2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment

2
2.1 Historical development
2.2 Architectural aspects
2.3 Financing models
2.4 Infrastructural aspects
2.5 Economic aspects
2.6 Social and ecological aspects
Page 9
04 THE TOWER OF BABEL
According to the Bible, the Tower of Babel was to
“reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11).
But when the Lord saw what the people had done, He confused their language and scattered them abroad over the face
of all the earth so that they left off building the city.
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
2.1 Historical development
What could be a more appropriate point to begin our con-
sideration of high-rise buildings than with the Tower of
Babel and then to trace their historical development over
the centuries. However, a distinction must be made
between “high buildings” and “high-rise buildings”: “high
buildings” have only a few floors and not uncommonly
only one, albeit very high floor. They are crowned by a
high roof and turrets (in the manner typical of medieval
and Gothic cathedrals). “High-rise buildings”, on the other
hand, have many, usually identical floors of normal height
one above the other. Seen in this light, high-rise buildings
have their origins in the towers of San Gimignano rather
than in the Tower of Babel or ecclesiastical structures.
The first high-rise office building according to this defin-
ition was built in Chicago in 1885: the Home Insurance
Building. It still stands on the corner of La Salle and
Adams Street, a witness of its times. It has twelve floors –
there were originally ten, but two were subsequently
added – and was built in roughly eighteen months. The
architect W. L. B. Jenney used an uncommon new method
for the construction of his building: the weight of the walls
was borne by a framework of cast-iron columns and rolled
I-sections which were bolted together via L-bars and the
entire “skeleton” embedded in the masonry.
The early Equitable Life Building in New York, which was
completed in 1872, also contributed towards the develop-
ment of high-rise buildings, for it was the first tall building
to have an elevator. Although it only had six floors, the
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
edge of the roof was no less than 130 feet (roughly 38 m)
above the road surface. Due to its elevator, the upper
floors were in greater demand than the lower floors. Fol-
lowing completion of the “Equitable” building, it was the
done thing to reside on one of the “top” floors.
Burnham and Roof’s Monadnock building, which was
completed in Chicago in 1891, must also be mentioned as
one of the last witnesses of a whole generation of solid
masonry high-rise buildings. Sixteen floors of robust brick
masonry rise skywards in stern, clear lines: an astonishing
sight to eyes accustomed to the frills and fancies of the
late 19th century. Standing on an oblong base measuring
59 m ҂ 20 m, the building is reminiscent of a thin slice
and not only recalls the industrial brick buildings of the
late 19th century, but also anticipates the formal simplifi-
cation of the later 1920s.
The buildings rose higher and higher with the spread of
pioneering construction methods – such as the steel
skeleton or reliable deep foundation methods – as well
as the invention and development of the elevator. The
highly spectacular skylines of North American cities,
particularly Chicago and New York, originated in the early
years of the 20th century.
Glancing over Manhattan’s stony profile, the silhouettes
dotting the first 12 km of the 22-km-long island bear
vociferous testimony to this dynamic development:
– the World Trade Center, currently the tallest building in
New York, 417 m high,
– the legendary Empire State Building, built in 1931,
381 m,
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history,
technology and the environment

Top left: 05 EQUITABLE LIFE BUILDING

Bottom left: 06 HOME INSURANCE BUILDING

Right: 07 NEW YORK PANORAMA

2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
08 HONGKONGBANK 09 MESSETURM, FRANKFURT AM MAIN
HEADQUARTERS BUILDING, HONG KONG
– the United Nations building erected in 1953, 215 m,
– the Chrysler Building dated 1930, 320 m,
– the former Pan Am Building completed in 1963, 246 m,
– the Rockefeller Center (1931–1940), a complex of
19 buildings,
– the Citicorp Center built in 1978, 279 m, and
– the AT&T Building opened in 1984, a pioneering
building by the post-modern architect Philip Johnson,
with an overall height of 197 m.
It is only recently that attention has also turned to interest-
ing high-rise buildings outside North America: Norman
Foster’s Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Ieoh Ming Pei’s
Bank of China in Hong Kong and the twin tops of the
Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, currently the tallest
building in the world at 452 m.
High-rise buildings in Germany are a modern develop-
ment and are concentrated particularly in Frankfurt am
Main: today, Frankfurt is the only German city with a
skyline dominated by skyscrapers. One of the tallest build-
ings in the city is the Messeturm built in 1991 with a
height of 259 m, which is not much more than half the
height of the Sears Tower in Chicago, currently the tallest
office and business tower in North America with a total
height of 443 m.
