INTRODUCTION TO HIGH-RISE BUILDING DESIGN

Priyan Mendis and Anil Hira

1. INTRODUCTION

Tall building developments have been rapidly increasing worldwide. Traditionally the function of tall
buildings has been as commercial office buildings. Other usages, such as residential, mixed-use, and hotel
tower developments have since rapidly increased. Therefore the role of the structural engineer in
design of the high-rise buildings has changed significantly primarily due to the increasingly
competitive nature of the building industry. The increased competition has obvious financial
benefits for the building owners, and at the same time creates an immense challenge to the
design team to achieve optimum designs in terms of aesthetics, creativity, build ability and most
important of all, economy.

This lecture provides an introduction to tall building design, with some emphasis on its uniqueness
compared with other structures, in the structural engineering context.

2. DEFINITION OF A TALL BUILDING

In terms of structural considerations, a building can be defined as tall, when its strength and
behaviour, in terms of serviceability (deflections), is governed by lateral loads. The lateral loads are
caused either by wind and/or earthquake. Although there is no specific value that defines a tall building, a
commonly acceptable dividing line is where the structural design moves from the field of
statics into the field of dynamics.

The challenge for the structural engineer will increase for the new generation buildings,
which will be taller, lighter and more slender. Studies have revealed that slimmer buildings have
greater commercial value, confirming this recent trend in building design.

With advance technologies and innovative materials, the building heights have dramatically increased in
tall buildings. Therefore a new term super tall buildings, has been used for buildings which are over
300m. It is not just at the super tall end that tall buildings have been proliferating. As the graph on all tall
buildings greater than 200m in existence globally shows, it has more than doubled in the last ten years.
Most interesting global trend currently occurring is not the number of buildings taller than 300m that are
completing, but the unprecedented number of 600m and taller buildings in planning. Therefore as a result,
the term super tall is no longer adequate to describe these buildings. Therefore, a new term called
mega tall is now officially used by CTBUH, to describe buildings taller than 600m or double the height
of super tall (Ref. 8).
World current tallest buildings and tall buildings completed each year over 200m , 300m and 600m since
1960 are shown in Figures 1 and 2 below.

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 Figure 1: Current tall buildings in the world

Figure 2: Tall buildings completed each year over 200m, 300m and 600m since 1960 (Ref. 8)

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 3. BACKGROUND TO TALL BUILDINGS

In the late nineteenth century, early tall building developments were based on economic equations
increasing rentable area by stacking office spaces vertically and maximizing the rents of these offices by
introducing as much natural light as possible. Due to this global drive towards taller buildings, the past
three decades began a new endeavour for countries to build the worlds tallest building. The Petronas
Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the Taipei 101 in Taiwan; and the Burj Al Arab Tower in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates; represent a few examples of high-rise buildings that have become the worlds
tallest buildings during recent times. By the end of 2012, 58 of the 100 tallest buildings in the world have
been completed in the past seven years, since the end of 2005 (Ref. 8).

According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) reports, the tall buildings built
until 2010 are classified according to the region and the usage as shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b).
However CTBUH estimates that by the end of the decade, the number of super tall buildings in the world
would more than double as shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b).

Figure 3(a) Total number of super tall buildings in the world by region by 2010

3(b) Total number of super tall buildings in the world by usage by 2010

The world of tall buildings has changed fundamentally over past decade or two with a number of trends
now evident. One of the most important trend is that the predominant location of the tallest buildings in
the world has been changing rapidly. By the end of 2012, main locations have shifted to Asia (42% with
34% in China alone) and the Middle East (32%, with 21% in Dubai alone) (Ref. 8). As per CTBUH 9th
World congress proceedings, 74% of the worlds 100 tallest buildings will be located in Asia, up from
only 20% in 1990.

Other most interesting factor about tall building statistics is how the function and structural materials of
the tallest buildings have been changing. According to recent information, residential and mixed use
functions influence the list, up to 53% from 12% at the turn of century, while solely steel buildings have
dropped from 39% to 14% in favour of concrete and composite structures over the last decade. Figure 4
shows the trend of recent tall buildings by building location, use and structural material as shown for the
20 tallest buildings in the world.

