Original taken from masterok in Skyscrapers of Shanghai: Shanghai Tower
I already told you about the two skyscrapers in this picture. Here is the Shanghai World Financial Center, and here is Jin Mao. But now we’ll talk to you about this twisted one, the highest of the three.
Construction of the 121-story Shanghai Tower in China, which began back in 2008, was completed earlier this year and finishing work is now underway.
Here's how construction went:
Shanghai Tower is a super-tall building, currently the tallest in the Chinese city of Shanghai, in the Pudong district. Once the construction of the tower is completed, this building should become the tallest building in China, surpassing even such buildings as the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center in height. According to the project, the height of the building will be about 650 meters, and the total area will be 380 thousand m2. Construction of the tower should be completed in 2014. Once completed, the tower will be the third tallest building in the world, behind only the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, which is 828 meters high, and the Sky Tree in Tokyo, which is 634 meters high. In August 2013, the tower building was completed to the roof level.
According to the chief engineer of the project, Fan Qingqiang, the Shanghai Tower will house office space, shops, a five-star hotel, exhibition and conference halls, as well as recreation and entertainment areas.
With the completion of the construction of the main structures of the building, work began to attract businessmen to the development of this complex, noted Gu Jianping, president of the company that developed the Shanghai Tower. According to him, the new building will help meet the strong demand for comfortable and fashionable office space, while Shanghai is actively developing into an international financial center and free trade zone.
A skyscraper designed by the large American company Gensler. The spiral-shaped tower, even in its unfinished 580-meter form, is already in fact the tallest building in China, surpassing the previous record holder - the nearby 492-meter high-rise World Trade Center.
However, even after its commissioning next year, Shanghai Tower will not dominate the race of Chinese skyscrapers for long: in 2016, construction of the 660-meter Pinan International Financial Center in Shenzhen is scheduled to be completed. In addition, the construction of the Sky City tower in Changsha, 838 meters high, recently began, but a few days later it was frozen due to the lack of necessary permits.
In recent years, skyscraper construction on an unprecedented scale has unfolded across China. China will be home to six of the world's ten tallest buildings by 2020, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which is headquartered in Chicago.
When completed in 2014, the spiral megastructure, together with the neighboring Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center Tower, will complete a grand ensemble of three skyscrapers.
Shanghai Tower is nominated for LEED Gold certification. The Shanghai Tower is built from nine cylinders stacked on top of each other. The internal volume forms the building itself, while the external façade creates a shell that rises upward, rotating 120 degrees and giving the Shanghai Tower a curved appearance. The space between the two layers of the facade is created by nine atriums of sky gardens.
Just like many other towers, the atrium of the Shanghai Tower traditionally houses restaurants, cafes and shops surrounded by lush landscaping in tandem with a large number of entrances to the tower and metro stations below the building. Shanghai Tower's interior and transparent exterior skins create a visual connection between the tower's interior and the urban fabric of Shanghai.
The tower will have the fastest elevators in the world, designed specifically for it by Mitsubishi using innovative technologies. The double-height elevator cars will carry building occupants and their visitors skyward at 40 mph (17.88 m/s). The façade's taper, texture and asymmetry work together to reduce wind loads on the building by 24 percent. This will result in construction material savings of $58 million USD.
The transparent internal and external shells of the building bring the maximum amount of natural light indoors, thereby saving on electrical energy.
The tower's outer skin insulates the building, reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling. The tower's spiral parapet collects rainwater, which is used for the tower's heating and air conditioning system. Wind turbines located directly below the parapet generate on-site power for the upper floors of the building.
Architects: Gensler
Owner, Developer. Contractor: Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.
Local design institute: Architectural design and research institute of Tongji University
Civil Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Mep engineer: Cosentini Associates
Landscape Architect: SWA
Plot area: 30,370 square meters. Construction area: 380,000 square meters above ground level; 141,000 square meters below ground level
Number of floors of the building: 121 floors
Height: 632 meters
Area: 0.0 sq.m.
