A building with towers is an irregular structure which is too tall to qualify as a low-rise building, but gains a large part of its height through towers or turrets instead of an accumulation of similar floors. The type is common for public buildings like courthouses, city halls, parliament buildings, and museums.

Buildings meeting the above description, where a large dome is substituted for the tower, are classified as monumental halls. Churches with steeples, spires, and chevets are not classified in this category because churches are classified as a distinct construction type.

The main body has fewer than 12 floors, while attached towers or turrets supply much of the height. That uneven composition differs from a regularly repeated stack of similar floors; the dome and church exceptions above still apply.