalajara area), Excélsior and Imagen Radio on the June 2022 start of construction and the 4 billion peso investment, El Informador's October 2025 report on its presentation and January opening, and Hospital Ángeles' own Andares page (24-hour emergency department). Early announcements described 29 floors and 150 beds; later reports give 31 floors and up to 230 beds.
  2. CTBUH Skyscraper Center entry for Memorial Hermann Tower (165.2 m / 542 ft, 35 floors), Memorial Hermann's December 14, 2009 press release and "Memorial Hermann Tower" site (33 stories, hospital and physician floors), and MetroNational's property listing (about 900,000 rentable sq ft, 2009 completion).
  3. Health Facilities Management magazine's "Standing Out" (26 floors, 512 ft to the top of its spire, tallest building in the Texas Medical Center), Tradeline (July 2010 opening), Healthcare Design magazine (four floors fitted out in 2015), Wikipedia's "List of tallest buildings in Houston" (156.1 m), and Houston Methodist, Community Impact and Vaughn Construction coverage of Centennial Tower (about 511 ft, phased opening from 2027).
  4. Wikipedia's "List of tallest hospitals" (152.80 m, 37 floors, 2019 — the only source found for its height), plus Baidu Baike's Shanghai Changzheng Hospital entry (Navy Medical University affiliation, 38-floor inpatient building with a rooftop helipad, 1900 origins, 1,700+ beds).
  5. Wikipedia's Guy's Hospital entry and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust's "Guy's Tower regains title as world's tallest hospital building," RIBA Journal and Arup (148.65 m with the 14 m sculpture, Penoyre & Prasad and Arup overcladding), Dezeen (143 m before the sculpture), London SE1 (the May 2014 switch-on of Carsten Nicolai's aeolux; dental school on the upper floors).
  6. Guinness World Records, "Tallest hospital" (148.5 m, Wong & Ouyang, three phases from 1988 to 2008, more than 400 beds), CTBUH Skyscraper Center (148.5 m, 38 floors, 2008), Wikipedia's Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital entry (founded 1922, 2 Village Road), and HKSH's patient handbook (taxi stand at the Li Shu Pui Block). Video: HKSH's "How to get to Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital?".
  7. Wikipedia's "List of tallest buildings in Houston" (145.3 m / 477 ft, 29 floors, 1990), SkyscraperPage (Cesar Pelli & Associates with Kendall/Heaton), Texas Children's Hospital and CHI St. Luke's Health's September 2016 sale announcement, and Realty News Report and the Houston Chronicle (445,725 sq ft, twin spires, a 1991 completion date and 27 stories including parking).
  8. Wikipedia's "List of tallest hospitals" (144.78 m, 32 floors, 2006) and Wuhan Union Hospital entry (33-floor medical building finished in October 2006, Tongji Medical College), and China Daily's profile of Wuhan Union Hospital (four campuses, about 5,000 beds).
  9. Texas Children's Hospital news releases on the Legacy Tower's May 22, 2018 opening (six ORs, 84 ICU beds) and the September 2018 heart center move, CannonDesign's project page (19-story vertical expansion on a six-story podium, tallest children's hospital), TMC News (400-ft tower), and the CTBUH Skyscraper Center's Texas Children's Hospital complex page (139 m / 457 ft) and Wikipedia's "List of tallest buildings in Houston" (139.3 m, 25 floors, 2018).
  10. Wikipedia's "List of tallest hospitals" and Queen Mary Hospital entry (137 m, 27 floors, 1991; 1,711 beds), SKYDB, Louis Davies' project page (28 stories), and RTHK's Vibrant Hong Kong (August 2025) on the hospital's chest pain center. Overall ranking checked against Wikipedia's "List of tallest hospitals" (hospital buildings of 120 m or more). Figures for #11–19: Structure magazine, New York YIMBY and 6sqft for Memorial Sloan Kettering's David H. Koch Center (25 stories; 416–455 ft depending on source and stage; it was finished in 2019 and opened to patients in January 2020), the CTBUH Skyscraper Center for Lurie Children's (136 m / 447 ft; Wikipedia gives 134.77 m), Hospital Sírio-Libanês (133.8 m, 27 floors), Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (131 m / 431 ft, 27 floors, 2016; it opened in March 2017), Abdali Medical Center (125 m; floors given as 34–36, 35 per the hospital) and Galter Pavilion (122.7 m, 22 floors, 1999), SKYDB and LaSalle for Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza (131 m / 430 ft, 28 stories, 2007), Wikipedia for Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital (120.09 m, 26 floors, 2008), and Wikipedia and SkyscraperPage for Herlev Hospital (120 m, 25 floors, opened 1976). Left out: Houston Methodist's Centennial Tower (155.8 m, not finished until 2027); King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital's Bhumisirimangkhlanusorn Building in Bangkok (142 m on Wikipedia's list, but only 113 m per CTBUH); Istanbul's Medipol Mega University Hospital (136 m), Wuhan's Central Orthopedic Medical Center (138.9 m), Monterrey's Hospital Ángeles Valle Oriente (133 m) and Riyadh's Elegance Medical Tower (130 m), none of which could be confirmed in a second source; and research towers such as Tokyo Medical and Dental University's M&D Tower and Memorial Sloan Kettering's Zuckerman Research Center.