It was the rapid growth in population that originally pro-
moted the construction of high-rise buildings. New York
once again provides a striking example: land became
scarce well over a hundred years ago as more and more
European immigrants streamed into the city. From roughly
half a million in 1850, the city’s population grew to
1.4 million by 1899.
More and more skyscrapers rose higher and higher on
the solid ground in Manhattan, as buildings could only be
erected with great difficulty on the boggy land to the
right and left of the Hudson River and East River. In this
way, New York demonstrated what was meant by “urban
densification” despite the considerable doubts originally
voiced by experts in conjunction with this development.
The first area development code to come into force in
New York was the so-called “zoning law” of 1916, accord-
Page 12
ing to which the height of a building must not exceed two-
and-a-half times the width of the road running alongside
the building. The building mass was further limited by the
requirement that the floor space index must not exceed
twelve times the area of the site. Among other things, the
zoning law stipulated that only the first twelve floors of a
building were allowed to occupy the full area of the site
and that all subsequent floors must then recede in zoned
terraces – a requirement of major aesthetic significance,
for this terraced form still dominates the silhouette of
American skyscrapers today.
All doubts as to the profitability of high-rise buildings
were set aside with completion of the Empire State Build-
ing, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers in the
1930s, for they would never have been built if they could
not have turned a profit. Although rentals proceeded slow-
ly at first when the Empire State Building was completed
in the heart of the recession in the 1930s and it was there-
fore known as the “Empty State Building” for many years,
it subsequently generated satisfactory revenues once all
the premises had been let.
Cities in Europe and Asia grew horizontally and it was
only when production and services acquired greater eco-
nomic significance throughout the world and the price of
land rose higher and higher in economic centres after the
Second World War that they also began to grow vertically.
Modern Hong Kong is a striking case in point: it encom-
passes an area of 1,037 km2 (Victoria, Kowloon and the
New Territories), of which only one-quarter has been de-
veloped, but with maximum density and impressive effi-
ciency. Almost all the new buildings, office towers and
particularly residential towers in the New Territories have
more than thirty floors.
2.2 Architectural aspects and urban development today
As the historical development of high-rise buildings has
already shown, the construction of edifices reaching higher
10 PETRONAS TOWERS
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
and higher into the sky was – and to a certain extent
still is – an expression of power and strength. This is
equally true of both ecclesiastical and secular buildings:
the power, strength and influence of entire families – i.e.
their standing in society – is mirrored in the erection of
ever taller buildings culminating in a battle to build. The
towers of San Gimignano are one of the best preserved
examples of this development. In many North African cit-
ies, too, this attitude has moulded the townscape for
many centuries and will no doubt continue to do so in
the future.
The names of the builders and architects have only been
known since the high Middle Ages around 1000 AD. They
created new stylistic elements and added their “signature”
to entire periods. Looking back, this makes it difficult for
us today to decide whether these master craftsmen
shaped the various stylistic developments or whether a
number of master builders only became so well known
because their work reflected the contemporary fashion
trends most accurately. That still holds true today, the only
difference being that tastes change very much more rapid-
ly and “degenerate” into short-lived fashions. A building
that reflects the spirit of the times when it is finished can
appear “old” within only a few years. The brevity of the
various stylistic trends is one of the reasons for the in-
homogeneous appearance of modern towns and cities.
Since architects must expect that later buildings will have
their own, completely different formal identity, they do not
see any reason why they should base their own designs
on existing standards, particularly as this would merely
cause them to be considered “unimaginative”.
Three points become clear if we take a closer look at mod-
ern trends in high-rise construction:
– The dictate of tastes mentioned above is expressive of
the egotism prevalent in modern society with its desire
for status symbols and designer brands. Unfortunately,
the public not uncommonly bows to this dictate, as
when town councillors set aside major urban develop-
ment considerations and with seeming generosity set
up public areas in the form of lobbies and plazas in
high-rise buildings.
– The sheer magnitude of the projects forces all planners
to adopt a scale totally out of proportion to all natural
dimensions and particularly to the people concerned
when planning their buildings. In the past, urban devel-
opment plans were easily drawn up on a scale of 1:100
or at most 1:200, a scale which could still be directly
related to the size of a human being. With today’s high-
rise buildings, however, a scale of at least 1:1000 is
required simply in order to depict the building on paper.
This is illustrated by the example of the Sears Tower
in Chicago: completed in 1974, the Tower measures
443 m in height. Drawn to a scale of 1:2000, a human
being is represented by a minute dot measuring barely
0.9 mm.