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 Figure 4: Statistical data on the current tallest 20 buildings in the world

At the beginning of 21st century Petronas twin towers held the world tallest title at 452m. Taipei 101 took
the title in 2004 with 508m height. Then at the end of the decade, Burj Kalifa set new standards at 828m.
Now with work started on site for Jeddahs 1000 meter plus Kingdom tower, we can expect that in a mere
two decades (2000-2020) the height of the world tallest building will have more than doubled. The most
interesting aspect of future tallest 20 list is that the previous world tallest now barely make the list at all.
As per CTBUH predictions, future tall buildings by 2020 with respect to building location and use, is
shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Statistical data on the projected tallest 20 buildings in the world in 2020

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 4. ARCHITECTURE AND STRUCTURE

The ultimate success of a tall building structure and design can only be judged by the community at large
who have to live with the structure for the duration of the design life. Consequently the success of a tall
building is primarily based on the aesthetics of the completed structure, followed by
functionality, economics and cultural considerations. Traditionally the conceptual design of tall
buildings is greatly influenced by the architect. After all, they are responsible for the building
appearance and functionality. Aesthetics will become increasingly important to keep abreast of the
increasing community demands on environmental and town planning issues.

Historically, tall buildings consisted of heavy masonry cladding, providing the required
stability with the principal structural system rarely exposed. Over the last two decades the buildings
have become more slender and lighter, to meet the aesthetics and economical considerations.
This trend will continue, ensuring the importance of the structural engineers role at the early concept
stage.

The Empire State Building and the Bank of China Building are excellent examples of the old and the new.
The Empire State Building, where the structure is well concealed by the solid facade, is judged purely on
architectural features. The structural engineers would have had minimal input at the conception stage.

From a pure structural point of view an optimum building in terms of material minimisation for
a square building is one that comprises of four columns located at the corners, interconnected by
diagonal bracing. (Ref. 5). The Bank of China Building, closely follows this optimal solution,
illustrating the benefits of close collaboration between the architect and structural engineer
to conceive a structure which is elegant and economical.

This commonality between structural form and aesthetics will become increasingly important in tall
building design.

Figure 6: The old and the new

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 5. ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS IN DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS

5.1 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Building configurations are tremendously varied, and their derivation seems to be random. At times even
whimsical, although the configuration tries to simultaneously satisfy:

The requirements of site - includes constraints in the form of site geometry, site location,
geomechanical considerations, topographical considerations, climatic and seismic considerations.

The requirements of building program - includes factors imposed planning and occupancy
requirements, financial constraints and construction issues.

the requirements of appearance - represents the designers desires for physical images that express the
aspirations of the building owner, the users, the designers, and more recently the community's.

The overall success of the building depends on numerous factors, some of the more important issues
include:

1. Create a friendly and inviting image that has positive values to the owner, users and observers.
2. Fit the site, providing proper approaches to the plaza with a layout congenial for people to live, work or
recreate.
3. Be energy efficient, providing space with controllable climate for its users as well as fulfilling global
conservation obligations.
4. Allow for flexibility in layout and usage.
5. Maximise the views.
6. Compliments the city and its people in terms of culture.
7. Most important of all to be cost-effective.

Tall buildings greatly impact the scale and context of the urban environment due to their proportional
mass and height. Whether standing alone or blending into the urban context, the larger the building mass,
the greater the impact. The intervention of tall buildings in urban environments affects day lighting,
sunlight, shadows, and even air movements created by downdrafts and unexpected gusts. The form of the
building's mass is the most crucial part in determining the quality of the disturbance and the magnitudes.

The design process of a tall building should attempt to keep environmental disturbances to a minimum by
the orchestration of its form. Tall buildings should respond to two primary criteria; first to a small circle
of its affected users and secondly to the larger urban environment. In regard to the first criterion, the
building itself must be gauged relative to its purpose, how it lives up to its expectations. The second
criterion must be evaluated in its function as an element in the immediate urban setting. The degree to
which tall building add to or detract from the quality of their urban surroundings is dramatic, affecting not
only the immediate users but, because of their size and scale, the context of the entire city now and in the
future.

