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Structural Icons: Global Skyscrapers

The document summarizes key details about the design of three tall skyscrapers: The Shard in London, Willis Tower in Chicago, and the Empire State Building in New York. It covers their heights, floor counts, structural designs which incorporate steel and concrete, costs, maximum wind loads, sustainable features, and the technologies used. The skyscrapers were conceived to withstand high lateral, gravity, seismic and wind loads through techniques like bundled steel tubes and central concrete cores.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
198 views16 pages

Structural Icons: Global Skyscrapers

The document summarizes key details about the design of three tall skyscrapers: The Shard in London, Willis Tower in Chicago, and the Empire State Building in New York. It covers their heights, floor counts, structural designs which incorporate steel and concrete, costs, maximum wind loads, sustainable features, and the technologies used. The skyscrapers were conceived to withstand high lateral, gravity, seismic and wind loads through techniques like bundled steel tubes and central concrete cores.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

Conceptual

Design of
Structures

Architectural Structures
by
Patricia Balboa Andal, CEIT-01-801P
Arch. Marirose Vocal, Professor
EUROPE|THE SHARD, LONDON

The Shard, also referred to as the “Shard of Glass”, “Shard London


Bridge” and formerly “London Bridge Tower”,is a 95-storey skyscraper in
Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter
development. The Shard is the tallest building in London and is
currently the 87th tallest building in the world, the tallest building in the
European Union and the fourth tallest building in Europe. It is also the
second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the
concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station.

The Shard was conceived as a building with multiple uses: a vertical


city where people could live, work and relax. It comprises world-class
offices, award-wining restaurants, the 5-star Shangri-La Hotel, exclusive
residences and the UK’s highest viewing gallery, The View from The
Shard, offering 360-degree views. Well-connected and
comprehensively serviced by central London's transport infrastructure,
facilities and amenities, The Shard is a timeless reminder of the power
of imagination to inspire change.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 309.6 metres, or 1,016 feet, high - almost a third of a kilometre


 95 storeys tall, with level 72 the highest habitable floor
 1,389,987 square feet floor space
 576,784 square feet office space

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 off-site intumescent coating protection to selected members in


case of fire
 built around an extremely strong concrete core which houses
all of the key services including escape routes and 44 lifts
including dedicated lifts for firefighters
 306 flights of stairs
 three sets of stairs and these are supplemented by high
capacity evacuation lifts
 six lifts in groups of two, command control panels and special
bespoke indication for emergency evacuation
 “composite steel frames and post-tension concrete floors” to
maximize wind load resistance
 “central concrete core” to resist lateral load

1
A3. COST

 ~£435 million (contract cost only)

A4. LOAD

 high lateral, gravity, seismic, and wind loads


 Offices 3.5KN/m2 imposed load and 1.0KN/m2 dead load
 relative magnitudes of the total dead, live, and horizontal
loads acting upon The Shard are 2.15 x 108 lb, 9.60 x 107 lb,
and 6.08 x 108 lb
 maximum horizontal wind load of about 173 mph (twice as
large as the max wind speed found in Philadelphia)

A5. LOCATION

 32 London Bridge Street, Southwark London, England


 next to major railway station London Bridge, close to the
tunnels of the Jubilee underground line
 within the River Terrace Gravels, groundwater was present at -
4.8mSD. The lower aquifer level, in the Upper Chalk, was
recorded at approximately -38mSD

A6. RESOURCES

 95% of the construction materials are recycled


 20% of the steelwork is from recycled sources
 11,000 glass panels on the outside, which is equal to eight
football pitches
 54,000 m3 of concrete, which is equivalent to 22 Olympic
swimming pools

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 Top-down construction allowed the sub- and superstructure to


be worked on simultaneously
 jump lift strategy that allowed construction of shafts and
installation works to continue above an operational lift
 eight glass panels at a six-degree slope
 triple-skin intelligent facade

A8. SYNERGY

 The tapered form of the building provides efficient and


economic floor design through the unusual mixture of concrete
and steel, with optimally sized floor plates conducive to its
function as a multi-use development

2
UNITED STATES|WILLIS TOWER, CHICAGO

The Willis Tower, built and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a
108-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. At completion in
1973, it surpassed the World Trade Center towers in New York to
become the tallest building in the world, a title it held for nearly 25
years. The Willis Tower is the second-tallest building in the United States
and the 14th-tallest in the world. More than one million people visit its
observation deck each year, making it one of Chicago's most popular
tourist destinations. The structure was renamed in 2009 by the Willis
Group as part of its lease on a portion of the tower's space.