– In the past, it was the master builder and architect who
defined the construction and consequently the appear-
ance of a building; today, on the other hand, technical
developments determine what can and cannot be done;
Page 14
the appropriate and basically essential symbiosis
between engineering designer and artist has been aban-
doned.
This critical discourse on the architectural, urban develop-
ment and economic background is not basically to cast
doubt on high-rise buildings as such, but it does illuminate
some of the facets that are central to considering the risk
potential inherent in high-rise buildings.
This almost inevitably raises the question why high-rise
buildings should have to be built in today’s dimensions.
– One reason is indisputably the need for a “landmark”. In
other words, to express economic and corporate power
and domination in impressive visual terms. Nothing has
changed in this respect since the very first high-rise
buildings were erected.
– The steadily rising price of land in prime locations and
an increasingly scarce supply have made it essential to
make optimum use of the air space. Prices in excess of
DM 50,000 per square metre are not uncommon for land
in conurbations and economic centres. Despite their
height, however, high-rise buildings still occupy areas of
truly gigantic proportions: the ratio of height-to-base
width of the cubes in the 417-m-high World Trade Cen-
ter, for example, is 6:1.
– Connections to the infrastructure are improved by con-
centrating so many people in such a small area. The
World Trade Center alone provides jobs for over 50,000
people – that is the equivalent of a medium-sized town.
All institutions of public life are united under a single
roof and the distances between them have been min-
imized.
However, high-rise buildings do little to prevent land being
sealed on a large scale. The suburbs of modern American
cities are a prime example: as far as the eye can see, the
landscape is covered with single-family homes, swimming
pools and artificially designed gardens simply to provide
sufficient private residential land for all the people work-
ing in a high-rise building occupying only a few thousand
square metres.
– Many of the techniques and materials which are also
used for “normal” buildings today would never have
been invented and would never have become estab-
lished if high-rise construction had not presented a
challenge in terms of technical feasibility. Rationalized,
automated sequences are beneficial to high-rise build-
ings; at no time in the past were such huge buildings
erected in such a short space of time. Short construction
periods also mean shorter financing periods and conse-
quently profits which partly compensate for the add-
itional costs incurred in the construction and finishing of
the building.
2.3 Financing models
The construction costs for high-rise buildings often run
into hundreds of millions of dollars. The owner of the
building will rarely be willing or able to bear these costs
11 HIGH DENSITY: HONG KONG SKYLINE
12 FLATIRON BUILDING, NEW YORK
Page 17
without outside assistance. On the other hand, however,
debt service and exhausted credit lines will then constrict
his operative freedom. Alternative financing models are
therefore frequently sought; the best known models are
briefly outlined below.
LEASING
Leasing of buildings, particularly high-rise buildings, can
to a large extent be compared with rentals. This alternative
is commonly chosen when a company finds itself in finan-
cial straits and needs cash. Selling the building – often a
prestige object in a prime location – to a leasing company
is of two-fold advantage to the company: firstly, it acquires
the urgently needed capital, and secondly, it can continue
to use the building in return for a monthly leasing fee
which, however, amounts to no more than a fraction of the
purchase price received.
The composition of corporate assets is changed by such a
transaction. This can be a disadvantage when new loans
are needed, for the building is then no longer shown on
the assets side as a property secured by entry in the land
register.
BOT
BOT stands for “build, operate and transfer” (there are
other variations but these will not be discussed in further
detail here). In the case of this financing model, the owner
of the land places his land at the disposal of a contractor
who then erects a building on it, such as an office tower.
The owner of the land can exert a certain influence on the
planning and intended use, but does not share in the con-
struction costs. The contractor must organize the project’s
financing himself, be it with own funds or with the aid of
loans (“build”).
In return, the owner of the land waives all or some of the
income from occupancy of the building for a certain
period of time, usually 25 years. During this time, the
builder must obtain rents that are calculated to cover his
debt service and draw a profit from the invested capital
(“operate”). The builder’s risk with regard to rents and
debt interest is often considerable. At the end of the
agreed occupancy period, both the land and the office
tower become the property of the landowner (“transfer”).
There are differences between these financing models: al-
though the BOT model grants the landowner the right to
ownership, he is for a long time excluded from occupancy
of the property. With the leasing model, the high capital
investment required is transferred to the lessor and the
financing costs are replaced by monthly payments akin
to rent by the lessee.
DEVELOPER
The developer is a new profession born out of the explo-
sive rise in construction costs which has been intensified
by increasingly large buildings and structures. This was
triggered by urban renewal programmes and changes in
tax regulations for large construction projects for which
new financing models were developed in the USA in the
sixties and seventies.
