Journal 2011 Issue I.Indd

CTBUH Journal International Journal on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

Tall buildings: design, construction and operation | 2011 Issue I

Marina Bays Sands, Singapore Origin of the Skyscraper World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building Tall Timber Buildings Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong 2010: A Tall Building Review Talking Tall: Ups and Downs in Russia This Issue

Editor On reviewing the When I look at the results of various tall Jan Klerks, CTBUH papers for this Journal, building studios around the world I see [email protected] I noticed with some another emerging trend towards remarkably Associate Editors interest that the case “open” skins, as if these buildings are trying to Zak Kostura, Arup study on Singapore’s open up to the city that surrounds them. I [email protected] Marina Bay Sands (see think this is a very positive development and I Robert Lau, Roosevelt University [email protected] page 12–17) really hope that the students of today will be introduces the project able to realize their ideas as the architects of Antony Wood, CTBUH/Illinois Institute of Technology [email protected] as a new and yet tomorrow. nameless type of tall building. A language as Looking at these developments, then, I think Editorial Board versatile as English should have no problem Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Samsung Corporation we are witnessing the birth of a tall building coining a new word for this, but I guess of Mir Ali, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign type which doesn’t just scrape the sky. Richard W. Bukowski, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. more importance is whether the new name Perhaps more in common with the already- Mahjoub Elnimeiri, Illinois Institute of Technology will stick. Is this new building type a one-off or Gary C. Hart, Weidlinger Associates familiar term “groundscraper” (as a building or is it here to stay? Peter Irwin, RWDI podium that extends its horizontal Tim Johnson, NBBJ Gary Lawrence, Arup The CTBUH has been the stage for new connection with the ground), I see buildings Simon Lay, WSP Buildings Ltd. skyscraper names before. During the 2009 that are trying to open up to the city on all Sam Lee, Guangzhou Scientific Computing Consultants Chicago Conference, architect Eric Kuhne levels. Maybe in the future we will call these Tony McLaughlin, Buro Happold Philip Oldfield, University of Nottingham introduced the term “starcatcher” to label the buildings cityscrapers or urbanscrapers. Lester Partridge, Bassett Applied Research 1,001-meter tall Burj Mubarak Al Kabir project Whatever their name will be, it is exciting to Jason Pomeroy, Broadway Malyan in Kuwait. Another height-related label is the see the tall building again being a frontrunner Swinal Samant, University of Nottingham Steve Watts, Davis Langdon LLP subject of a Global News article in this Journal in the way we shape our cities. issue, discussing the large number of recent Peter Weismantle, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill With these new developments ahead, and Michael Willford, Arup tall buildings in China. While the term this being the first Journal issue of the new “supertall” refers to the 300-meter (1,000-foot) Design & Layout year, you will also see several positive height threshold, the term “megatall” is Tansri Muliani developments and new features that we are [email protected] making its way into popular culture as an introducing into the CTBUH Journal from Steven Henry indicator of tall buildings over the 600-meter 2011 onwards. One is the new Debating Tall [email protected] (or approximately 2,000-foot) threshold. article where two opposing views on one Coincidentally this Journal also has a paper on Published by topic are presented (see page 5). Another is The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat the origins of the skyscraper (see page 18–23). © CTBUH 2011 the new Design Research section, where we ISSN: 1946-1186 “Supertall” and “megatall” define tall buildings showcase the work of a tall building academic by their height in an age where buildings are studio from a university around the world. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat S.R. Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology growing ever taller and taller. Another And a third is CTBUH on the Road, where you 3360 South State Street. Chicago, IL 60616 development refers to tall buildings, or even will find an overview of some of the external t: +1 312 567 3487 groups of tall buildings, which don’t stand out activities of the CTBUH from the preceding f: +1 312 567 3820 because of their vertical prominence, but quarter. These changes are part of a constant e: [email protected] more so because of their horizontal effort to improve the Journal as the world’s www.ctbuh.org development. Last year’s overall CTBUH Best leading platform on tall buildings and urban Copyright Tall Building winner – the Linked Hybrid habitat. So whatever 2011 brings in the world Copyright 2010 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Complex in Beijing, and this year’s winner for of tall buildings, you can be sure you will read Habitat. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any the Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia region about it here. means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in – Singapore’s Pinnacle @ Duxton, are great writing from the publisher. examples of both the relationship tall Best Regards, Image Copyright buildings are establishing with their horizontal CTBUH Journal has endeavored to determine the environment, and the social environments copyright holders of all images. Those uncredited have which are created. The Marina Bay Sands, been sourced from listed authors or from within CTBUH Singapore case study in this Journal is further Print evidence of the trend. This Journal is printed by Source4, Chicago. Sang Dae Kim, CTBUH Chairman Front cover: Marina Bay Sands, view from the north. Back cover: Marina Bay Sands, hotel lobby. © Safdie Architects

2 | This Issue CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Visit www.ctbuh.org for more on the global tall building industry and Inside the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

News and Events Features 12 Case Study: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore “Whilst a skyscraper can be defined as a tower Wind Screen