The grandest tower in a city known for its great architecture, The Willis
Tower has served for decades as a mighty symbol of architectural
prowess and the triumph of engineering.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 1,451-foot (442 m) high


 108 (+3 basement floors) floor count
 4,560,000 square feet total floor space
 3,800,000 square feet rentable floor space

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 airport-style security, concrete barriers, metal detectors and


sophisticated security cameras that trace every movement in
and around the structure
 Elevators: 104
 Double-decker elevators: 14
 Escalators: 15
 Observatory elevators speed: 18.2 miles per hour
 Parking spaces: 160
 Plumbing: 25+ miles
 Electrical: 1,500+ miles
 Elevator cables: 80+miles
 “bundled tube” design that handles both wind and gravity

A3. COST

 $186,000,000

A4. LOAD

 gravity load is different on each tube


 lateral wind load
 seismic

3
A5. LOCATION

 233 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

A6. RESOURCES

 nine tubes of rigid steel column-and-beam construction, each


measures 75 feet by 75 feet, yielding 50,000 square feet of
space per floor
 The foundation and the floor slabs have some 2,000,000 cubic
feet of concrete – enough to build an eight-lane highway 5
miles long
 more than 16,000 bronze-tinted windows and 28 acres of black
duranodic aluminum skin

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 6 automatic window robots clean the outside of the building 8


times a year
 unique heat-salvage system that takes heat from the electrical
transformers in the basement levels and uses it to heat water
for the rest of the Tower
 elevators operate as fast as 1,600 feet (488 meters) per minute
– among the fastest in the world.

A8. SYNERGY

 the tower is comprised of a cluster of nine tubes connected


together to act as a single unit. The tubes support one another,
strengthening the structure as a whole

UNITED STATES|EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, NEW YORK

The Empire State Building is a 102-storey skyscraper located in Midtown


Manhattan, New York City, on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and
34th Streets. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the
Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years,
from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the original
World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970. Following the
September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the
tallest building in New York, until One World Trade Center reached a
greater height in April 2012. The Empire State Building is currently the
fifth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States and the 29th-
tallest in the world. It is also the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the
Americas. When measured by pinnacle height, it is the fourth-tallest
building in the United States.

4
A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 1,454 feet (443 m) high


 103 floor count
 2,248,355 sq ft (208,879 m2) floor area
 2.1 million square feet of rentable office space

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 Elevators: 73, including six freight elevators


 Escalators: There are eight high-speed escalators in the
concourse and second floor areas.
 fire-detection system (there were call boxes; they were on
every floor)
 steel columns are fireproofed with cinder concrete

A3. COST

 $40,948,900

A4. LOAD

 rigid beam-to-column connections to resist lateral loads


 vertical gravity loads
 seismic

A5. LOCATION

 350 Fifth Avenue Manhattan, New York 10118


 Area of Site: 79,288 square feet (7,240m) or about two acres.
East to west, 424 feet (129m), north to south, 187 feet (56.9m)
 Lobby: 47 feet (14.3m) above sea level

A6. RESOURCES

 exterior of the Empire State Building is composed of 200,000


cubic feet of Indiana limestone and granite, 10 million bricks
and 730 tons of aluminum and stainless steel
 57,000 tons of steel to construct the steel skeleton
 62,000 cubic yards of concrete
 stainless steel and glass-enclosed bridges

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 large broadcast tower


 state-of-the-art audio warning and strobe light guidance
system

5
 water delivery system inside the building rather than on the roof
 fire-detection system (there were call boxes; they were on
every floor)
 computerized HVAC system.

A8. SYNERGY

 designed in the distinctive Art Deco style, steel columns and


beams form a stable 3-D grid throughout the entire structure.