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
The developer usually draws up what is known as a mas-
ter plan for complete districts and then retains (usually
prominent) architects to design the various components of
the master plan independently of one another. The devel-
oper then seeks to find tenants or lessees for the building
which at this stage only exists on paper. Construction
work begins when tenants or lessees have been found.
La Défense in the Paris Basin is a typical example of such
a development.
This suburb was created on the drawing board in the
1950s. A dilapidated district was demolished and com-
pletely redesigned. The traffic systems, such as Metro,
urban railway, motorway and access roads were moved
below ground level and covered by a concrete slab 1.2 km
long.
Mostly office towers were erected on this slab with open
squares and green areas in between. The ensemble is
rounded off by the Grande Arche de la Défense designed
by the Danish architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and
completed in 1989. The Grande Arche is a huge cube
which is open on two sides with 37 office floors and a
height of 110 m equal to its ground lengths. All the capital
invested on the site came from private sources and was
controlled by a public-law community of interests.
In times of sluggish investment activity, however, it is not
uncommon to find that only certain parts of the master
plan are actually realized. Originally planned as a homoge-
neous townscape, the result is then nothing more than an
unrelated fragment and areas that should have been filled
with life appear to be deserted and uninhabited instead. In
the mid-nineties London’s Docklands provided a dramatic
example of such a development: the transformation of the
West India Docks built between 1802 and 1806 resulted in
what was for a while the highest mountain of debt in the
world with the high-rise obelisk on Canary Wharf. After
having consumed roughly US$ 3bn, the half-finished pro-
ject was temporarily abandoned before finally being com-
pleted and let following a variety of financial transactions.
2.4 Infrastructural aspects
The different fates of La Défense and Canary Wharf are
not (only) due to the extremely different planning periods
of 30 years (La Défense) and 8 years (Canary Wharf), but
above all to the manner in which the necessary infrastruc-
ture for the two projects was tackled.
In the case of La Défense, the entire necessary infrastruc-
ture was completed before the construction work actually
started: underground railway lines and roads, service
systems were all planned and built beforehand. As a re-
sult, a fully functional and above all adequately dimen-
sioned infrastructure was consequently available when the
buildings were taken into service. This made La Défense
attractive to investors and tenants alike; the new district
soon pulsated with life as an economically sound basis for
the entire project.
13 LA GRANDE ARCHE
14 CANARY WHARF
15 TRADITIONAL AND MODERN BUILDINGS IN PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE
Page 21
A jungle of political, economic and investment difficulties
must be overcome for such prospective planning because
the owner of the high-rise complex bears no direct respon-
sibility for the large majority of these far-reaching infra-
structural measures. The project’s progress is consequent-
ly controlled by the municipal authorities, as well as by
supply and operating companies and not by the owner of
the complex.
The situation of Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands
is exactly the opposite and proves that the La Défense
type of planning is the economically more appropriate
approach, despite the associated delay in starting con-
struction work and the longer preliminary financing
required.
A second City of London was to be created in the heart of
the Docklands within the shortest possible space of time,
with thousands of square metres of tailor-made office
space, hotels, shops and apartments for high-income ten-
ants. A rail-bound fully automatic cabin railway known as
the Docklands Light Railway was to ensure the necessary
access.
However, this transport system fell far short of meeting
the requirements, as its capacity was far too low and it
lacked the essential connection to the London Under-
ground. The road connections for private traffic and public
buses were similarly inadequate. This made the Docklands
unattractive to both commercial and private tenants. An
Underground link was finally built after extensive planning
and at the enormous cost of roughly US$ 1.7bn; the road
connections were likewise improved at the cost of almost
US$ 1bn. Only then did the precarious economic situation
of Canary Wharf improve.
As these examples show, almost every high-rise construc-
tion project is doomed to at least economic failure if the
infrastructure is not considered, planned and actually in-
stalled down to the very last detail.
2.5 Economic aspects
Hundreds of companies and thousands of people depend
on the smooth operation of a high-rise building, from the
one-man business of a newspaper vendor or shoeshiner
and corporations with thousands of employees, such as
banks, brokers or global players with a daily turnover in
the order of several billions to radio, television and tele-
communications companies which use the roofs and tops
of high-rise buildings for the transmission and receiving
installations. In addition, there are innumerable other busi-
nesses and workers with their families whose economic
situation is directly or indirectly linked with the high-rise
building. These range from transport companies and
catering firms to tradesmen under long-term contract in
the building.
