What Is the Biggest Building in the World?

The scale of buildings worldwide can be measured in various ways, such as volume, floor area, or footprint. The largest buildings exhibit incredible feats of engineering and architecture, each serving diverse purposes, from manufacturing and commerce to entertainment and residential uses. This response details the largest buildings based on the two key metrics—volume and total floor area—while highlighting their unique features and significance.

Largest Building by Volume: Boeing Everett Factory

The Boeing Everett Factory, located in Everett, Washington, United States, is the largest building in the world by volume, making it the pinnacle of structural engineering for manufacturing purposes.

Name: Boeing Everett Factory
Location: Everett, Washington, United States
Volume: 13.3 million cubic meters (472 million cubic feet)
Floor Area: 398,000 square meters (4,280,000 square feet)
Construction Completed: 1967
Purpose: Aircraft manufacturing and assembly
Notable Features:

Used for assembling Boeing’s wide-body aircraft, including the 747, 767, 777, and 787 Dreamliner models.
The building's design supports the assembly of exceptionally large aircraft and features a complex internal infrastructure to facilitate production.
It includes a public visitor center that offers tours displaying the inner workings of the aircraft assembly lines.

The massive scale of the Boeing Everett Factory reflects its industrial focus, as it remains the go-to site for the manufacturing of some of the largest airplanes in history. More detailed information can be found here.

Largest Building by Total Floor Area: New Century Global Center

The largest building in the world by total floor area is the New Century Global Center, located in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. This colossal structure showcases the pinnacle of multipurpose commercial development.

Name: New Century Global Center
Location: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Total Floor Area: Approximately 1.76 million square meters (18,900,000 square feet)
Dimensions:

Height: 100 meters (328 feet)
Base: 500 meters by 400 meters (1,640 feet by 1,312 feet)

Construction Completed: 2013
Purpose: Mixed-use, including shopping malls, entertainment facilities, offices, hotels, and residential spaces.
Notable Features:

Houses an indoor water park with an artificial beach, offering recreational activities for its visitors year-round.
The building also includes an ice-skating rink, a university, and luxury hotels, showcasing its multifunctional design.
Designed to resemble billowing waves and features an LED light display on its exterior.

The New Century Global Center exemplifies how immense buildings can harmonize commerce, recreation, and urban lifestyle in a single location. Additional details can be found here.

Other Noteworthy Buildings

While the Boeing Everett Factory and the New Century Global Center hold the titles for the largest buildings by volume and floor area respectively, other massive buildings deserve attention for their unique purposes and scale:

1. The Octagon (New Administrative Capital, Egypt)

Location: New Administrative Capital, Egypt
Total Floor Area: 4.7 million square meters (50,590,000 square feet)
Status: Under construction
Purpose: Government and administrative complex

When completed, the Octagon is expected to become the largest single government office complex in the world, surpassing many existing structures in terms of total area. Learn more about its progress here.

2. AvtoVAZ Main Assembly Building (Tolyatti, Russia)

Location: Tolyatti, Russia
Footprint: 6 million square meters (64,583,000 square feet)
Purpose: Lada automobile manufacturing

The factory complex of Russian vehicle manufacturer AvtoVAZ has the largest physical footprint of any building in the world, emphasizing its extensive operational requirements for building automobiles at a massive scale. Click here for further insights.

Conclusion

The "biggest" building in the world often depends on the metric being measured:

By volume: The Boeing Everett Factory, with 13.3 million cubic meters (472 million cubic feet), is the largest in the world, designed for aircraft manufacturing.
By total floor area: The New Century Global Center, encompassing 1.76 million square meters (18.9 million square feet), highlights the apex of multifunctional commercial development.

Both buildings represent unique facets of architectural scale and human achievement, underscoring the versatility of contemporary construction to achieve extraordinary purposes. For those interested in more details, references have been provided throughout to ensure accurate and reliable sources on these record-breaking structures.