Autodesk Customer Success Story Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

COMPANY Shanghai Tower Rising to new heights with BIM. Construction & Development Co., Ltd. Shanghai Tower owner champions BIM

PROJECT TEAM for design and construction of one of the Gensler Cosentini Associates world’s tallest (and greenest) buildings. Architectural Design and Research Institute of Shanghai Xiandai Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. Shanghai Construction Group Shanghai Installation Engineering Engineering Co., Ltd. Autodesk Consulting

SOFTWARE Autodesk® Revit® Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage Autodesk® Ecotect® Analysis AutoCAD®

Autodesk BIM solutions enable the different design disciplines to work together in a seamless fashion on a single information platform—improving efficiency, reducing Image courtesy of Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co., Ltd. Rendering by Gensler. errors, and improving Project summary featuring a public sky garden, together with cafes, both project and building restaurants, and retail space. The double-skinned A striking new addition to the Shanghai skyline is performance. facade creates a thermal buffer zone to minimize currently rising in the heart of the city’s financial heat gain, and the spiraling nature of the outer district. The super high-rise Shanghai Tower will — Jianping Gu facade maximizes daylighting and views while Director and General Manager soon stand as the world’s second tallest building, reducing wind loads and conserving construction Shanghai Tower Construction and adjacent to two other iconic structures, the materials. To save energy, the facility includes & Development Co., Ltd. and the Shanghai World Financial its own wind farm and geothermal system. In Center. The 121-story transparent glass tower will addition, rainwater recovery and gray water twist and taper as it rises, conveying a unique recycling systems reduce water usage. The owner feeling of movement and growth, while reflecting and design team are targeting a LEED® Gold the reemergence of Shanghai’s economic and rating and a 3 Star rating, ambitious goals cultural influences amid the rise of an increasingly for a project the size of the Shanghai Tower. modern China. The massive mixed-use facility will include commercial and retail space; entertainment and cultural venues; a conference The challenge center; a luxury hotel; and public gardens, all The sheer size of the Shanghai Tower presents evoking the sense of a self-contained city within complex design and construction management Shanghai. challenges. “The Shanghai Tower is a massive project with over 575,000 square meters of Once complete, the 632-meter Shanghai Tower building space,” says Jianping Gu, director and will be the largest in China as well general manager for Shanghai Tower Construction as one of the most sustainable. The towering & Development Co., Ltd., the tower’s owner/ skyscraper comprises nine cylindrical buildings developer. “We knew that if we tried to work in a stacked on top of one another, all enclosed by traditional way, using traditional tools and delivery a circular inner curtain wall and a triangular systems, it would be extremely difficult to carry facade enveloping the entire structure. Each out this project successfully.” vertical neighborhood has its own atrium, Autodesk Customer Success Story Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd. Reducing building materials by 32 percent.

The project involves the collaboration of a global the design, construction, management, and team, including: investment control of the entire project,” says Gu. • Shanghai Tower Construction & Development— Autodesk Revit provided owner/developer a common platform for • Gensler—design architect Transforming work processes our design partners, giving • Architectural Design and Research Institute of Early on, the owner engaged Autodesk Consulting the team a more accurate Tongji University—local design institute to provide BIM strategy and implementation representation and deeper • Thornton Tomasetti—structural engineer consulting services, as well as application understanding of the project. • Cosentini Associates—MEP engineer training. Autodesk Consulting began its effort by • Shanghai Construction Group—general helping the owner develop a BIM strategy and — Jun Xia contractor deployment plan for the project, and retooling Principal and • Shanghai Installation Engineering—mechanical design and construction workflows to support Regional Design Director and electrical general contractor BIM-based processes. The team created detailed Gensler • Shanghai Xiandai Engineering Consultants— plans for project collaboration and document design management consultant management, • Autodesk Consulting—BIM strategy, training, as well as defining the BIM deliverables for the and implementation consultant entire project lifecycle.

“Because Shanghai Tower is such a complex Autodesk Consulting also helped the owner building, it could not be represented accurately implement an on-site BIM application with typical software or design methods,” says environment for a local project team of over Jiliang Chen, deputy chief architect and deputy 50 members, including owner personnel and director of the project operations department at key project participants from the extended the Architectural Design and Research Institute of global project team. In addition, Autodesk natural coordination of the project Tongji University. “One of the most challenging Consulting provided software training and as it unfolded. In addition, the team used both issues is the coordination of the extended design ongoing technical and BIM coaching support. Revit and Navisworks Manage software for formal team,” adds Yi Zhu, senior principal and general “By combining Autodesk’s BIM technology clash detection. manager at Thornton Tomasetti. and the deep expertise of Autodesk Consulting, we have been able to successfully transition “We used Revit Architecture software to design The solution to BIM much faster. As a result, this project and model the tower and then shared those has set new standards for the information models with our mechanical, electrical, and To help meet the ambitious goals set for the management of construction projects in structural consultants,” explains Michael Peng, building, the Shanghai Tower owner required China,” says Gu. associate senior designer at Gensler. “Autodesk the implementation of a Building Information Revit provided a common platform for our Modeling (BIM) process using Autodesk BIM design partners, giving the team a more accurate solutions for the design and construction of the Integrating the design representation and deeper understanding of the Shanghai Tower. The project team relies on a project,” adds Jun Xia, principal and regional combination of Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, The extended architectural and structural design director at Gensler. “BIM accelerated our Autodesk® Revit® Structure, and Autodesk® teams—with designers in offices around the whole design process, enabling our engineers to Revit® MEP software for the tower’s design world—shared their design models, enabling access design data and geometric sizes directly and documentation. The team is also using them to collaborate and contribute insights from the building models, and to use that Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage software about the design in the context of the project. information for calculation and analysis,” says for coordination and collaboration, Autodesk® In the construction phase, the local project Zhu. Ecotect® Analysis software for sustainable design team, working from temporary offices near the analysis, and traditional AutoCAD® software for construction site, routinely shared its models drawing production. “From a property owner’s for project coordination and collaboration. This perspective, BIM provides an excellent tool for communication of design data resulted in a Autodesk Customer Success Story Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

Image courtesy of Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co., Ltd. Rendering by Gensler.