Sky Park that primarily stands out for being tall, Marina Rib Structure Bay Sands is an example of a new and yet Restaurant 02 This Issue 40 The Tallest Twenty in 2010 nameless type of tall building. The building has Bridge Connections Moshe Safdie Planted Roof broke away from the conventional model of a Atrium Glass Roof RoofConnection Author Garden Tower Moshe Safdie Prof. Sang Dae Kim, Detailed overview of the 20 mega-hotel and integrated resort and in doing Land Bridge Connection To SIR Safdie Architects 100 Properzi Way so, defined both a new typology and a new icon Glazing Screen Somerville, MA 02143 Bay Tower USA Elevator Core t: +1 617 629 2100 for Singapore.” BAYFRONT AVENUE CTBUH Chairman tallest buildings completed f: +1 617 629 2406 RTS Connection www.msafdie.com Marina Bay Sands is a 929,000-square meter (10 million-square foot), high-density and mixed-use integrated resort complex that brings together a 2,560-room hotel, a

Moshe Safdie 120,000-square meter (1,292,000-square foot) convention center, a shopping mall, an Art & Atrium Lobby Moshe Safdie is a leading architect, urban planner, Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six restaurants, and a casino. It is located in Marina Restaurants educator, theorist, and author. Embracing a during 2010 comprehensive and humane design philosophy, Safdie South, a peninsula of land reclaimed from the sea in the late 1970s across the bay from SHEARES AVENUE has been a visionary force in architecture and urban Singapore’s Central Business District. Conceived as not just a mere building project, but as a MARINA CITY PARK planning for over forty years. Safdie is committed to architecture that supports and enhances a project’s city microcosm rooted in Singapore’s culture, climate, and contemporary life, the project Figure 2. Hotel Lobby Figure 3. Diagram of Hotel Components program; that is informed by the geographic, social, anchors Singapore’s waterfront, creating a gateway to Singapore, and providing a dynamic and cultural elements that define a place; and that setting for vibrant public life (see Figure 1). 04 CTBUH News and Events responds to human needs and aspirations. Completing beyond. Longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, conditioned-glazed atrium, filling the space floor slabs (350 millimeters/13.8 inches), with a wide range of projects, such as cultural, educational, and civic institutions; neighborhoods and public parks; and long enough to park four and a-half A380 between the towers with restaurants, retail a continuous double-glazed unit spanning mixed-use urban centers and airports; and master jumbo jets, the SkyPark accommodates a spaces, and a public thoroughfare. Each tower the full 3 meters (10 feet) floor to floor. The plans for existing communities and entirely new cities, Safdie has made lasting contributions to the quality of public observatory, garden spaces, a slab form is also twisted slightly in relation to glass fins are suspended out of the horizontal life in cities and neighborhoods around the world. 150-meter (495-foot) long infinity swimming its pair, creating a dance-like relationship stack joint in order to allow them to radiate Antony Wood, 44 Tall Buildings in Numbers pool, restaurants, jogging paths and offers between the two parts and accentuating the out in elevation. They are supported by a sweeping panoramic views – a formidable slenderness of the buildings, resulting in the 3-sided aluminum frame, with the forward resource in a dense city like Singapore. appearance of six towers, rather than three edge exposed, which catches the light of the ...link Lavishly planted with trees, the SkyPark (see Figure 3). sun, as well as reflections of the façade, to CTBUH Executive Director 2010: A Tall Building Review celebrates the notion of the Garden City that create a unique effect. The fins use a 30%-re- has been the underpinning of Singapore’s flective glass and are responsible for shading urban design strategy. Façades the façade for up to 20% of all solar gain (see Today, we design tall As the largest amount of heat gain occurs on Figure 4). buildings as mixed-use the west façade, it was of paramount “ Design Concept The east façade handles heat gain differently, communities, and we link importance that an innovative solution be utilizing deep planted terraces which follow them to transit and parks. Conceptually, each tower is composed of two developed to maintain energy efficiency, the sloping radial geometry of the building’s slabs of east and west-facing rooms. The without limiting the view from the hotel The way that we conceive profile. The planters help to create double-loaded towers spread at the base rooms to Singapore’s downtown. microclimate cooling, and the deep tall buildings is an impor- 05 Debating Tall 46 Design Research Figure 1. Marina Bay Sands in the context of the bay forming a giant atrium at the lower levels, and The design solution proposed and imple- overhangs of the balconies naturally shade tant part of contributing converge as they rise (see Figure 2). The tower mented was a custom double-glazed unitized the hotel rooms from direct sun. Each planter, to urban vitality and The Emergence of the Urban Window three towers is a 1.2-hectare (3-acre) SkyPark, a slabs also give further character to the curtain wall. The energy efficient double- filled with bougainvilleas, will in time cover massing and relate to the site context: the reducing sprawl. With a program of nearly 2,600 hotel rooms, new type of public space, framing large glazed units rest in a frame suspended from the majority of this eastern façade. glazed west side faces the city center while the most efficient massing would have “urban windows” between the towers. From the edge of the slab. Perpendicular to the Opinions “for” and “against” University of Nottingham the east side is planted with lush ” the downtown area, framed views of the sea façade, glass fins were installed to provide Peter Weingarten, Gensler, on how to resulted in a monolithic and wall-like building. bougainvilleas facing the botanical gardens The SkyPark make super tall buildings more Due to its prominent location within Marina are created, and from the sea, a new city shading. The outer skin follows the natural and ocean beyond. In plan, as the parcel sustainable. From “Can Super Tall be Bay in Singapore, it was decided that three gateway is viewed. curved shape of the buildings, and the use of In addition to the 0.9 million square meters varies in width, the cross section is decreased Super Green? ”, www.gensleron.com/ towers would be created instead of one. Each At 200 meters (656 feet) above the sea, the reflective glass creates a taught mirrored (9.6 million square feet) of built space, the from one tower to the next. The three void on a topical issue cities, November 16, 2010 concrete tower hotel is designed at a height SkyPark spans from tower to tower and on façade. One of the keys to achieving this project program also called for the develop- spaces are connected by one continuous and of 55 stories. Spanning across the top of the one side cantilevers 66.5 meters (218 feet) aesthetic was a minimal spandrel panel at the ment of extensive exterior gardens with ® 48 Talking Tall: 12 | Case Study: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Case Study: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore | 13 05 What’s on the Web? Ups and Downs in Russia Featuring new content now Sergei Skuratov available on the website World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building