Nor should it be overlooked that even the municipal au-
thorities and the service companies are also affected by
the “failure” of a high-rise building and that its effects can
be felt nationwide or even worldwide in the worst case.
This scenario not only applies to such total failure as a
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment
major fire or collapse of the building. Despite (or precisely
because of) its size, a high-rise building is an incredibly
sensitive and vulnerable system. Even a brief power fail-
ure can result in operational and economic chaos. The
same applies to outside disturbances in the form of strikes
by public transport corporations or a malfunction in the
underground or urban railway system.
2.6 Social and ecological aspects
Criticism today focuses particularly on the social and eco-
logical effects of high-rise buildings.
The most commonly voiced reservations with regard to
high-rise apartment blocks concern the social aspect. It is
claimed – and there are probably a number of studies to
prove – that cohabitation in high-rise buildings does not
work as smoothly as in homogeneous, historically grown
districts with numerous small, manageable dwellings. The
anonymity suffered by the people in these “residential fac-
tories” is criticized in particular – above all on account of
the total isolation from other residents in order to avoid
the stress of permanent contact.
Organic, homogeneous population structures with their
positive effects on social conduct are rarely found and the
charge that high-rise apartment blocks are hostile to fam-
ilies and children is consequently not entirely unfounded.
Two diametrically opposed ghetto situations can easily
arise in high-rise apartment blocks: since the costs for con-
struction and maintenance of these buildings are dispro-
portionately high, correspondingly high rents must be
charged, with the result that these blocks are more or less
reserved for the well-off, while the socially weaker classes
are excluded. Conversely, however, high-rise apartment
blocks can rapidly cease to be attractive if compromises
are made with regard to the building quality, maintenance
or infrastructure on account of the high investment costs
entailed. A building in disrepair will soon drive away the
“good” tenants and become a slum.
The ghetto situation is intensified when high-rise apart-
ment blocks are built in newly developed fringe areas – far
away from cultural and social centres – on account of the
high cost of land in inner city areas. It is not without good
cause that these areas are commonly referred to as “dor-
mitory towns”.
Studies have also proved beyond all doubt that criminal
activity is promoted by huge apartment blocks and particu-
larly high-rise buildings. According to these studies, this
phenomenon is attributable to the anonymity of the resi-
dents, as well as to the “pro-crime” environment with ele-
vators, poorly lit corridors devoid of human beings, refuse
collection rooms and bicycle garages, laundries and above
all underground parking lots. It is a proven fact that con-
siderably more murders, burglaries, muggings, rapes and
other crimes are committed in such buildings than in resi-
dential areas with smaller rented or private homes.
Not only high-rise apartment blocks have a usually nega-
tive effect on people’s social environment: office towers
are equally disadvantageous. The vertical structure of the
2 High-rise buildings in the course of history, technology and the environment Page 22

buildings simultaneously underlines the vertical hierarchy: the possibility of falling objects. That fear is surely not en-
the location of the office space becomes an indicator of a tirely unfounded, for there have been cases in which parts
company’s “importance” and, if the company occupies of buildings, such as glass panes, have been torn out of
several or all the floors in a high-rise building, it may also their anchorage by strong winds and injured or even killed
be indicative of the employee’s standing in the company. people on the street below.
The company’s top executives reside on the uppermost Our love-hate relationship with high-rise buildings is final-
floors with the best views; the floors below provide a ly also revealed in such recent box-office hits from Holly-
shield and every employee can positively see the distance wood as “Deep Impact”, “Godzilla” or “Independence
between himself and “them up there“. It is therefore not Day”. It seems that their directors simply cannot avoid the
wrong to question whether high-rise office towers are temptation of reducing one of New York’s most beautiful
really appropriate to modern organizational structures buildings – the Chrysler Building – to a smouldering heap
with their emphasis on team work and interdisciplinary of rubble with the help of floods, monsters or meteorites.
cooperation. As a result, these skyscrapers more or less become the
real stars of the film on account of their magic attraction
Excessive energy consumption is a major shortcoming of and immediate recognizability.
high-rise buildings and one which could possibly lead to
their demise one day. High-rise buildings are the farthest
removed from the ideal form as regards energy efficiency
– namely the sphere, or the cube in the case of houses.
That applies to both heating and cooling: some skyscraper
facades have to be cooled by day and heated by night in
order to avoid undue stresses and the resultant damage.
The World Trade Center, for example, consumes some
680,000 kWh/day electricity for air-conditioning during
periods of strong solar irradiation; the Messeturm in
Frankfurt burns up energy worth DM 40 per square metre
of useful floor space for heating and cooling every month.