Improving design communication Enhancing coordination for whole-building energy analysis, giving the designers quantitative feedback on building The tower’s iconic twisting shape and dual- The project team used the Revit platform for early energy performance. “We shared this information skinned facade were extremely difficult to convey coordination of the major design disciplines. In with our owners and consultants to better inform using traditional 2D approaches, making model- the construction phase, the team is combining the our design decisions and trade-offs,” says Peng. based design vital for the project’s success. “BIM Revit design models and the fabrication models helped us visualize the tower in 3D and analyze in Navisworks for whole project coordination. the design for improved decision making,” says “As construction proceeds, BIM is helping us Saving building materials Xia. “For example, we used the Revit design coordinate the subcontractors’ fabrication The building shape itself will produce the largest model with the reflection analysis features of models, leading to a better quality design and the energy savings in the form of an efficient, cost- Ecotect software to analyze the glare from the avoidance of rework costs,” says Chen. effective structural frame. “Using Revit Structure, tower throughout the city. This helped the design we produced more than 20 design options before team optimize the outer curtain wall—even down “For example, the tower’s basement has already settling on a structural system of super-columns, to the position and angle of individual pieces of been built, and comprises five stories and 170,000 with outrigger trusses supported by an inner glass—to minimize square meters of space,” says Gu. “During design concrete tower,” says Zhu. light pollution.” development, we found only seven clashes. During construction, there were no clashes at all. The team kept iterating the design, including the “During design, BIM was indispensable for It would be very difficult if not impossible to get rotation angle of the building’s cam-shaped outer coordinating the major design disciplines and results like that without BIM.” skin, to analyze the structure’s resistance to wind producing construction documentation,” reports and seismic loads. The result was well worth the Chen. Model-based visualizations will also aid effort. Gensler estimates that the building uses in the construction process. “By visualizing Conserving more energy 32 percent less material than a conventional a 3D virtual building, we can better monitor A central and attractive feature of the tower’s tower—saving material costs as well as the energy construction and gauge our progress against design is its transparent skin, which creates required to manufacture more steel and concrete. the schedule,” says Xiaoming Yu, deputy chief ventilated atriums that naturally conserve energy engineer and design supervision department by moderating the atrium’s air temperature. manager for Shanghai Installation Engineering. “ and sustainable design were “In fact, we require BIM deliverables from all the a common goal for the designers, as well as subcontractors and equipment suppliers. And the property owner,” says Xia. “Model-based during construction, it will be much easier for the design was essential, as many aspects of our workers to understand construction drawings that performance-based design were realized contain a combination of traditional views such through simulations and analyses,” adds Peng. as plans and sections, as well as 3D views and For example, during the design phase the visualizations of complicated areas.” project team used the Revit Architecture model Autodesk Customer Success Story Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd. Extending the value of BIM for building lifecycle management.

Improving construction efficiency Extending BIM to lifecycle management Both the tower’s owner and its construction Even after construction is complete, BIM will still partners are requiring BIM models from all the play a vital role for the Shanghai Tower. Shanghai project’s subcontractors to aid in construction Tower Construction & Development plans on coordination, planning, and digital fabrication. using BIM for the facility’s ongoing operations As an additional service, Autodesk Consulting and maintenance, as well as for emergency also developed BIM submittal requirements for and property management. At the onset of its the owner—including the level of model detail engagement, Autodesk Consulting created plans required for coordination and construction that detailed the as-built information and models planning—which were incorporated into that the owner will require for the tower’s lifecycle requests for proposals for the Shanghai Tower. management. “We plan to extend the value of BIM to help our facility management staff plan “By repurposing the design team’s digital efficiently and manage the building scientifically,” building models for fabrication, and in turn reports Gu. using the subcontractors’ fabrication models for coordination, we are improving construction The result efficiency and reducing on-site rework and With approximately 48 floors of the building’s materials waste,” says Yu. “All the materials core completed in 2011, the Shanghai Tower is on we use on-site are semifinished and ready for schedule for occupancy in 2014. “BIM helped our installation. The fabrication has already been team produce a high-quality project and avoid done in the factories, which greatly improves many on-site changes, which would waste time, our efficiency.” materials, and manpower,” says Gu. “Autodesk BIM solutions enable the different design disciplines to work together in a seamless fashion on a single information platform—boosting work efficiency, reducing errors, and improving both project and building performance.”

For more information, visit www.autodesk.com/bim.

From a property owner’s perspective, BIM provides an excellent tool for the design, construction, management, and investment control of the entire project.

— Jianping Gu Director and General Manager Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

Image courtesy of Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co., Ltd. Rendering by Gensler.

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