28 “The use of steel plate shear walls found a braced cores were found to require as much historic capital city of Beijing and a major as 20–25% more steel to satisfy structural center for ship building. Surrounding Tianjin is ...competition fortuitous parallel in the history and capabilities performance requirements than systems the province of Hebei, which boasts the third utilizing SPSWs in the core leading to their largest reserves of iron ore in China. The of the construction industry in Tianjin: a major elimination from further consideration. presence of appropriate material reserves and technology related to the production and I knew that in order to Mark Sarkisian Dasui Wang This left dual systems that utilized either all port city, and leading center for steel production fabrication of steel, and steel plates in 06 Global News steel or composite SPSWs. Composite shear put“ me ahead of the and ship building in China long accustomed to wall solutions were eliminated after a detailed particular, in and around Tianjin sealed the competition, I had to do investigation showed that considering the decision to use SPSWs as the primarily lateral iconic buildings. working with steel plates. This led to the specific features of the project such as the CFT load resisting system of the tower. ” Highlights from the CTBUH columns, there was insufficient precedent and Because of the relative newness of the Danny Salvatore, Fernbrook President, premise of a structure based entirely on the use research/testing data available to convincingly structural system as well as a height that developer of the Absolute Towers in CTBUH Sam Lee Neville Mathias demonstrate the feasibility of these systems significantly exceeded code limits, the project Mississauga. From “Like Marilyn herself, the of thin steel plates.” to the authorities without very significant was subjected to review by panels of seismic Absolute Tower is Smart, Sexy, Built to Authors research, testing, and impact on the project and wind experts in accordance with the Impress,” theglobeandmail.com, Mark Sarkisian, Director Faced with a challenge to design a very slender, uniquely-shaped supertall office building in global news archive cost and schedule. This fact, taken together regulations in China at the end of the design November 26, 2010. Neville Mathias, Associate Director Tianjin, China, the design team selected steel plate shear walls (SPSW) as the most efficient Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) with the minimal dimensional needs for development phase. The experts reviewed One Front Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA and appropriate lateral load resisting system for the 75-story Jinta Tower after investigating e: [email protected] SPSWs (slender, all steel), the availability of the seismic and wind performance of the various structural solutions. substantial code provisions and design proposed structure and imposed additional Dasui Wang, Chief Engineer trusses (see Figure 3). The perimeter ductile East China Architectural Design & Research Institute guides, research and testing data that requirements to address the unique nature of No.151 Hankou Rd. , Shanghai 200002, China Structural Considerations (2.69 million square feet) of first-class office, moment-resisting frame consists of CFT www.ecadi.com highlighted the superior ductility of SPSWs, the project and ensure its safety. banking, and restaurant spaces. The 75-story columns and structural steel wide flange The 336.9-meter (1,105-foot) tall Jinta Tower, and excellent predicted structural Sam Lee tower has an elliptical plan footprint of beams. Typical column spacing at the 52 2010 Awards Symposium, Guangzhou Scientific Computing Consultants Co. situated at the historical heart of Tianjin, performance led to a decision to use SPSWs 507/140 Donfeng Xi Rd. , Guangzhou 510170, China approximately 81 x 42 meters (266 x 138 feet) Structural System Description perimeter is approximately 6.5 meters (21.3 e: [email protected] captures the city’s powerful confluence of over braces in the tower core. at the base which results in an overall aspect feet). The interior shear wall core consists of history, culture, geography, and art. The The main lateral force resisting system for the ratio close to 1:8 (see Figure 2). Because of the This decision could not have found a more CFT columns and structural steel wide flange Mark Sarkisian project is intended to create a nuanced public fortuitous confluence with the project’s tower comprises a perimeter ductile moment- beam ductile moment-resisting frames Mark P. Sarkisian is the Director of Seismic & Structural place that embodies the city’s international slender form, a key design challenge was to Engineering at SOM San Francisco. He is also a member of location in Tianjin. Tianjin has a long history as resisting frame, and an interior SPSW core in-filled with structural steel plates to create Ceremony and Dinner the CTBUH Advisory Group. Mark holds four US Patents for develop an efficient lateral system capable of prominence as a physical and economic linked together with outrigger and belt high-performance seismic structural mechanisms designed resisting significant wind and seismic lateral the ancient entry port for travelers to the SPSWs. Four sets of outrigger trusses and ® to protect buildings in areas of high seismicity and has gateway to China (see Figure 1). additional patents pending for seismic and environmental- loads while simultaneously keeping wind- ly-responsible structural systems. He currently teaches an The program includes 205,000 square meters th Integrated Studio class that includes students from induced lateral drifts and oscillations under Report on the 9 Annual Berkeley, CCA, Stanford University & Cal Poly. acceptable limits. Dasui Wang Dasui Wang is the Chief Engineer of ECADI, a China Design Several structural system options were Master and member of the expert panel of the China considered in the concept and early Construction Ministry for review of code exceeding buildings. He is also Associate Director of the High-rise schematic design phases, including an Building Committee of the China Architecture Institute and Professor of Tong Ji University. He has been responsible for all-concrete dual system with perimeter Awards Events the engineering of many important projects – Shanghai moment resisting frames and core shear walls, East Pearl TV Tower, Pudong International Airport, Shanghai WFC, China Center TV Tower, Jinta Tower, etc. He has taken composite systems with perimeter steel part in developing the China Steel Structure Design Code moment resisting frames, steel floor framing Case Study and Tall Building Structure Design Standard. and composite metal deck slabs, and Sam Lee Dr. Sam Lee, prior to co-founding Guangzhou Scientific composite concrete and steel plate shear Computing Consultant Co. Ltd., was working as structural engineer for the Architectural Design and Research walls, and all-steel systems with perimeter Institute of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. He is moment resisting frames and braced or SPSW a pioneer in the area of nonlinear dynamic earthquake analysis of tall buildings, and is responsible for the analysis cores. The steel and composite systems of many landmark buildings in China – Shanghai WFC, China Center TV Tower, Jinta Tower, Tianjin 117 etc. He is utilized circular concrete filled tube (CFT) 55 CTBUH on The Road also a member of the CTBUH Journal Editorial Board. columns to minimize their dimensions. Neville Mathias Neville Mathias is an Associate Director at SOM San The all-concrete system was eliminated early Francisco. Neville is deeply committed to an integrated primarily because the large required sizes of approach to structural engineering and has worked 12 Marina Bay Sands, extensively on large-scale building projects across the US the shear walls and columns had a significant and around the world. Many of his projects have required impact on rentable area and consequently CTBUH events around the non-prescriptive design approaches. His recent projects include Al Hamra-Fidrous Tower in Kuwait and Jinta Tower the project’s financial viability. All-steel dual in Tianjin, China, both recently topped out. Singapore Figure 1. Tianjin Jinta Tower systems with perimeter moment frames and Figure 2. Typical floor plan Figure 3. Structural plan at outrigger levels and overall building sections world. 