Year of manufacture: 2014
Photos: Provided Gensler
Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in the Chinese city of Shanghai and the third tallest building in the world (the first place is occupied by the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, the second is the Tokyo Sky Tree). It left the Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower far behind. Height of Shanghai Tower – 634 meters, and the area is 380 thousand square meters.
Construction of Shanghai Tower
The tallest tower in Asia took just a few years to build. In June 2009, a foundation pit was dug and construction of the first floors began. In August 2013, a ceremony was held in Shanghai to erect the last beam at a height of 632 meters, that is, the skyscraper was brought to the roof level. The facade cladding was completed in September 2014, and all internal work was completed in 2015.
The construction of the Shanghai Tower caused a lot of controversy from the very beginning about whether the city needed another skyscraper. Since 1993, it was planned that an architectural group of three skyscrapers would be located in the Lujiazui financial district of Shanghai.
That is why the tower was erected, and today it symbolizes the power of the city along with the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Tower that are part of the ensemble.
The structure is divided into nine vertical zones and is clad in a transparent glass shell, which protects it from the weather and provides natural ventilation.
Description
The tower is located in the center of the business district. Since its opening, it has attracted everyone's attention - not only with its dimensions, but also with its architectural design, which is never repeated on the planet. The appearance of the skyscraper organically combines traditional Chinese concepts and modern technologies.
At the base of the tower there are reinforced concrete cylinders, on top of which are nine cylinders installed on top of each other. The internal volume is the building itself, and the external façade forms a shell that rises upward, rotating 120 degrees.
Thanks to this, the Shanghai Tower received a curved appearance and protection from wind loads, and it was also possible to save up to 25% of steel on the structures.
The use of modern technology has made Shanghai Tower the most environmentally friendly skyscraper. Alternative energy sources are used for heating and cooling.
What is inside
The lowest floor of the Shanghai Tower is dedicated to the city's historical museum. Its unusual interior and wax figures reflect the life of local residents. Genre episodes are recreated using emeralds, jade, agates, jasper and pearls on a huge screen, for the creation of which natural stone was chosen.
Each area of the tower contains shops and galleries. At the bottom of them is the Space City, an entertainment center where you can immerse yourself in the world of science fiction and appreciate the technological achievements of China. There is a hotel in the middle part of the building. There is also a restaurant inside, the peculiarity of which is that it rotates around its axis, a concert hall and a club.
Shanghai Tower features gardens that collect rainwater and convert it into energy to heat the building and run air conditioning.
Observation platforms
Immediately after its construction, the Shanghai Tower in China became the main symbol of the city and an interesting tourist attraction. The skyscraper attracts about 2.8 million travelers every year. Inside, optimal conditions have been created for visitors: shops, souvenir shops and other establishments that allow them to have fun.
In addition, the tower has several observation platforms. An unforgettable experience can be gained already during the lift ride. From the highest point there is a stunning view of the city. Shanghai looks especially beautiful in the evening. And in clear and cloudless weather you can see the Yangtze River.
Records
The Shanghai Tower has high-speed elevators that rise up at a speed of eighteen meters per second. The building is equipped with 106 elevators from Mitsubishi Electric, three of which are high-speed and rise to a record height of 578 meters, breaking the record of the Burj Khalifa elevators, rising to a height of 504 meters.
Between the 84th and 110th floors is the Four Seasons Hotel, the tallest on the planet. There are 260 rooms in total. Shanghai Tower provides a unique opportunity to see the city from a height of 557 meters.
The Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric is installing the fastest elevator in the Shanghai Tower with a speed of 18 meters per second. This elevator will break the record of the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan, which is 16 meters per second.
This elevator will set another record - it will be the longest, beating the achievement of the tower in the city, which is 478.5 meters. It is not yet clear how long the elevator in the Shanghai Tower will be, but it will definitely be a record value.
Records - the highest hotel
Between the 84th and 110th floors will be the 260-room Four Seasons Hotel, which will be the tallest hotel on the planet.
It is worth making a reservation that it should be called the highest relative to the surface of the earth, since indeed the highest hotel is located in the village of Namche Bazaar at an altitude of 3340 meters. It is called Everest View and is a stop for travelers on their way to the summit of Everest or trekkers following .