ASIA| ABRAJ AL-BAIT TOWERS, MECCA

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower
Hotel, is a government-owned megatall building complex in Mecca,
Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz
Endowment Project that strives to modernize the city in catering to its
pilgrims. The central hotel building has the world's largest clock face
and is the third tallest building and fourth tallest freestanding structure
in the world. The building complex is metres away from the world's
largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al-Haram. The
developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group,
the Kingdom's largest construction company. The complex was built
after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman
citadel which stood atop a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The
destruction of the fort in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked Turkish
and international outcry.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 601 m (1,972 ft) high


 Floor count: 120 (Clock Tower) +3 below ground
 Floor area: Tower: 310,638 m2 (3,343,680 sq ft)
Development: 1,575,815 m2 (16,961,930 sq ft)

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 4 story parking for 780 cars and 10 busses


 convention centre for 1,500 persons
 prayer hall for 3,800 persons
 2 heliports
 the podium has 79 elevators and 111 extra heavy-duty
Transvario escalators
 the clock tower features 94 elevators and 16 extra heavy-duty
Transvario escalators

6
 the adjacent towers have 12 elevators including two helipad
elevators and six extra heavy-duty Transvario escalators

A3. COST

 US$15 billion

A4. LOAD

 vertical gravity loads


 seismic
 wind

A5. LOCATION

 Oum Al Qura Street, Mecca, Saudi Arabia


 located across the street to the south from an entrance to the
Masjid al Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba

A6. RESOURCES

 main structural system: reinforced concrete (lower part),


steel/concrete composite construction, steel construction
(upper part)
 cladding: glass, marble, natural stone, carbon-/glass-fibre-
reinforced plastic
 the clock's four faces are covered with 98 million pieces of
glass mosaics
 23m-high crescent made of fibreglass-backed mosaic gold
 top 200m of the clock tower is clad with fibre reinforced plastic
(FRP) composite panels.

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 FALCON high-powered searchlights on crescent


 in each of the tower’s four corners, 3m/10-ft telescoping steel
lightning arrestors deploy automatically during storms
 Sandwich-construction cladding

A8. SYNERGY

 designed in postmodern style, it is a combination of reinforced


concrete, steel/concrete composite, and steel construction
that stands out with the use of fibreglass-backed mosaic gold
and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) composite panels

7
ASIA| TAIPEI 101, TAIPEI

Taipei 101 (Chinese: 臺北 101 / 台北 101) – stylized as TAIPEI 101 and


formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center – is a landmark
supertall skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was
officially classified as the world's tallest in 2004, and remained such until
the completion of Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2009. In 2011, the building
was awarded the LEED platinum certification, the highest award
according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) rating system, and became the tallest and largest green
building in the world.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 509.2 m (1,671 ft) high


 Floor count: 101, 5 below ground
 Highest Occupied Floor: 1,437 feet (438 meters).
 Floor area: 412,500 m2 (4,440,100 sq ft)
 Offices - Taiwan Stock Exchange (198,347 m2)

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 61 Toshiba/KONE elevators, including double-deck shuttles and


2 high speed observatory elevators
 The fastest elevator inside Taipei 101 moves at an astonishing
speed of 37.7 miles per hour (55.2 feet per second)
 728-ton tuned mass damper (TMD), a large spherical steel
pendulum that offsets lateral movements caused by strong
winds. The anti-sway system passed a real-life test during
Taiwan's 6.8-magnitude earthquake in 2002
 the fastest elevator inside Taipei 101 moves at an astonishing
speed of 37.7 miles per hour (55.2 feet per second)
 double stairstep corners that reduce the potentially dangerous
oscillations caused by high winds by about 30-40%, allowing
the structure to stand, even under the force of relentless
typhoons.
 Parking - 83,000 m2, 1800 cars

A3. COST

 NT$ 58 billion (US$1.934 billion)

A4. LOAD

 gravity loads are carried vertically by a variety of columns


 lateral loads will be resisted by a combination of braced cores,
cantilevers

8
 seismic
 wind
 lateral pressure of soil, groundwater or bulk materials

A5. LOCATION

 Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China


 Site area: 9,159 ping (30,277 square meter)
 took 8 months just to analyze the soil to determine whether the
site was suitable for a building of this size
 the building is located just 660 feet away from a major fault line
 Weak soil conditions (The structures tend to sink)
 Typhoon winds (High lateral displacement tends to topple
structures)
 Large potential earthquakes (Generates shear forces)

A6. RESOURCES

 taipei 101′s walls are blue-green glass covered and offer UV


protection
 Materials: 60ksi Steel, 10,000 psi Concrete

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 728-ton tuned mass damper (TMD)


 Hysteretic Dampers
 Velocity Dampers
 elevator is designed with an aerodynamic body, pressurization
and emergency braking systems, and the world's first triple-
stage anti-overshooting system (each elevator is over $US 2
million)

A8. SYNERGY

 Taipei 101 was designed as a mega structural system that


achieves both strength and flexibility through the use of high
performance steel construction. Thirty six columns support
Taipei 101 including 8 mega columns packed with 10,000 psi
concrete. Rich with symbolism and tradition, Taipei's iconic
landmark is a standing monument to feng shui and modern
design.