28 | World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building | 29 Moshe Safdie 56 Review Book: Designing High-density Cities for Social & The Culture of Compactness: 34 Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong more to patterns of activity than physical essential ingredient for the compact city, fashion the very image of the city through an Environmental Sustainability form. This includes an emphasis on the street energizing activities, minimizing threat, intense range of consumption-oriented Research for social rituals, ceremonial uses, market maximising use of public transport, and services. However, this puts older mixed-use “Compact cities are, by their nature, relatively trading, open eating areas, and the multi-use establishing a ready stream of users for areas on a collision course with economic of small open spaces (see Figure 1). amenities. Inevitably this creates a degree of forces. In some urban districts the value of sustainable, and Hong Kong is eminently so on tension between the complex and interactive land is greater than that of the buildings that many counts. In addition, the emerging working of the city, particularly the need to sit on it. Modern commercial towers require a The Energizing Ingredients synchronize certain levels of planning control, large floor plate, and redevelopment often intervention of economic forces in the Pearl The expressionism of Hong Kong’s older street with the more indeterminate legacy of means that the fine-grained older quarters are Peter Cookson Smith design for the most part represents an informality and spontaneity. gradually replaced by a more course-grained 56 Diary River Delta continues to superimpose a new architecture of communication over The condensed metro area with its colossal street matrix. Author conceived form. Older street buildings are land values and eminently flexible land use Peter Cookson Smith, Director collective identity on the region, and is sporadically and deliberately transformed by zoning, facilitates and perhaps inadvertently A Reconstituted Sense of Place 18 The Origin of the Urbis Limited their occupiers in a fluid way through therefore helping to re-fashion both the physical encourages a disjointed spatial juxtaposition 11/F Siu On Centre personalized building extensions and There are now virtually two forms of city 188 Lockhart Road of independent blocks with little contiguity. Upcoming tall building events Wan Chai, Hong Kong functional appendages to façades and roofs character: the first – emblematic of compart- Yet these are unified by a kind of parallel China and economic aspects of the city itself… (see Figure ), generally on the basis of universe of informal networks, both physical mentalization and high-rise efficiency, the t: +1 852 2802 3333 Western cities have for long nurtured a realm of formal building elements and spatial practicality and immediacy rather than second – offering an informal and adaptive Skyscraper f: +1 852 2802 8662 and electronic. In this situation the e: [email protected] configurations, including their urban skyscraper enclaves, that until comparatively recent design, with miscellaneous and overlapping uniqueness of “place” is a by-product of the response to changing needs and temporary times distinguished Western concepts of urban design from the less permanent and more functions having few orthodox design city’s essential dynamism where requirements. The first generally embodies a Peter Cookson Smith spontaneous Asian city values. Rem Koolhaas has referred to the “culture of congestion” with credentials. With good urban management, commonalities and interdependencies single use complex at a monumental scale, Dr. Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, planner and the constant presence of people becomes an under single ownership or management; ® urban designer. He has been resident in Hong Kong regard to New York but more to the point he has astutely described Asian cities as embodying Gerard Peet since 1977 when he founded Urbis Limited, one of the an equally pertinent signature – a tenuous quality of unrest which makes previous first specialist planning, urban design and landscape consultancies in Southeast Asia. The firm has carried configurations expendable, but also each future state provisional. This sums up Hong Kong 57 Letters out a large number of projects in Hong Kong, China very well. Wherever we look, this Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of and the Asia Pacific area, and has won more than 100 local and international awards, including the American China, which occupies only 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles), is marked by Waterfront Centre’s Top Honor Award in 2008. He has continuing transformation and change. Impermanence underlies its essential urban design directed a large number of planning, urban regeneration and waterfront urban design projects in language. This is manifested by substantial economic as well as cultural shifts, often Feedback and Comments Hong Kong and throughout Asia. For several years he representing new and different values superimposed on long established patterns. The was an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, the University of Hong Kong, and representation of urban place is also open to radical change through the make-up and presently sits on the Advisory Council for the disposition of new spatial types. 24 Tall Timber Buildings Department of Urban Planning and Design. He is currently the Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute city. This has had a clear impact on urban of Planners, and Vice President of the Hong Kong During the course of the 20th century, Institute of Urban Design. He is currently a member of texture – the redevelopment of early 3-story Hong Kong’s Harbourfront Commission. He is the instruments of development policy have shophouses into 6 to 8-story blocks was author of “The Urban Design of Impermanence” on been largely based on reconciling the Hong Kong, and the Urban Design of “Concession” on followed in turn by redevelopment of these Matthew Wells the Chinese Treaty Ports. aspirations of a growing population with the into multi-story tenements, and then even often critical shortfall of land and taller point blocks. 58 Meet the CTBUH accommodation. In the earliest days of the Under Hong Kong’s market-driven approach, city building process, government laid down actual city building objectives are elusive, and ...title certain ground rules that, while being it is difficult to stand back at any one time and extended and refined over the years, still recognize a situation of “completeness.” Due to influence the form of development – the use the new town building programme that Daniel O’Connor of land, sold at auction, as a significant source commenced in the early 1970s, urban area Add quote here. of government revenue. This, together with a densities have, for the most part, almost “ ” generally laissez-faire economic system has 28 World’s Tallest Steel Shear Add short explanation and source halved, but the morphology of the older had a significant impact on planning here...… urban districts extends well beyond the directions. Flexible land-use zoning and normal conventions of urban grammar. There successive amendments to the Buildings is however little firm conceptualization of Ordinance in response to development urban space, which is a cornerstone of Walled Building pressure, particularly in the 1960s, inevitably western urban design. Thus, new urban paved the way for the physical transformation configurations contrast yet co-exist with 59 CTBUH Organizational of Hong Kong’s urban area into a high-rise Figure 1. Street vendors Figure 2. Typical market street in Hong Kong traditional “place” characteristics which relate