A well insulated low-energy house, by comparison, uses
energy worth less than DM 1 per square metre. The “energy
balance” of high-rise buildings is also poor in other
respects such as the water supply, which usually only
operates with the aid of booster pumps, as well as in terms
of the disposal systems and operation of the elevators, etc.
From the point of construction economy in general, high-
rise buildings will probably always be the poorest conceiv-
able solution, from the particularly energy-intensive and
therefore expensive construction as such to the dispropor-
tionately high demolition costs. Moreover, high-rise build-
ings are made almost exclusively of materials which a
construction biologist would take great pains to avoid,
namely concrete, steel, light metal, plastics and a wide
variety of chemicals.
Although subjectively unaware of the fact, the residents
are frequently exposed to constant stresses in the form of
pollutant emissions and electrosmog. High-rise buildings
are sometimes described as microcosms; that is no doubt
meant in a positive sense, but the reality is different. The
people in a high-rise building are totally cut off from the
world around them, from wind and weather, from tem-
perature, from smells, sounds and moods. They live in an
artificial world.
At the same time, however, the high-rise buildings also
have a negative effect on the world around them, for they
not uncommonly generate air turbulence and downdrafts
in their immediate vicinity; they can be a source of un-
pleasant reflections and some adjacent areas remain per-
manently in the shade. Illuminated facades and large glass
fronts are a death trap for many birds.
The people outside the high-rise buildings also often have
the feeling that they are being observed or threatened by
16 CHRYSLER BUILDING, NEW YORK
3 Technology of high-rise construction

3
3.1 Planning 3.2 Execution 3.3 Occupancy 3.4 High-rise construction in the future
Page 25
Skyscrapers are gigantic projects demanding incred-
ible logistics, management and strong nerves among
all concerned in their planning and construction.
As long ago as 1928, the American Colonel William
A. Starrett wrote that no peacetime activity bore
greater resemblance to a military strategy than the
construction of a skyscraper.
3 Technology of high-rise construction
3.1 Planning
3.1.1 Planners
The complexity of the trades to be coordinated has be-
come several times greater since then. Take, for example,
the new block built for Südwest-Landesbank in Stuttgart:
many disciplines and different experts were involved sole-
ly in the project planning:
– Architects
– Planning engineers for the supporting structures (engi-
neering design and structural analyses)
– Construction and site management (resident engineer)
– Planning of the technical building services (particularly
heating, ventilation, sanitation, cooling and air-
conditioning)
– Interior designers
– Construction physics and construction biology
– Planning and site management for data networks
– Planning of the lighting and materials handling
– Planning of the electrical and electronic systems
– Planning of the facades
– Surveying engineers
– Geotechnology, hydrogeology and environmental
protection
– Design of outdoor facilities and vegetation
– Surveying of the actual situation in surrounding build-
ings
If we were to include all the contractors and specialists in-
volved in the project as well, the list would probably be
ten times longer. And if we then consider that bankers,
construction authorities, legal advisers and even advertis-
ing agencies or brokers must also be coordinated in the
3 Technology of high-rise construction
course of the entire planning and construction of a sky-
scraper project, it soon becomes clear that highly profes-
sional management is essential for such a project. Project
management companies have come to play an increasing-
ly important role in recent years as they take over the en-
tire organization, structurization and coordination of con-
struction projects. They act as professional representatives
for the client and embody the frequently voiced desire for
the entire project to be coordinated by a single partner.
3.1.2 Regulations and directives
The various laws, regulations, directives and standards in
force must be taken into account when planning and erect-
ing a building. The planning engineers are also obliged to
observe what are known in Germany, for instance, as the
“generally accepted technical rules for construction“; in
other words, generally applicable technical and trade rules
must be taken into account and observed in addition to
the standards and regulations.
Although each country has its own regulations and dir-
ectives governing the construction of high-rise buildings,
they are all basically similar in content with a few differ-
ences depending on the local circumstances. It is standard
practice in some countries to base the bidding and plan-
ning phase for projects on foreign standards (particularly
on the American ANSI Codes and UL Standards, British
Standards or the German DIN standards) or to include var-
ious elements of these foreign standards in the national
system of standards.
As a rule, these regulations are primarily designed to en-
sure personal safety and then to protect the building
against damage and defects. In addition to the require-
ments imposed by public authorities, there are also re-
3 Technology of high-rise construction
quirements imposed by insurance companies with the aim
of ensuring greater protection for property. These require-
ments can be classified in four groups:
FIRE PROTECTION AND OPERATIONAL SECURITY
Many of the construction regulations concern fire protec-
tion. There can be many thousands of people in a high-
rise building at any one time. If a fire breaks out, they
must all be able to leave the building in the shortest
possible space of time and without risk of injury. This is
why regulations concerning the number and execution
of escape routes and fire escapes, fire compartments
and the choice of materials must be observed (see
Section 4.2.5).