9
ASIA| JIN MAO TOWER, SHANGHAI

The Jin Mao Tower (simplified Chinese: 金茂大厦; traditional Chinese: 金


茂大廈; pinyin: Jīnmào Dàshà; literally: "The Golden Prosperity Building"),
also known as the Jinmao Building or Jinmao Tower, is an 88-story
landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is the 18th
tallest building in the world. It contains a shopping mall, offices and the
Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, the
Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower it is part of
the Lujiazui skyline seen from the Bund. It used to be the tallest building
in China but its height was surpassed on September 14, 2007, by the
Shanghai World Financial Center which is located close by. The
Shanghai Tower, a 121-story building located next to these two
buildings, surpassed the height of both these buildings in 2015.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 420.5 meters (1,380 ft) high


 Floor count: 95 (88, 4 spire floors, 3 basement floors)
 Floor area: 289,500 m2 (3,116,000 sq ft)

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 Lifts/elevators: 61- operate at the speed of 9.1 meters (nearly


30 feet) per second
 parking area 3 stories deep, which can hold 800 cars and 2000
bicycles

A3. COST

 US$530 million (1999)


 has daily maintenance cost of $ 121,000

A4. LOAD

 gravity loads
 lateral loads
 seismic
 wind

A5. LOCATION

 located in the Lujiazui area, 88 Shi Ji (Century) Boulevard, near


the mouth of Metro East Yan'an Road in Pudong New District,
Shanghai, the PRC
 built on a land area of 24,000 m²
 Excavation: 320,000 cubic meters

10
A6. RESOURCES

 16 large exterior columns, composed of a combination of 8


steel and 8 steel and reinforced-concrete columns , and an
octagonal-shaped inner reinforced-concrete core
 the exterior curtain wall is made of glass, stainless steel,
aluminum, and granite, and is crossed by a complex
latticework cladding made of aluminum alloy tubes.
 wall surrounding the basement is 1 m thick, 36 m high and 568
m long, consisting of 20.500 m³ of reinforced concrete

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 computerized energy management system


 fluid energy metering system measures the flow of water
through 89 sensors distributed throughout the building
 electricity metering system remotely and automatically
measures electricity consumption of large equipment through
a network of 300 sensors, allowing comparison of current and
historical energy consumption
 broader enterprise asset management (EAM) system that
tracks a variety of performance metrics, including electricity,
water, and natural gas consumption

A8. SYNERGY

 The composite steel-and-concrete structure features eight


mega columns of concrete and eight of steel situated around
the tower's concrete core. Ingeniously combined the elements
of traditional Chinese culture with the newest architectural
styles of the time, which makes it one of the best-constructed
buildings in China.

PHILIPPINES| PBCOM TOWER, MAKATI

The Philippine Bank of Communications Tower, more commonly known


as PBCom Tower, is an office skyscraper ranked officially as the tallest
building in the Philippines since 2000. It has a total ground to
architectural top height of 259 metres (850 ft), with 52 storeys including
an 8-level radio tower. It is a joint development of Filinvest Asia
Corporation (FAC) and the Philippine Bank of Communications
(PBCom). The building is the home of PBCom, one of the oldest
Philippine banks. The bank occupies the building's first ten floors, with a
food court on the seventh floor. It is also home to a competitor bank,

11
EastWest Unibank, which is based in the building's twentieth and
twenty-first floors, which are controlled by Filinvest Land.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 259 m (849.7 ft) high


 Floor count: 52 aboveground, 7 belowground
 Floor area: 119,905 m2 (1,291,000 sq ft)

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 Lifts/elevators: 17
 roof deck helipad for alternate transport access and
emergency evacuation
 fire alarm and automatic fire sprinkler systems

A3. COST

 US$74,000,000

A4. LOAD

 seismic
 wind

A5. LOCATION

 6795 Ayala Avenue corner V.A. Rufino Street, Salcedo Village,


Makati, Philippines

A6. RESOURCES

 double-glazed, unitized curtain walls in aluminum frames,


together with a monumental lighting effect, create a facade
that reflects a fusion of art and function
 interiors are an elegant interplay of glass, natural stone and
metal
 tinted insulated vision glass in full height for the curtain walls to
seal off heat and noise

