As they age, older high-rise towers will instead be given new leases of life with expensive renovations.

No building taller than 200 metres has ever legally been demolished anywhere in the world and property experts say most tall towers will continue to be preserved into the future.

The city is already home to 30 skyscrapers taller than 150 metres, more than in Sydney, Beijing or London. Another 40 are proposed or under construction, including the 100-storey Australia 108 (pictured below, photo taken by Joe Mabel).

"If there is nothing structurally wrong I would expect [these buildings] would last decades and decades – up to 100 years," head of research for property adviser Savills Australia, Tony Crabb said.

Towers looking a bit tired after about 40 years are generally given facelifts, he said. Entire lift and airconditioning systems often need to be pulled out and replaced at a cost to the building's body corporate, which, he added, should already be putting aside money for the task.

Victoria's former state government architect, John Denton, warned that Melbourne was creating "a new problem for the future" in new poor-quality apartment buildings, which he said could need major repairs within a few decades.

Co-founder of architectural firm Denton Corker Marshall, he said that while it was technically possible to demolish high-rise apartment towers, it would be difficult to organise with each apartment on 50 or 60 levels owned by a different person.

"If they are really bad they might be pulled down," he said. "They might be condemned by council."

Mr Denton said while it usually worked out cheaper to spend money on a building at the start of construction rather than patch it up later, "most developers are not concerned about the long-term [but] the cheapest-possible build".

The Singer Building in New York, pictured below, is the tallest building in the world to be intentionally destroyed. Dismantled in 1968, it once stood 187-metres tall.

This YouTube video (below) shows another rare tall building demolition - the Brutalist former university office in Frankfurt Germany was felled using a controlled explosion last year.

 

University of Melbourne construction technology expert Giorgio Marfella said the highest building to be demolished in Melbourne was the CRA building at 95 Collins Street, which was replaced in 1988. Standing at 95-metres, it was probably not tall enough to meet modern definitions of a skyscraper, although it was once Melbourne's tallest building.

Here is a historical photo taken of the office tower when it loomed tall over its neighbours.

Many of the CBD's first skyscrapers, built in the 1970s and 1980s, have already reached their use-by date. Having become dated and technologically inefficient, office blocks have undergone major repairs and renovations, including conversions into apartments.

Mr Marfella said in the future extra floors may be built onto larger towers. This trend is already happening on a smaller scale, with a permit recently granted to build another six storeys on to a 12-storey post-war office building on Lonsdale Street.

With more old skyscrapers surviving the demolition ball, it is feasible that Melbourne's big CBD towers could eventually become relics of the past, rather than a symbol of the city's wealth and progress.

One Melbourne's original skyscrapers, the former BHP House, pictured below, is already listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. In 1972 when it was completed, it was the tallest building in Melbourne, but now only now just scrapes into the top 30.

AECOM structural engineer Marc Colella said all skyscrapers were constructed for a lifespan of at least 50 years. But he believes landmark towers will continue to have a more permanent place in cities.

Mr Colella had a key role in the construction of New York's Freedom Tower (below), one of the most emotionally-charged skyscraper projects in history. The 541-metre structure was built near the footprint of the World Trade Centre towers destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. A symbol of the resilience and determination of New York City, it is now the tallest building in the United States.

Mr Colella said the Freedom Tower was designed to be "timeless". Likewise, he imagined Melbourne's landmark towers would survive for many decades to come.

"Just the thought of demolishing the Eureka Tower (pictured below) would be unimaginable," he said.