Operational security encompasses regulations governing
the safety of elevators and escalators, the execution of
stairs, railings and parapets or the installation of emer-
gency lighting. Some regulations also include CO2 alarm
systems for underground parking lots; indeed, there are
even regulations governing the non-slip nature of floor
coverings in traffic areas, sanitary rooms and kitchens.
STABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION PHYSICS
The regulations governing the stability of a building are
usually met by the requisite structural analyses. In add-
ition to demonstrating the internal structural strength of
the construction and safe transfer of loads to the subsoil,
the stability calculations must also include possible de-
formation due to thermal expansion, wind loads and live
loads or dead weight, for example. This is closely related
with demonstrating the safety of the construction, for in-
stance by taking steps to limit the (unavoidable) cracks in
concrete elements.
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL HAZARDS
The regulations and directives governing protection
against natural hazards are usually closely associated with
the demonstration of stability. Windstorms and earth-
quakes are the most serious natural hazards for high-rise
buildings. As a rule, the assumed loads and design rules
for the “load cases” of earthquake and windstorm will be
specified by the regulations in order to ensure that the
building will withstand windstorms or earthquakes up to
certain load limits. At the same time, this will serve to rule
out the risk of bodily injury due to falling parts of the
building, especially parts of the facade.
SOCIAL ASPECTS AND PROTECTION OF THE SURROUNDINGS
The regulations governing social aspects and protection of
the area surrounding high-rise buildings are designed
above all to prevent any indirect risk or threat to people.
Such regulations may concern planning aspects, such as
the minimum distance between a high-rise building and
neighbouring buildings, or they may take the form of rules
defining the maximum permissible influence that a build-
ing can have on the microcosm surrounding it.
Depending on the location of the high-rise building, cor-
responding statutory instruments may also govern the
effects on air traffic safety or the building’s influence of
radio communications.
Page 26
This exceedingly concise outline of applicable regulations
illuminates only some of the rules to be observed when
building a skyscraper. If all the regulations governing high-
rise construction were to be stacked one on top of the
other in printed form, they would themselves be as high
as a multi-storey building.
3.1.3 Technical analyses and special questions
Planning a high-rise building would be inconceivable
today without the help of experts and technical consult-
ants. Extensive soil analyses are required to determine the
strength of the subsoil before deciding on the location for
a high-rise building. In the majority of cases, cores are
drilled into the load-bearing subsoil to obtain soil samples.
The drilling profile of the geological strata making up the
subsoil and laboratory analyses of the soil samples pro-
vide the basic data for the soil report which is in turn used
as the basis for planning the supporting structures and
choosing a suitable foundation structure with due regard
for the loads exerted by the high-rise building.
The forces acting on the high-rise structure in the event of
an earthquake must be taken into account when erecting
high-rise buildings in areas prone to seismic activity. The
same applies to wind loads and particularly to the dynamic
effects of windstorm or earthquake loads. The additional
vibration loads can result in overall loads of the same
order of magnitude as the load exerted by the dead
weight of the structure. The situation is particularly critical
if the vibrations reach the resonant frequency of the build-
ing: in such a case, the vibrations can intensify until the
entire building collapses. The collapse of the Tacoma
Bridge in Washington State, USA, was probably the most
spectacular case of destruction due to resonant vibration
in a man-made structure.
In many cases, these effects cannot be determined by or-
dinary computation. Even computer simulation cannot al-
ways help. Sometimes a decisive element may be lacking
to obtain a mathematical approximation; in other cases,
the computer may be too slow or the storage capacity in-
adequate.
This frequently makes it necessary to carry out model
experiments in a scientific laboratory. Models of the high-
rise buildings are exposed to artificial earthquakes on a vi-
bratory table or subjected to a simulated hurricane in the
wind tunnel. A detailed knowledge of mathematics and
physics is necessary to ensure that the same physical
properties and serviceable results are obtained despite the
reduction in scale. For this reason, these studies can only
be carried out by highly specialized test institutes.