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 5.2 BASIC ELEMENTS

In terms of an overall tall building it comprises of three basic elements. They are:

Vertical stack of functional areas - (ie floor system) which provides the platform for its
occupants at discrete levels.
Vertical service riser(s) - series of vertical shafts that act as the umbilical chord to all the
functional areas. This includes water, wastewater, electrical services, mechanical services,
vertical transportation (lifts), stairs etc.
Outside enclosure - (faade) - this skin protects the occupants from the external climatic
conditions and maintains the internal conditions provided by the various services in a controlled
manner.

5.3 BASIC PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS.

The principal planning considerations that need early resolution includes:

a. Lease span
This is the distance from a fixed interior element, such as the building core, to the exterior window wall.
The lease span differs in dimension depending upon the function of the space (commercial office, hotel
and residential) and is a very important consideration for good interior planning. Usually the depth of the
lease span should be between 10 and 14m for office function and 6 to 9m for hotels and residential
developments.

b. Floor-to-floor
The overall economics of a building is heavily influenced by the floor-to floor height. A small difference
in this height when multiplied by the number of floors and the area of the perimeter enclosure of the
building has a significant influence on the overall cost.

The floor-to-floor height is a function of the required ceiling height, the depth of the structural floor
system and the depth of the space required for mechanical distribution, electrical distribution (lighting)
and ceiling system as illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Floor-to-floor height

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The floor-to-floor height determines the overall height of the building which impacts on the structural
system, round trip times of elevators and quantities of all vertical elements in the building such as exterior
walls, vertical structural elements, faade, HVAC, and all services. In some buildings "access floors" or
elevated floors are provided for services such as computer/electrical cables etc.
c. Ceiling height
Commercial functions require a variety of ceiling heights ranging between 2.7m and 3.7m. Ceiling
heights in office buildings typically is minimum 2.7m., whereas for Hotels and residential buildings the
height can be as low as 2.4m.
d. Depth of structural floor system.
This depth depends on floor load requirements, column spacing and type of floor framing. Allowance for
deflections should be allowed for. For steel structures allowance for fire rating should be incorporated.
e. Elevators
Vertical transportation in any tall building is totally dependent upon its elevator system. The selection of a
proper system is a very critical issue in tall building design. For preliminary planning, a rule of thumb for
estimating the number elevators needed is one elevator per 4600 square metres of lettable area.
f. Core planning
The major elements within the core are elevator shaft, mechanical shafts, stairs and elevator lobbies.
Shafts for other services must also be allowed for. Core elements that pass through or serve every floor
should be located so that they can rise continuously and thus avoid costly and space -consuming transfers.
Stair entrances should be located as remotely from each other as possible. Mechanical fan rooms should
be located where they can be easily changed in area or shape and where stairs does not surround them,
shafts or electrical closets since they prevent or limit duct distribution from shafts or rooms.
g. Parking
In many large projects, it is essential that proper parking facilities are included within the building.

6. STRUCTURAL ASPECTS IN DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS

6.1 STRUCTURAL DESIGN CRITERIA

A unique characteristic of tall building design is the significance of all three criteria in deriving a
satisfactory structural solution: Strength, Serviceability and Stability. The principal contributing factor
is the presence of lateral loads, which increasingly dominates the structural form with increasing
height. For low-rise buildings, strength of individual components is the governing criteria
however for buildings with increasing height the following features become increasingly important
The effects of lateral loads due to wind and earthquake
To assess the magnitude of the design lateral loads
Lateral displacement of the building. (Top deflection and interstorey displacement)
Accelerations
Effect of movement on non-structural elements.
Second order effects such as P- effects, creep movements, differential movements.
Overall stability of the building against overturning and sliding
Importance of members governed by net tension.
Importance of correct assessment of soil/ structural interaction
Later lectures will address the significance of all of the above features in tall building design.

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 6.2 LOADING

Accurate assessment of the design loads is essential for the structural integrity and overall
economy in tall building design. Unique characteristics of loadings applicable to tall building design
include:
Importance of correct design lateral loads. Conservatism is not affordable in tall building design.
Correct assessment of live loads and dead loads
Loads induced due to differential movements due to prestressing, foundation settlements, creep
and shrinkage can induce massive forces, requiring careful assessment.