Records - the most expensive skyscraper
The Shanghai Tower cost investors a record $4.2 billion. However, the Chinese are no strangers; one magnetic line cost them 1 billion.
Records - observation platform
The Shanghai Tower will give you the opportunity to look at Shanghai from a height of 557 meters - this will be a new world record.
What's the result?
We currently cannot say anything about the price of an excursion to the Shanghai Tower, or about the restaurants inside, or about the price of hotel rooms. We'll wait for the opening and be sure to rewrite this article to tell you about it.
In the meantime, until this happens, read our other articles about China ( links below).
| A country | China |
| City | Shanghai |
| Building height | 632 m. |
| Number of above ground floors | 128 |
| Number of underground floors | 5 |
| Construction cost | More than $2.4 billion |
| Total area of premises | 380,000 m2 |
| Architectural solutions | Gensler Company, USA |
| Design of building structures | Thornton Tomasetti, USA |
| Start of construction | 2008 |
| Completion of construction | 2015 |
| Skyscraper height rating | |
| In the world | N 2 |
| In the region (Asia) | N 1 |
| In China | N 1 |
| In Shanghai | N 1 |
Tallest tower of the Celestial Empire
Completed in 2015, Shanghai Tower epitomizes the growth and prosperity of modern China. The building is located in the Pudong district in the heart of Shanghai and towers over two other skyscrapers - the Qin Mao Tower and the Shanghai International Financial Center building. The construction height of the Shanghai Tower is 632 meters. The tower concept is not so much a new approach to the construction of high-rise buildings, but rather an awareness of the new urban idea of vertical development of cities.
The main architectural idea of the building
The shape of the Shanghai Tower resembles a slightly twisted pyramid with rounded edges and a longitudinal seam - an edge smoothly curled from the base to the top of the tower. The rib rotation angle is 120 degrees. This building shape and rotation angle make it possible to reduce the impact of wind load by 25%. The building envelope is two-layer: the inner contour separates rooms for various functional purposes from the “open space”, or atrium within the building, and the outer contour is the outer shell and encloses the atrium itself and the entire building as a whole.
Shanghai Tower consists of 9 separate zones, or buildings - cylinders, stacked on top of each other and fixed to a core of monolithic reinforced concrete. Each zone unites 12-15 floors with an external atrium and represents a separate community, in fact a “city within a city.” Each city has its own infrastructure, public places and separate energy supply.
Shanghai Tower is recognized as the greenest skyscraper on the planet. On the upper floors of the building there are 27 wind generators that supply the building. The two-layer shell of the skyscraper provides excellent insulation from the external environment and is a powerful energy saving factor.
Structural solution of the Shanghai Tower
The structural height of the Shanghai Tower is 580 meters. The supporting frame consists of a reinforced concrete monolithic core, four pairs
steel-concrete super-columns and four diagonal columns connected by double horizontal belts of metal trusses. The core is connected to the columns using outrigger trusses.
The shells of the building are made on outriggers fixed in the knowledge core. The calculations of the building structures were performed using the finite element method. To test the effects of various loads, both computer modeling and full-scale testing of 1:500 scale building models on a vibration platform and in a wind tunnel were used.
The use of a monolith in the construction of the Shanghai Tower
The foundation of the skyscraper is bored piles with a reinforced concrete monolithic slab grillage. To construct the foundation, a pit up to 34 meters deep was developed. For the first time in the world, bored piles were used for a building with a height of more than 400 meters in conditions where silty sands of various sizes and soft clays occur in the foundation soils.
- The thickness of the grillage is up to 6 meters.
- The length of piles is up to 56 meters.
- Pile diameter 1 meter
- The calculated load-bearing capacity of one pile is 10,000 kN,
- The number of piles is about 950 pcs.
Adjustment of the pumping force of the piles, the use of a concrete mixture of class C50, and a specially developed concrete injection technique made it possible to obtain, based on test results, the actual load-bearing capacity of the pile up to 26,000 kN.