Mark Sarkisian, Dasui Wang, 34 | Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong | 35 Structure & Member Listings Sam Lee & Neville Mathias

34 Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong Peter Cookson Smith “The modern skyscraper is generally considered to be an American invention. Both Chicago and New York claim they once hosted the world’s first skyscraper…”

Gerard Peet, page 18

CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Contents | 3 The CTBUH Global News Archive is an online resource for all the latest news on tall buildings, urban Global News development and sustainable construction from around the world. For comprehensive industry news, visit the Global News Archive at: http://news.ctbuh.org

China Almost every other day there’s a voice from the corner of the CTBUH office saying out loud: “Got another one!” That would be CTBUH Database Editor Marshall Gerometta each time he discovers a (super)tall building that has been proposed or broke ground somewhere in China. In the last three months alone, 63 buildings over 150 meters in height (approximately 500 feet) have come to light as proposed projects or skyscrapers under construction. Currently there are two projects over 600 meters (almost 2,000 feet) under construction in China: the 632-meter (2,073-foot) tall Baietan Tower urban plan, Guangzhou, China © Skidmore, Owings & Merrill/Crystal CG Shanghai Tower and the Pingan International Finance Center in Shenzhen. The latter has not Nanning. It’s a 218-meter (715-foot) tall Center. The SOM-designed Master Plan released an official height figure yet, though building which was completed in 2006. In all envisions a city with over 740,000 residents reliable sources say it will be well over 600 but 83 cities of the world, a building of that and 660,000 jobs, situated on former industrial meters. In the past several months, more height would be the tallest building in the land on the banks of the Pearl River in central proposals for skyscrapers over 600 meters city. In China, its completion almost goes Guangzhou. have been announced for the cities of unnoticed.” Also proposed, according to Chinese sources, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Dalian, Zhuhai, A potentially tall development has been is the second phase development of the Nanning and Wuhan. unveiled as part of the Baietan Urban Design Longemont Asia Pacific Center in Shenyang. The exact details on those projects are not yet Master Plan in Guangzhou. The Baietan This tower, which is projected to be 430 known. “It is not easy to get information from Tower is the signature tower of a new meters (1,411 feet) tall, is following the first China; so these figures, which are already business district which is to become phase construction of two towers at 235 impressive, can be considered conservative Guangzhou’s International Commercial meters (771 feet). numbers,” says Gerometta. “Incidentally, you normally don’t even find out about a Chinese skyscraper in most of the world until it has been completed. My tallest personal example of that is the World Trade Commerce City in ...chimneys

Tall buildings naturally act“ as chimneys. There is a natural draw of air that, up until now, we’ve had to fight.” Mustafa Abadan, SOM Design Partner, about Digital Media City Landmark Tower, Seoul. From “Jolly Green Giant,” Eco- structure, November/December 2010.

Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower, Tianjin, China © Goettsch Canton Tower, Guangzhou, China © Information Based Partners Architecture

6 | Global News CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Golden Dream Bay, Qinhuangdao, China © Safdie Architects

Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties competitive bid to has commissioned a new 294,570-square design Golden Dream meter (3.17 million-square foot) mixed-use Bay, a residential and tower in the city of Tianjin. Occupying a retail complex of central parcel in the city’s newly planned multiple towers in business district, the Tianjin R&F Guangdong Qinhuangdao. This Tower will be one of China’s tallest buildings project is yet another at 439 meters (1,440 feet). The complex, example that tall designed by Chicago-based Goettsch buildings are Partners, features 134,900 square meters (1.45 becoming increasingly million square feet) of office space, a five-star interesting, not only hotel with 400 rooms, 55 condominiums, and because of their 8,550 square meters (92,000 square feet) of height, but even more retail space. Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower is so in their horizontal 20 Fenchurch Street (the Walkie Talkie), London, UK © Land Securities scheduled for completion in 2015. and social While new towers are being proposed, development. The project provides housing plenty of conformation of this development, projects are also being completed. In for the city’s growing population, while with a number or projects being revived or Guangzhou, the Canton Tower, which was maximizing access to gardens and light at announced. previously known as the Guangzhou TV & every level through the use of large-scale One of the most well known projects which Sightseeing Tower, became operational on windows throughout the structure. Shared saw its development status officially changed September 29, 2010. With its completion, it amenities and public spaces foster a sense of recently from “on hold” to “under takes the title of the World’s Tallest community among residents. The site development” is the Leadenhall Building in Freestanding Tower, surpassing the CN Tower encompasses a total building area of 557,400 London which, because of its tapering shape in Toronto, which held that title since its square meters (6 million square feet) divided is also known as the Cheesegrater. The completion in 1976. The 610-meter (2,001- over four main complexes. Next to 2,200 225-meter (737-foot) tall project, first foot) tall Canton Tower, which is designed by residential units, the whole project includes presented in December 2003, was revived Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information 6,800 square meters (73,000 square feet) of after developer British Land agreed with Based Architecture, is also a signature project retail space and 6,900 square meters (74,000 Canadian-based Oxford Properties to develop of the 2010 Asian Games. It contains square feet) of recreational clubhouses. the Leadenhall Building on a 50:50 joint numerous viewing platforms, sheltered venture basis. The total development cost is outdoor gardens, and two circular rotating United Kingdom expected to be around £340 million. restaurants. Completion is expected in 2014. In the Global News of CTBUH Journal 2010 The author of the case study in this issue of Issue IV, we discussed a revival of British tall In October, Land Securities teamed up with the CTBUH Journal, Moshe Safdie, recently building developments in the wake of the the Canary Wharf Group to start constructing announced that his company had won a global financial crisis. The last quarter saw the 160-meter (525-foot) tall Walkie Talkie

CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Global News | 7 Case Study: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

“While a skyscraper can be defined as a tower that primarily stands out for being tall, Marina Bay Sands is an example of a new and yet nameless type of tall building. The building has Moshe Safdie broke away from the conventional model of a Author Moshe Safdie mega-hotel and integrated resort and in doing Safdie Architects 100 Properzi Way so, defined both a new typology and a new icon Somerville, MA 02143 USA t: +1 617 629 2100 for Singapore.” f: +1 617 629 2406 www.msafdie.com Marina Bay Sands is a 929,000-square meter (10 million-square foot), high-density and mixed-use integrated resort complex that brings together a 2,560-room hotel, a

Moshe Safdie 120,000-square meter (1,292,000-square foot) convention center, a shopping mall, an Art & Moshe Safdie is a leading architect, urban planner, Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six restaurants, and a casino. It is located in Marina educator, theorist, and author. Embracing a comprehensive and humane design philosophy, Safdie South, a peninsula of land reclaimed from the sea in the late 1970s across the bay from has been a visionary force in architecture and urban Singapore’s Central Business District. Conceived as not just a mere building project, but as a planning for over forty years. Safdie is committed to architecture that supports and enhances a project’s city microcosm rooted in Singapore’s culture, climate, and contemporary life, the project program; that is informed by the geographic, social, anchors Singapore’s waterfront, creating a gateway to Singapore, and providing a dynamic and cultural elements that define a place; and that responds to human needs and aspirations. Completing setting for vibrant public life (see Figure 1). a wide range of projects, such as cultural, educational, and civic institutions; neighborhoods and public parks; mixed-use urban centers and airports; and master plans for existing communities and entirely new cities, Safdie has made lasting contributions to the quality of life in cities and neighborhoods around the world.

