Spectacular company headquarters

In the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, they are a true landmark, visible from far and wide. At a height of 452 meters (1,480 feet), the towers - which house the headquarters of the oil company Petronas - dwarf every other building in the city. A particular feature is the steel "Skybridge," which links the towers 172 meters above the ground.

The Bank of China also sparred nothing on its headquarters. The design of its 360-meter high office tower is reminiscent of growing bamboo plants. The reflective glass of the outer façade sometimes leads to the impression that the building is transparent.

Why have one high rise building when you can have five? That may well have been the thought behind the commissioning and construction of the Renaissance center in Detroit, which is the headquarters of the auto giant General Motors. A hall on the lower floor, housing restaurants, boutiques and an exhibition, connects the towers.

The headquarters of insurers Lloyds of London is also known as the "Inside-Out Building." It is characterized by a number of staircases and lifts that have been moved to the outside of the structure. The glass lifts were the first in the UK to be installed on the outside of a building. Construction took almost eight years.

The Torre Mare Nostrum in Barcelona serves as home to the Spanish utility Gas Natural Fenosa. The building is adorned with a glass façade and two protruding blocks. There are 20 floors in the 86-meter structure, which is one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona.

The Hearst Tower in Manhattan was built on the base of a proposed skyscraper that was never completed because of the Great Depression. The building is the most environmentally-friendly office block in the city. Some 90 percent of the steel used to make it was recycled and rainwater is collected on the roof. The water is used to make an artificial waterfall to cool and humidify the lobby air.

The headquarters of financial firm ING in Amsterdam has picked up the nicknames "The Shoe" or "The Dustbuster." Here, with its 16 steel legs, it looks like a futuristic, extra-limbed robotic insect.

CMA CGM is a shipping firm. If you take a close look, the shape of its headquarters in Marseille is a clue to its line of business. The architect Zaha Hadid designed the tower in the shape of a sail. Appropriately, the street layout at its base is reminiscent of a ship.

This design also gives a clue as to the business that commissioned it. The four interconnected tube shapes at BMW headquarters in Munich make it look distinctly like a four cylinder engine. High architectural standards were being set in Munich a long time ago; the building was completed ahead of the 1972 Olympic Games in the city.

The London skyscraper that houses the British headquarters of the insurance firm Swiss Re is widely known as "The Gherkin." The building is very energy efficient. The office space does not cover the whole of the interior, but is set out in a ring shape. Within the building is a series of spiraling atria, each several storeys high, which ensure a better air quality.

A UFO, an overturned wheel, a lifebuoy? The planned company headquarters of Apple in California evokes numerous images. Building is set to begin in mid-2013, with the technology giant planning to move in by 2016. The astronomical price tag - just under five billion US dollars - won't worry Apple too much. Between October and December 2012 the company generated more than a billion dollars per week.