6.3 DESIGNING FOR FULL DESIGN LIFE

In view of the substantial capital investment associated with a typical tall building, it is required to be
functional for the whole of the design life, which typically ranges from 50 to 100 years. However
we as a community have already witnessed dramatic changes in lifestyle over the last 50 years, and are
expected to continue to change. With these changes, building occupants demand changes
relative to their environment. Refurbishment of buildings is now a thriving building activity to meet
these changes; however on economic grounds, the structure is rarely removed.

An important consideration in structural design of the high-rise building is incorporating

flexibility in the design for future possible changes. This requires vision, and close communication
with the relevant parties, including owners, financiers, and architects. Some factors that may be
considered include:

Structure - Choose material types that can cater for configuration changes. In this respect a composite
steel floor for example could have definite advantages over prestressed floors.
Loads - Design floor loadings may terminate a buildings useful life prematurely. The increasing future
demand for storage or heavy loading zones must be catered for.
Access floors - Provisions for access floors needs careful thought. As a minimum requirement, self-
weight of the system may need to be allowed for.
Facade - The design life of the facade is typically 20 years and in some instances as low as 10 years.
Due to the visual impact of the facade on the overall aesthetics of the building, refurbishment of the
facade will be a growth activity. In engineering terms, allowance for future changes at the perimeter
may require consideration. (e.g. future precast facade to replace existing curtain wall system.)
Vertical elements - Contingencies in loading for vertical elements and more importantly for
foundations is imperative, not only to allow for future modification but for inevitable modifications made
during the construction phase. Strengthening of existing foundations is not only a difficult operation
but is a costly one. Provisions for future additional load is becoming increasingly important in
times where every building owner wishes to add a few more floor levels in search for extra
income or to install a communication tower for additional income and prestige.
Durability - This remains to be an important consideration in structural design of high-rise buildings.
There still appears to be some reluctance to address this in particular for residential construction.

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 6.4 Core system

The size and location of building core is largely governed by architectural requirements.
The optimisation of the core element is complex and requires the structural designer to have a full
understanding of the structural function of the core, and more importantly, the build ability aspects
of the core. Factors needing consideration are listed below.
Minimisation of material cost - The designer is required to optimise between concrete quantity,
reinforcement and concrete strength. Clearly, the designer requires accurate knowledge on the cost rates
for each of the components. Studies have shown that increasing the concrete strength is by far the most
economical means of increasing the load capacity of a typical core wall. This is illustrated in Figure 8.
Therefore given core geometry, the designer should ideally aim to minimise thickness of walls and
quantity of reinforcement by using higher strength concrete.

Figure 8: Cost trends to increase RC wall strength

Optimising core geometry - The core layout, whilst fulfilling its architectural functions,
should be geometrically efficient to resist the derived design actions due to lateral loads and gravity loads.
Figure 9 shows a typical core layout consisting of cells connected by coupling beams. Typically the core
elements are subject to axial forces due to coupling action and a set of orthogonal moments in each cell.
By simple statics it can be shown that the external walls are subjected to greater forces relative to the
internal walls with the corner zones subjected to the greatest forces. Penetrations in these highly stressed
areas should be avoided.

Minimising the core area - In Australian buildings the core area, as defined in Figure 9, being outside the
net lettable area, does not accrue any income. The primary aim of the designer is to minimise the core
area and maximise the lettable space within a fixed building envelope. To appreciate the importance of
minimising the core area the designer needs to quantify the cost benefit of decreasing the core area
per square metre. In Australia, based on a rental income of $500 per square metre per annum and yield
rate of 5%, the capitalised value is $10,000 per square metre, which is a significant value.

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 Figure 9 - Typical core layout.

To quantify the significance, consider the core shown in Figure 9. If the thickness of the core walls is
reduced by 50mm throughout the height of the 55 storey building, the core area would reduce by some 11
sq. m. per floor. This equates to 605 sq. m. for the building reflecting a capitalised value of over $6 M, a
sizeable value compared to the cost of the core.