The reinforced concrete grillage was made using the method of continuous concreting for 60 hours. The total volume of concrete in the grillage was 61,000 m3. The success of creating a slab of such dimensions lay in the use of scientifically developed high-strength, ductile,
crack-resistant, self-compacting concrete mixture and the continuous labor of hundreds of Chinese workers.
The central core of the Shanghai Banshnya comes from the base and consists of four central monolithic cores and 9 cells measuring 10x10 meters, and has a square shape in plan. The overall size of the core is 30x30 meters, the thickness of the walls made of monolithic reinforced concrete in the lower part of the building is 1.2 m. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls in the upper part is 0.5 meters. Concrete class C60/70. To pour the monolithic core walls, a special modular sliding platform with a hydraulic drive and a formwork scaffolding system was developed.
The floors of the building are made of monolithic reinforced concrete in permanent formwork made of profiled sheets. The thickness of the floors varies from 155 - 220 mm. The diameter of the floors is 82.8 m at the bottom of the building and 46 m at the top.
Symbol of a nation with limitless possibilities
During the design and implementation of the project, a team of professionals effectively solved many complex structural problems both in relation to the construction site and in matters of interaction between numerous project participants. The height of the Shanghai Tower was ultimately 632 m. The many innovative architectural and technical solutions in which the Shanghai Tower is a pioneer will undoubtedly leave a bright mark on the history of construction.
According to the Chinese government, Shanghai Tower is a symbol of a nation with limitless possibilities.
We planned a trip to major cities in China, from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The main purpose of our trip was the tallest construction site in the world, the Shanghai Tower, which is currently under construction; at the moment its height, together with the crane boom, reaches just over 650 meters, which makes the tower the second tallest structure in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in the UAE.
Knowing about the very strict laws in China, we carefully prepared and chose a suitable date, Chinese New Year. During the time when security was less vigilant, workers were absent and the cranes did not work. We made our way to the crane around midnight, climbed 120 floors on foot for almost 2 hours, and slept at the construction site for almost 18 hours waiting for good weather. You can see what came out of this in a new video clip.
Hello everyone! I want to dilute the two-month-long silence in this livejournal with my post. Several months ago Vadim and I had planned a trip along Chinese biggest cities, from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The main purpose of the journey was the world’s highest construction building – Shanghai tower. Now it is under construction and so far its height is a little more than 650 meters. So now it is the world’s second high building after Burj Khalifa in UAE.
Aware of the strict Chinese law, we prepared carefully and picked an appropriate date, the Chinese New Year day. At that time the security was less watchful, workers were on vacations, and cranes did not work. We got to the crane at around midnight. It took us almost two hours to get on the 120th floor by foot. And also, we spend almost 18 hours on top of the building, sleeping and waiting for better weather. The result you can see in our new video.
1. Low clouds begin to gather over the city. / Low clouds are covering the city.
2. JinMao Tower and Shanghai Financial Center, popularly known as the "Opener". / JinMao tower and Shanghai Financial Center, people call it "The
bottle opener". 
3. By dawn, the clouds became even denser, and the city was completely covered. / By sunrise clouds were even thicker, and the city was completely covered. 
4. Just to compare, a tower on the left is 421 meters high, and the
right one is 490 m. 
5. One of the main goals of climbing the tower was to shoot a video, since there was low cloudiness in the city, it was decided to sit on the top floors of the construction site and wait it out. / One – and the main purpose of our climbing was making the video.
Since it was cloudy, we decided to wait in one of top floors until the
weather gets better. 
6. An hour before dawn, the clouds parted and we climbed up. / An hour before sunrise the clouds disappeared, and we headed on top. 
7. Photo of me, authorship: dedmaxopka
/ A picture of me by dedmaxopka
8. 650 meters. / 650 meters. 
9.
10.
11.
12.
Thus ended Shanghai. In the near future you will find a huge amount of interesting material from China. Stay with us! / That was the end of our Shanghai trip. Soon you will see a lot of
exciting content from China. Stay tuned!