3.1.4 Construction licensing procedure
The construction licensing procedure is normally specified
in the construction laws of the country concerned. As a
rule, the principal will file an application with all the requis-
ite documents (description, plans, analyses, etc.) to the
relevant construction supervisory authority. The involve-
ment of specialists is obligatory in the case of larger and
more complicated projects, such as those involving high-
17 DETAILS FROM PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Next page: 18 EXTRACT FROM A TECHNICAL
REPORT
3 Technology of high-rise construction Page 28
Page 29 3 Technology of high-rise construction

rise buildings. Such specialists include experts from the

municipal fire brigade, water authorities, trade supervisory
offices, environment protection agencies or similar offices
in other specific fields.
These specialists review the applications for a construction
licence and specify any additional requirements to be met.
The licence is then sent to the principal together with the
requirements specified by the specialists; responsibility for
complying with these requirements rests with the principal
or owner of the building.

3.1.5 Other constraints

Even in our high-tech era, the planning and construction

19 OPENING IN AN APARTMENT COMPLEX ALLOWING NEGATIVE VIBES TO PASS
THROUGH
of a high-rise building are not dictated only by naked fac-
tual constraints. Tradition, religion and even the belief in
spirits and demons still play a not insignificant part in
many countries.
Take, for example, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank
building in Hong Kong: during the planning phase, a geo-
mancer or expert on “fung shui” (i.e. “wind and water“)
repositioned the escalators and moved executive offices
and conference rooms to the other side of the building on
the basis of astrological investigations and measurements
in order to guarantee an optimum sense of well-being for
clients and employees. However, it must be said that such
intervention is limited by technical and structural require-
ments.
In western countries, too, the owners are guided by
similar considerations when the 13th floor is omitted
from the planning or the technical installations are deliber-
ately located on this floor in order to avoid the unlucky
number 13.
Page 31
3.2 Execution
3.2.1 Foundations
Although the foundations are out of sight once the build-
ing is completed, they are of immense importance for en-
suring that the dead weight and live loads of the building
are safely transmitted to the native subsoil.
These loads are not inconsiderable. The dead weight of a
high-rise building can amount to several hundred thou-
sand tonnes. This value may be exceeded several times
over by the live loads which are taken as the basis for de-
signing the building and include the loads from equipment
and furnishings, people or moving objects, as well as wind
or earthquake loads. Moreover, these loads often exert dif-
ferent pressures on the subsoil, thus resulting in uneven
settlement of the building. In order to avoid such develop-
ments where possible, these buildings must be erected on
subsoil of high load-bearing capacity, such as solid rock.
Yet even if a strong native subsoil is found near the sur-
face, shallow foundations will frequently be disregarded in
favour a system that transfers the load to deeper layers on
account of the high bending moments to be absorbed
from horizontal forces.
This can be done in several ways. One is to produce round
or rectangular caissons which are lowered to the required
depth and bear the foundation structure. Pile foundations
are probably the most widely used method, however. The
piles can either be prefabricated and then inserted in the
native soil or they can be produced on site in the form of
concrete drilling piles. Which method is chosen will ultim-
ately depend on both the structural concept and the soil
20 LARGE-BORE PILE FOUNDATION PROCESS
Bottom: VARIOUS STAGES IN THE DIAPHRAGM WALL PROCESS
21 Following page: DIAPHRAGM WALL ROTARY CUTTER
3 Technology of high-rise construction
conditions prevailing on site. Drilling piles in a whole var-
iety of forms can be used when working with large pile
diameters and very long piles. Modern equipment can
easily ram piles measuring up to 2 m in diameter to
depths of well over 50 m. The piles are then combined
into appropriate pile groups in accordance with the loads
to be transmitted by the building.
Although the load-bearing capacity can be roughly calcu-
lated on the basis of soil characteristics, the maximum
permissible pile load is determined by applying test loads
to the finished piles with the aid of hydraulic presses and
comparing the resultant settlement with the permissible
settlement.
Diaphragm walls are another means of producing deep
foundations. These walls are produced directly in the
ground and are between 60 and 100 cm thick. They are
produced in sections with the aid of special equipment
and a stabilizing bentonite slurry. The result is a continu-
ous wall in the ground. This method is used in particular
when subsoil of high load-bearing capacity is only found
at considerable depth.
Diaphragm walls and piles are also used to safeguard the
foundation pit required for construction of the under-
ground part of the building. The effort entailed can be con-
siderable, particularly if the neighbouring buildings are
very close. Rotating drills are mostly used today to minim-
ize vibrations when installing the retaining wall. Founda-
tion pits can easily be produced to depths of 30 m or more
using this method.
3 Technology of high-rise construction Page 34

22 RETAINING WALL TO PROTECT NEIGHBOURING BUILDINGS

23 VIEW OF A BUILDING PIT WITH COMPLETED RETAINING WALL