William Frazier Baker, also known as Bill Baker, (born October 9, 1953, Fulton, Missouri) is an American structural engineer
known for engineering the Burj Khalifa,
[1]
the world's tallest building/manmade structure.
After obtaining a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri, Baker held a brief tenure with
ExxonMobil and later completed his master's degree at the University of Illinois. He then joined the architecture and
engineering firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in Chicago in 1981, eventually becoming a partner (1996). While widely
regarded for his work on supertall buildings, Baker's expertise also extends to a wide variety of structures like the Broadgate-
Exchange House (London, 1990), and the GM Renaissance Center Entry Pavilion (Detroit, 2005). He is further known for his
work on long span roof structures, such as theMcCormick Place North Building Expansion (Chicago, 1986), the Korean Air
Lines Operations Center (Seoul, 1995), the Korea World Trade Center Expansion (Seoul, 2000), and the Virginia Beach
Convention Center (Virginia Beach, 2007). Baker's career has also been marked by various collaborations with artists such as
Jamie Carpenter (Raspberry Island-Schubert Club Band Shell, 2002),Iigo Manglano-Ovalle (Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned
With, 2010), Jaume Plensa (World Voices, 2010), and James Turrell(Roden Crater).
Baker's many skyscraper projects include the AT&T Corporate Center (Chicago, 1989), Trump International Hotel and
Tower(Chicago, 2008), Infinity Tower (Dubai, 2009), Pearl River Tower (Guangzhou, 2009), Nanjing Greenland Financial
Center (Nanjing, 2009), and the unbuilt 7 South Dearborn (Chicago, 2003), although he is best known as the engineer of Burj
Khalifa (Dubai, 2009), the world's tallest manmade structure. To support the tower's record heights, he developed the
"buttressed core"
[2]
structural system, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three buttresses that form a Y shape. This
innovative system allows the structure to support itself both laterally and torsionally. It also eliminates the need for column
transfers, and moves loads in a smooth path from the tower's spire into its foundations.
Baker is a Fellow of both the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). He
is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and frequently lectures on a variety of structural engineering topics
within the US and abroad.
BURJ KHALIFA
In addition to its aesthetic and functional advantages, the spiralling Y shaped plan was
utilized to shape the structural core of Burj Khalifa. This design helps to reduce the wind
forces on the tower, as well as to keep the structure simple and foster constructability.
The structural system can be described as a buttressed core, and consists of high
performance concrete wall construction. Each of the wings buttress the others via a six-
sided central core, or hexagonal hub. This central core provides the torsional resistance
of the structure, similar to a closed pipe or axle. Corridor walls extend from the central
core to near the end of each wing, terminating in thickened hammer head walls. These
corridor walls and hammerhead walls behave similar to the webs and flanges of a beam
to resist the wind shears and moments. Perimeter columns and flat plate floor
construction complete the system. At mechanical floors, outrigger walls are provided to
link the perimeter columns to the interior wall system, allowing the perimeter columns
to participate in the lateral load resistance of the structure; hence, all of the vertical
concrete is utilized to support both gravity and lateral loads. The result is a tower that is
extremely stiff laterally and torsionally. It is also a very efficient structure in that the
gravity load resisting system has been utilized so as to maximize its use in resisting
lateral loads.
AT&T Corporate Center
Chicago, USA
HEIGHT: 307m/1,007 feet
FLOORS: 60 floors
COMPLETION: 1989
ARCHITECT: Skidmore, Owings and Merril (SOM)
In order to consolidate space for 3,800 employees, AT&T chose Skidmore, Owings
and Merrill to design its new headquarters on an 85,000 square feet site in Chicago's
Loop. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's plan involved two phases: the 60-story, 1.7
million square feet AT&T headquarters, and the 35-story, 1.1 million square feet USG
headquarters. The two buildings create a continuous urban facade, with each tower
emerging from the 16-story base to form a distinct profile on the skyline.
The two buildings are perceived at the pedestrian level as a single composition. A
sequence of public rooms distinguishes the ground level, with a two-story retail
concourse joining the two phases. The lobby spaces of the ground floor are a series
of grandly scaled rooms, finished in oak and marble. The main lobby is in the
tradition of the European great hall; forty-four feet high, it is clad in Italian marble,
gold leaf, satin-finish brown and American oak wood trim.
Infinity Tower
Cayan Tower, known as Infinity Tower prior to its inauguration, is a 306 metres
(1,004 ft), 80 story skyscraper in Dubai,United Arab Emirates by Cayan Real Estate
Investment and Development. The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
SOM architectural group, the same group who did the concept design for the Burj
Khalifa also in Dubai and Trump Tower in Chicago. Upon its opening on 10 June 2013,
the tower has become world's tallest high rise building with a twist of 90 degrees.
Pearl River Tower
Pearl River Tower (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhjing chng dsh; or
Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhjing dsh) is a 71-story, 309.7 m (1,016 ft), clean
technology skyscraper at the junction of Jinsui Road/Zhujiang Avenue
West, Tianhe District,Guangzhou, China. The tower's architecture and engineering
were performed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Adrian D. Smithand Gordon
Gill (now at their own firm, AS+GG) as architects. Ground broke on the tower on the
8th of September 2006 and construction was completed in March 2011. It is
intended for office use and is partially occupied by the China National Tobacco
Corporation.