Minimisation of construction time - The core construction is normally a critical activity, hence
its construction time must be minimised. Any delay in its construction will add to the completion time for
the whole project. The cost of the delay can be quantified in terms of interest on the total project
cost including land costs. For example, for the 55 storey building considered in this lecture, assuming
a project cost of $300 M and an interest rate of 8.5%, a delay in construction is equivalent to
approximately $0.5 million per week. The importance of construction speed will be discussed in detail
in a later lecture.
Core economy can only be maximised if the structural designer has a full appreciation of all the above
factors.

6.5 Floor system

The type of floor system adopted for a project is also a critical activity impacting on the overall
completion time. For tall buildings, the designers fundamental aim is to minimise the floor cycle time.
A single day reduction in the floor cycle time for the sample building corresponds to a 10 weeks saving in
construction time. As discussed in the previous section this represents a $5 M cost benefit equal
to 30% of total structural cost of the floor system. This suggests the possibility of choosing more
expensive floor systems, with a quicker construction time to achieve overall economy.

Minimising floor-floor height - Apart from minimising the material cost of the floor system another
primary objective is to minimise the inter-storey height. For a particular occupancy type, the floor-
to-ceiling height is often fixed by regulatory requirement. Designers are required to focus their efforts
on minimising the structural floor depth and ceiling-to-floor zone, with the latter governed by mechanical
services. The importance of minimising the inter-storey height is illustrated in Figure 7, which
shows that a reduction of 100mm in inter-storey height converts to a saving of $1.6 M in construction

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cost. In fact, further savings associated with the reduction of vertical services including lifts would
provide additional cost benefits.

7 INTEGRATED APPROACH TO DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS

Unlike most standard structures the design of tall buildings requires a complex inter- relationship
between many parties ranging from the owner, financier, real estate, architect, quantity surveyors,
builder and engineering disciplines. Traditionally the collective effort expended by individual
members of the design team was rarely optimised.

Over the last decade, there has been an increased trend towards greater collaboration between different
disciplines with the eventual goal of achieving overall economy, that is, the bottom line figure.

To illustrate the benefits of close collaboration between the disciplines, specific areas of tall building
design are selected. One example is to assess the benefits of collaboration between the structural and
services engineers for the design of the core and floor system.

The key issues requiring close collaboration with structural engineers are the floor-to- floor height, and
the size and layout of vertical elements. The latter generally comprises of the core element and columns,
and is greatly influenced by the structural requirements to resist lateral loads due to wind and/or
earthquakes.

During the conceptual stage the role of the services engineer is limited to providing advice on
space allocation for the plant rooms and vertical shaft area requirements within the core and to
nominating a design horizontal zone in the ceiling space.

Integrated approach for floor system design between structure and services - Interaction
between structural designers and mechanical service designers is required for an integrated approach to
floor system design resulting in major cost savings. It is evident that design decisions affecting floor-
to-floor height and core area offer the biggest financial benefits.

Figure 10: Cost benefit of reducing inter-storey height by 100mm

(note: indicative values only, may vary project to project).

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Expressions of a tall building are uniquely affected by the structural systems within them and conversely,
the form and composition of structural systems are dependent on exterior aesthetics and requirement of
space. How well the two systems interact and integrate with each other depends entirely on how well the
architectural designer and structural engineer interact and collaborate. Successful collaboration starts at
the inception of the project at the conceptual level, where different shapes and structural systems can be
brought to bear on the architectural expressions and space concepts. This collaboration should be
extended to other discipline, such as mechanical and electrical engineering services.

To evaluate the effectiveness of optimisation of the structural and mechanical service systems, the cost
breakdown of a typical 55 storey officer tower located in Melbourne, Australia is given in Figure 11.

Figure 11: Cost breakdown of tower (Ref. 1)

Figure 11 clearly illustrates the significance of optimising the floor system and the core element
with the two components contributing to 80% of the total structural cost. ($A34M)

A similar breakdown of the cost of mechanical services is indicated in Figure 12. The biggest impact on
the capital cost of mechanical services is associated with on-floor ductwork.