...link

Today, we design tall “buildings as mixed-use communities, and we link them to transit and parks. The way that we conceive

tall buildings is an impor- Figure 1. Marina Bay Sands in the context of the bay tant part of contributing to urban vitality and The Emergence of the Urban Window three towers is a 1.2-hectare (3-acre) SkyPark, a reducing sprawl. With a program of nearly 2,600 hotel rooms, new type of public space, framing large the most efficient massing would have “urban windows” between the towers. From ” the downtown area, framed views of the sea Peter Weingarten, Gensler, on how to resulted in a monolithic and wall-like building. make supertall buildings more Due to its prominent location within Marina are created, and from the sea, a new city sustainable. From “Can Super Tall be Bay in Singapore, it was decided that three gateway is viewed. Super Green?,” www.gensleron.com/ towers would be created instead of one. Each At 200 meters (656 feet) above the sea, the cities, November 16, 2010 concrete tower hotel is designed at a height SkyPark spans from tower to tower and on of 55 stories. Spanning across the top of the one side cantilevers 66.5 meters (218 feet)

12 | Marina Bay Sands, Singapore CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Wind Screen

SkyPark Rib Structure

Restaurant

Bridge Connections Planted Roof Atrium Glass Roof

Garden Tower Land Bridge Connection To SIR

Glazing Screen Bay Tower Elevator Core

BAYFRONT AVENUE RTS Connection

Atrium Lobby Restaurants

SHEARES AVENUE

MARINA CITY PARK

Figure 2. Hotel Lobby Figure 3. Diagram of Hotel Components beyond. Longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, conditioned glazed atrium, filling the space floor slabs (350 millimeters/13.8 inches), with and long enough to park four and a-half A380 between the towers with restaurants, retail a continuous double-glazed unit spanning jumbo jets, the SkyPark accommodates a spaces, and a public thoroughfare. Each tower the full 3 meters (10 feet) floor to floor. The public observatory, garden spaces, a slab form is also twisted slightly in relation to glass fins are suspended out of the horizontal 150-meter (495-foot) long infinity swimming its pair, creating a dance-like relationship stack joint in order to allow them to radiate pool, restaurants, jogging paths and offers between the two parts and accentuating the out in elevation. They are supported by a sweeping panoramic views – a formidable slenderness of the buildings, resulting in the 3-sided aluminum frame, with the forward resource in a dense city like Singapore. appearance of six towers, rather than three edge exposed, which catches the light of the Lavishly planted with trees, the SkyPark (see Figure 3). sun, as well as reflections of the façade, to celebrates the notion of the Garden City that create a unique effect. The fins use a 30% has been the underpinning of Singapore’s reflective glass and are responsible for urban design strategy. Façades shading the façade for up to 20% of all solar As the largest amount of heat gain occurs on gain (see Figure 4). the west façade, it was of paramount Design Concept The east façade handles heat gain differently, importance that an innovative solution be utilizing deep planted terraces which follow Conceptually, each tower is composed of two developed to maintain energy efficiency, the sloping radial geometry of the building’s slabs of east and west-facing rooms. The without limiting the view from the hotel profile. The planters help to create double-loaded towers spread at the base rooms to Singapore’s downtown. microclimate cooling, and the deep forming a giant atrium at the lower levels, and The design solution proposed and imple- overhangs of the balconies naturally shade converge as they rise (see Figure 2). The tower mented was a custom double-glazed unitized the hotel rooms from direct sun. Each planter, slabs also give further character to the curtain wall. The energy efficient double- filled with bougainvilleas, will in time cover massing and relate to the site context: the glazed units rest in a frame suspended from the majority of this eastern façade. glazed west side faces the city center while the edge of the slab. Perpendicular to the the east side is planted with lush façade, glass fins were installed to provide bougainvilleas facing the botanical gardens shading. The outer skin follows the natural The SkyPark and ocean beyond. In plan, as the parcel curved shape of the buildings, and the use of In addition to the 0.9 million square meters varies in width, the cross section is decreased reflective glass creates a taught mirrored (9.6 million square feet) of built space, the from one tower to the next. The three void façade. One of the keys to achieving this project program also called for the develop- spaces are connected by one continuous and aesthetic was a minimal spandrel panel at the ment of extensive exterior gardens with

CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Marina Bay Sands, Singapore | 13 The Culture of Compactness: Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong

“Compact cities are, by their nature, relatively sustainable, and Hong Kong is eminently so on many counts. In addition, the emerging intervention of economic forces in the Pearl Peter Cookson Smith River Delta continues to superimpose a new Author Peter Cookson Smith, Director collective identity on the region, and is Urbis Limited 11/F Siu On Centre therefore helping to re-fashion both the physical 188 Lockhart Road Wan Chai, Hong Kong China and economic aspects of the city itself.” t: +1 852 2802 3333 f: +1 852 2802 8662 Western cities have for long nurtured a realm of formal building elements and spatial e: [email protected] configurations, including their urban skyscraper enclaves, that until comparatively recent times distinguished Western concepts of urban design from the less permanent and more Peter Cookson Smith spontaneous Asian city values. Rem Koolhaas has referred to the “culture of congestion” with Dr. Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, planner and urban designer. He has been resident in Hong Kong regard to New York but more to the point he has astutely described Asian cities as embodying since 1977 when he founded Urbis Limited, one of the an equally pertinent signature – a tenuous quality of unrest which makes previous first specialist planning, urban design and landscape consultancies in Southeast Asia. The firm has carried configurations expendable, but also each future state provisional. This sums up Hong Kong out a large number of projects in Hong Kong, China very well. Wherever we look, this Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of and the Asia Pacific area, and has won more than 100 local and international awards, including the American China, which occupies only 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles), is marked by Waterfront Centre’s Top Honor Award in 2008. He has continuing transformation and change. Impermanence underlies its essential urban design directed a large number of planning, urban regeneration and waterfront urban design projects in language. This is manifested by substantial economic as well as cultural shifts, often Hong Kong and throughout Asia. For several years he representing new and different values superimposed on long established patterns. The was an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, the University of Hong Kong, and representation of urban place is also open to radical change through the make-up and presently sits on the Advisory Council for the disposition of new spatial types. Department of Urban Planning and Design. He is currently the Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute city. This has had a clear impact on urban of Planners, and Vice President of the Hong Kong During the course of the 20th century, Institute of Urban Design. He is currently a member of texture – the redevelopment of early 3-story Hong Kong’s Harbourfront Commission. He is the instruments of development policy have shophouses into six to eight-story blocks was author of “The Urban Design of Impermanence” on been largely based on reconciling the Hong Kong, and the Urban Design of “Concession” on followed in turn by redevelopment of these the Chinese Treaty Ports. aspirations of a growing population with the into multi-story tenements, and then even often critical shortfall of land and taller point blocks. accommodation. In the earliest days of the Under Hong Kong’s market-driven approach, ...550 city building process, government laid down actual city building objectives are elusive, and certain ground rules that, while being it is difficult to stand back at any one time and extended and refined over the years, still recognize a situation of “completeness.” Due to influence the form of development – the use If we did that with the the new town building programme that of land, sold at auction, as a significant source Willis Tower, we could do commenced in the early 1970s, urban area “ of government revenue. This, together with a densities have, for the most part, almost it with the 550 other generally laissez-faire economic system has halved, but the morphology of the older buildings in the Loop. had a significant impact on planning urban districts extends well beyond the directions. Flexible land-use zoning and ” normal conventions of urban grammar. There Gail Borthwick of Adrian Smith+Gordon successive amendments to the Buildings is however little firm conceptualization of Gill Architecture, on greening and Ordinance in response to development urban space, which is a cornerstone of modernization plan of Chicago. From “The pressure, particularly in the 1960s, inevitably western urban design. Thus, new urban Rise of Retrofit,” Greensource, paved the way for the physical transformation configurations contrast yet co-exist with November/December 2010. of Hong Kong’s urban area into a high-rise traditional “place” characteristics which relate

34 | Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I more to patterns of activity than physical essential ingredient for the compact city, fashion the very image of the city through an form. This includes an emphasis on the street energizing activities, minimizing threat, intense range of consumption-oriented for social rituals, ceremonial uses, market maximising use of public transport, and services. However, this puts older mixed-use trading, open eating areas, and the multi-use establishing a ready stream of users for areas on a collision course with economic of small open spaces (see Figure 1). amenities. Inevitably this creates a degree of forces. In some urban districts the value of tension between the complex and interactive land is greater than that of the buildings that working of the city, particularly the need to sit on it. Modern commercial towers require a The Energizing Ingredients synchronize certain levels of planning control, large floor plate, and redevelopment often The expressionism of Hong Kong’s older street with the more indeterminate legacy of means that the fine-grained older quarters are design for the most part represents an informality and spontaneity. gradually replaced by a more course-grained architecture of communication over The condensed metro area with its colossal street matrix. conceived form. Older street buildings are land values and eminently flexible land use sporadically and deliberately transformed by zoning, facilitates and perhaps inadvertently A Reconstituted Sense of Place their occupiers in a fluid way through encourages a disjointed spatial juxtaposition personalized building extensions and of independent blocks with little contiguity. There are now virtually two forms of city functional appendages to façades and roofs Yet these are unified by a kind of parallel character: the first – emblematic of compart- (see Figure 2), generally on the basis of universe of informal networks, both physical mentalization and high-rise efficiency, the practicality and immediacy rather than and electronic. In this situation the second – offering an informal and adaptive design, with miscellaneous and overlapping uniqueness of “place” is a by-product of the response to changing needs and temporary functions having few orthodox design city’s essential dynamism where requirements. The first generally embodies a credentials. With good urban management, commonalities and interdependencies single use complex at a monumental scale, the constant presence of people becomes an under single ownership or management;

Figure 1. Street vendors Figure 2. Typical market street in Hong Kong

CTBUH Journal | 2011 Issue I Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong | 35 About the Council

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, is an international not-for-profit organization supported by architecture, engineering, planning, development and construction professionals. Founded in 1969, the Council’s mission is to disseminate multi-disciplinary information on tall buildings and sustainable urban environments, to maximize the international interaction of professionals involved in creating the built environment, and to make the latest knowledge available to professionals in a useful form. The CTBUH disseminates its findings, and facilitates business exchange, through: the publication of books, monographs, proceedings and reports; the organization of world congresses, international, regional and specialty conferences and workshops; the maintaining of an extensive website and tall building databases of built, under construction and proposed buildings; the distribution of a monthly international tall building e-newsletter; the maintaining of an international resource center; the bestowing of annual awards for design and construction excellence and individual lifetime achievement; the management of special task forces/working groups; the hosting of technical forums; and the publication of the CTBUH Journal, a professional journal containing refereed papers written by researchers, scholars and practicing professionals. The Council is the arbiter of the criteria upon which tall building height is measured, and thus the title of "The World’s Tallest Building" determined. CTBUH is the world’s leading body dedicated to the field of tall buildings and urban habitat and the recognized international source for information in these fields.

Council on Tall Buildigns and Urban Habitat

S.R. Crown Hall Illinois Institute of Technology 3360 South State Street Chicago, IL, 60616 Phone: +1 (312) 567 3487 Fax: +1 (312) 567 3820 Email: [email protected] http://www.ctbuh.org

ISSN: 1946 - 1186