Econintersect: China will build the world’s tallest building 20 times faster than it took to build the second tallest structure. It took 1,831 days to build the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which was finished on 01 October 2009. Chinese construction company Broad Sustainable Building has announced ambitious plans to construct the world’s tallest skyscraper in unbelievably short time. According to Gizmag, the new structure will stand 2,750 feet tall and be 33 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa. The exact margin is in doubt, because Wikipedia gives the specifications of the Burj Khalifa: 829.84 m (2,723 ft), 163 habitable floors plus 46 maintenance levels in the spire. By these numbers the record will be by 27 feet.
How can the incredible 90 days for construction be achieved? The Broad company is a specialist in prefabricated construction. They have built a six story pavilion in one day and a 15 story hotel in less than six days. A 30-story prototype has been tested and has led to projections that the new structure will withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake.
The name for the new structure is Sky City One. It is been described by Gizmag:
Broad has described Sky City One is a self-contained earthquake-resistant carless city which will not only accommodate approximately 100,000 people, but provide them with retail and leisure facilities too.
According to CNN the Sky City One will contain 1,000,000 sq m (10,800,000 sq ft) of usable floor space and its 220 floors will be connected by 104 separate elevators. Broad CEO Zhang Yue reportedly claims that the tower will consume only one fifth of the energy of a conventional building of its size (if you can call any building this tall conventional) due to sustainable design approaches built into the BSB concept including 15-cm (6-inch) thick exterior walls and quadruple glazing, both of which up Sky City’s insulation.
The new building will be less than half that of the Burj Khalifa. CNN reports that the the Sky City One is projected to cost US$628 million. The Dubai skyscraper came with a bill for $1.5 billion.
See the rest of a four frame slide show slide show at Gizmag.
The following video shows the 15 day construction of a 30-story demo building.
Sources:
- World’s tallest building to be built in only 90 days (James Holloway, Gizmag, 18 June 2012)
- Burj Khalifa (Wikipedia)
- Broad Group (Wikipedia)
- Sky City: China Plans World’s Tallest Building (CNNGo Staff, 11 Jube 2012)