8 MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

The mechanical systems for buildings consist of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems
(HVAC), domestic water systems, waste water systems and fire protection systems. HVAC systems are

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designed to ventilate spaces and to maintain within the spaces a certain range of temperature and humidity
conditions. The system consists of several basic components: refrigeration, heating, humidification, and
air distribution. The domestic water system consists of an incoming service, water meters and a vertical
and horizontal distribution system. Waste and storm water systems collect water from the building
plumbing fixtures roof and plaza drains, respectively. They carry it to either combined or separate waste
or sanitary sewer system. The purpose of the fire protection system is to provide building users either an
automatic or a manual alarm and fire fighting capability. Manual systems include pull box alarms, hand-
held extinguishers and water risers with both fire hose connections and fire hose cabinets for use by
building personnel and the fire department. Standpipes and fire hose cabinets are always located within a
fire stair enclosure. Automatic systems consist of smoke and fire detectors connected to an alarm system
and automatic sprinkler systems. Electrical systems for buildings consist of high-voltage and low voltage
systems. The high-voltage systems provide power for equipment , lighting and appliances for functional
spaces in the building. The low voltage systems include the telephone system, the public address system
and most of the control systems.

Figure 12: Mechanical services cost breakdown

9 LIFE CYCLE COSTING

A further development to integrated design approach for structural engineer in tall building
application, is to consider life cycle costing for assessing options on a proposed project. Life
cycle costing involves costing the chosen options over the whole of its life. A convenient
measure is to bring the total cost to a present day value.

Many designers base costs of various schemes on initial costs. The disadvantages of this approach are:
Ignores the operating and/or maintenance costs or assumes that these costs are independent of
the initial scheme.
Assumes that all components of the building have the same design life.
Ignores the cost of money
A good example of applying life cycle costing is for the building facade system. Typically a

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lightweight curtain-wall system is cheaper than a precast cladding system in terms of initial cost;
however the design life of the curtain wall system is considerably less than the building design
life and would probably need to be replaced during the life of the building. In addition to the
replacement cost, the maintenance cost associated with curtain wall would also be greater than the
maintenance cost associated with precast cladding. Other factors such as heating and cooling costs for a
building with curtain wall cladding would differ from the corresponding costs associated
with precast cladding. When the above factors are considered it is obvious that costing based on initial
cost is misleading and dangerous.

For tall buildings, which comprises of a large range of components, occupying a very expensive piece of
real estate, life cycle costing is imperative for a clear and accurate assessment.

10 IMPORTANCE OF BUILDABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION SPEED.

The cost of construction often relates more to cost of time than to the cost of materials. This is
particularly applicable to design of tall buildings where large capital funds are tied up for a relatively long
construction period.

The fact that there is no universal rule governing speed of construction creates a further
challenge for the structural engineers. There is now a definite role for the engineer to produce
designs that not only addresses the structure in its permanent state but considers the issue on how it
can be built with efficiency and speed. Both safety and sustainability aspects are important in
planning and designing tall buildings (Ref. 9)

11 REFERENCES
1. Paks M., and Hira A.H., "Multi-disciplinary design approach to the design of tall buildings-the
trend beyond 2001", 3rd Kerensky Engineering, Singapore, July 1994.
2. Paks M. and Hira A.H., "Design and construction of cores for tall buildings- achieving
YQM through multi- disciplinary approach", 40th Anniversary Conference, Gliwice,
Poland, October 1995.
3. Taranath B. S., "Structural analysis and design of tall buildings", McGraw-Hill
Book Company.
4. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 2nd volume of assorted papers, 4th
World Congress, Hong Kong, Nov. 1990.
5. Ali Mir M, "Integration of structural form and aesthetics in tall building design: the future
challenge."4 th World Congress Tall Buildings: 2000 and Beyond, Hong Kong.
6. CTBUH, "Architecture of Tall Building" 1995
7. CTBUH, " Tall Building Structures - A world View". 1996
8. CTBUH (2012) Asia Ascending- Age of the sustainable sky scraper city, proceedings of the
CTBUH 9th World Congress, Shanghai
9. Mendis, P., Safe and sustainable Tall Buildings: Current practice and state of the art, Key-note
Address, CONCET2012, KL, Malaysia, 2012.

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