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 lightning protection and grounding systems


 structured cabling system for high-speed transmission of data
 provision for fiber optic telecommunications system
 advanced building management system

12
 CCTV monitoring at strategic locations controlled at the
central command station on a 24-hour basis
 fire alarm and automatic fire sprinkler systems
 voice and smoke evacuation systems and a gondola system
for building exterior maintenance

A8. SYNERGY

 The square shape of the building emphasized the use of the


double-glazed, unitized curtain walls in aluminum frames on
the façade, reflecting a fusion of art and fashion

PHILIPPINES| UNIONBANK PLAZA, PASIG

UnionBank Plaza is an office skyscraper located in Pasig, Philippines. It


rises 206 metres (676 feet from ground level to roof, and is currently the
tallest complete building in Pasig City, and the 10th-tallest building in
the country and Metro Manila as well. The building has 49 levels above
ground, and 6 basement levels.

True to its name, the bank serves as the headquarters for Union Bank of
the Philippines, the seventh-largest bank in the Philippines in terms of
assets. Other tenants of UnionBank Plaza include major business
process outsourcing companies, like Sykes Enterprises, Branders.com,
PCCW, among others. However, the building's main tenant,
UnionBank, also maintains some executive offices at the SSS Building in
Makati.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 206 m (675.85 ft) high


 Floor count: 49 aboveground, 6 belowground
 2,600 sq.m total floor area

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 Lifts/elevators: 15
 6-level basement and 7-level aboveground level parking
 fire alarm and automatic fire sprinkler systems
 has a helipad in the rooftop

A3. COST

 Php 1,900,000,000

13
A4. LOAD

 seismic
 wind

A5. LOCATION

 Meralco Avenue corner Onyx & Sapphire Streets, Ortigas


Center, Pasig, Philippines

A6. RESOURCES

 8-level concrete podium as its base, while its main body is fully
clad with aluminium unitized curtain wall

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 advanced building management system


 CCTV monitoring at strategic locations controlled at the
central command station on a 24-hour basis
 fire alarm and automatic fire sprinkler systems
 High-security (biometrics scan access or proximity card) 24/7

A8. SYNERGY

 The combination of concrete, the curtain walls, and the


multiple corners of the building make a distinctive design that is
easily recognizable among the buildings in Ortigas Center.

PHILIPPINES|RCBC PLAZA, MAKATI

RCBC Plaza is an office skyscraper complex located in Makati,


Philippines. It is home to the offices of the Rizal Commercial Banking
Corporation (RCBC) and is composed of two buildings: the taller RCBC
Plaza Yuchengco Tower and the smaller RCBC Plaza Tower 2. The taller
tower stands at 192 meters (630 ft) from the ground to its architectural
top,[5] and is currently the 8th-tallest complete building in Makati, and
is the 16th-tallest building in the Philippines, while the shorter tower
stands at 170 meters (560 ft). The complex, as a whole, is considered
by its developers to be the largest and most modern office
development in the country.

A1. CAPACITY/LIMIT

 Tower 1: 192 m (629.92 ft), Tower 2: 170 m (557.74 ft) high

14
 Floor count: Tower 1-46 aboveground, 7 below ground, Tower
2-41 aboveground, 7 below ground
 Floor area: Tower 1-79,757 m2 (858,000 sq ft), Tower 2-71,368 m2
(768,000 sq ft)

A2. CODE REQUIREMENTS

 Lifts/elevators: Tower 1-24, Tower 2-19


 7-Level Basement that can accommodate up to 1,670 cars

A3. COST

 US$400,000,000

A4. LOAD

 seismic
 wind

A5. LOCATION

 6819 Ayala Avenue corner Gil Puyat Avenue, 1227 Makati,


Philippines

A6. RESOURCES

 external finishes of the buildings feature aluminum panels with


fluorocarbon paint finish to towers, curtain wall of clear and
solar reflective glass and stone cladding to podium

A7. TECHNOLOGY

 Fiber Optic Telecommunication Backbone carrying telephone,


data, security and building management signals
 Fire Protection System with sprinklers
 smoke detectors and pressurized stairwells
 100% emergency back-up power System
 State-of-the-art invisible security system
 central chiller-type air-conditioning System
 digitally controlled and monitored Building Automation System

A8. SYNERGY

 The combination of concrete, the curtain walls, and the stone


cladding to podium contributes to the character of the
structure being an office building

15

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