High-rise buildings

VIIth Semester ABCM

Introduction

Source:
www.archdaily.
com
High-rise building

● The high-rise building is generally defined as one that

is taller than the maximum height which people are
willing to walk up; it thus requires mechanical vertical
transportation.
● This includes a rather limited range of building uses,
primarily residential apartments, hotels, and office
buildings, though occasionally including retail and
educational facilities.
● A type that has appeared recently is the mixed-use
building, which contains varying amounts of
residential, office, hotel, or commercial space. High-
rise buildings are among the largest buildings built,
and their unit costs are relatively high; their
commercial and office functions require a high degree
of flexibility.
 ROME ARABS CHINA YEMEN

1 AD 11th Century 14th Century 16th Century

Competition entry inspired by a

11th century high-rise Competition entry inspired by a
Ostia Model Apartments apartments in old city of Sana, traditional vertical chinese
Yemen village Shibam, Yemen
● Throughout subsequent history there have been other tall
structures — pyramids and towers, castles and cathedrals —
but it was not until the end of the 19th century that the
skyscraper was born
● Urban landscapes tended to be flat and uniform in pattern,
apart from monuments, temples, and town halls; and cathedrals
(adorned with domes, spires, or towers) which “ towered above
everything else in a city or town; they were visible from miles
away. ”
● The first high-rise buildings were constructed in the United States
in the 1880s. They arose in urban areas where increased land
prices and great population densities created a demand for
buildings that rose vertically rather than spread horizontally, thus
occupying less precious land area.
The 10-story Home Insurance
Building constructed in 1885 in
steel, is generally considered the
world’s first skyscraper.
 This new method of construction reduced the thickness of walls, increased
valuable floor space, and because it weighed much less than masonry, allowed
immense increases in height.

Freed from the constraints of traditional construction, the facade could now be
opened with windows to maximize the amount of daylight reaching the interior
of the building.Another factor that helped to make high-rises possible was the
foundation upon which they stood. Modern builders had to switch to another
ancient method, the Roman use of piles, which were driven into the ground all
the way to the bedrock.
Monadnock building 1889
Two major developments led to the skyscrapers that dominate major city
skylines throughout the modern world:

1. In 1853, an American, Elisha Graves Otis, invented the world’s first

safety lift or elevator.

2. In the 1870s, steel frames became available, gradually replacing the

weaker combination of cast iron and wood previously used in
construction. Until then, the walls had to be very thick to carry the weight
Demonstration of first of each floor..
safety lift by Elisha Otis
Called as the first modern residential-cum-hotel skyscraper,
(41 stories, 165 metres) rapidly became the prototype for a
new lifestyle.

By the early thirties, New York had about 150 skyscrapers of

this type. This model was exported to other cities and other
continents.

In 1934, the Park Hotel was built in Shanghai on the same

principle of small apartments with hotel service — 22 stories
high and tower-shaped.

In Buenos Aires the Kavanagh, at 33 stories the highest

skyscraper of the period to be built in reinforced concrete, is
a residential tower.

Skyscrapers began to appear in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sao

Paulo, and other major Asian and Latin American cities in
the 1930s, with Europe and Australia joining in by mid- Park Hotel Shanghai 1934 Ritz Tower New York 1926
century.
High-rise buildings are enclosed by curtain walls; these are non-load-bearing sheets of glass,
masonry, stone, or metal that are affixed to the building’s frame through a series of vertical and
horizontal members called mullions and muntins.

The principal means of vertical transport in a high-rise is the elevator. It is moved by an

electric motor that raises or lowers the cab in a vertical shaft by means of wire ropes. Each elevator
cab is also engaged by vertical guide tracks and has a flexible electric cable connected to it that
provides power for lighting, door operation, and signal transmission.

Because of their height and their large occupant populations, high-rises require the careful
provision of life-safety systems. Fire-prevention standards should be strict, and provisions for
adequate means of egress in case of fire, power failure, or other accident should be provided.
Although originally designed for commercial purposes, many high-rises are now planned for
multiple uses. The combination of office, residential, retail, and hotel space is common
 Source: www.youtube.com

Three generations
of high-rise
buildings
First Generation
Exterior walls- Stone/ Brick (sometimes cast iron was added for decorative purposes)

Columns- cast iron, often unprotected

Beams- Steel and wrought iron (no standards for the protection of steel)

Floors- wood.

Elevator shafts were often unenclosed.

Means of escape- a single stairway usually protected at each level by a metal-plated

wooden door.
Second Generation
Framed structures, in which a skeleton of welded- or riveted-
steel columns and beams, often encased in concrete, runs
through the entire building.

This type of construction makes for an extremely strong

structure, but not such attractive floor space. The interiors are
full of heavy, load-bearing columns and walls.

The Metropolitan Life Building (1909)

The Woolworth Building (1913)

The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building (1931)
1931
Second Generation
Fireproofing of steel using concrete or tiles.

Relatively small floor areas for light and ventilation.

Wet masonry of bricks with fire stops

Vertical shafts in masonry with fire-proof

door/windows in openings

Exterior staircase towers with atmospheric break

Some drawings of the Empire State building Source:

www.pinterest.com
Third Generation- Post WWII
Steel-framed Core Steel-framed Tube Reinforced Concrete
construction construction construction
Lightweight steel or reinforced concrete Use of tubes to facilitate construction of The first of substantial development in
frames, with exterior all-glass curtain ultra-tall tall buildings and yet remain concrete construction was the introduction
walls (supported by the frame). strong enough to resist the lateral forces of of shear wall as a means of stiffening
winds and the effects of an earthquake. concrete frames against lateral deflection
Curtain walls consist of thin, vertical (results of wind or earthquake loads)
metal struts or mullions, which encase the Tube construction used load-bearing
large glass panels constituting most of the exterior or perimeter walls to support the the shear wall acts as a narrow deep
wall surface. weight of the building. cantilever beam to resist lateral forces.

Most building utilities and services — Elimination interior columns, with the Concrete requires no additional
stairway shafts (stairwells); passenger and result of more open floor space. fireproofing treatments to meet stringent
service/freight elevator shafts; HVAC, fire codes, and performs well during both
toilets are enclosed in this central core. natural and manmade disasters.
The core braces the building against wind.
Third Generation- Post WWII
Steel-framed Core Steel-framed Tube Reinforced Concrete
construction construction construction
 Structural
systems of High-
rise buildings

Source:
www.archdaily.
com
 Wind Loads
● Maximum 100-year-interval wind
forces differ considerably with
location; in the interiors of
continents they are typically about
100 kilograms per square metre
(20 pounds per square foot) at
ground level.
● In coastal areas, where cyclonic
storms such as hurricanes and
typhoons occur, maximum forces
are higher, ranging upward from
about 250 kilograms per square
metre (50 pounds per square foot).
● Wind forces also increase with building height to a constant or gradient value as the effect of ground
friction diminishes. The maximum design wind forces in tall buildings are about 840 kilograms per
square metre (170 pounds per square foot) in typhoon areas.
● The effect of wind forces on tall buildings is two-fold. A tall building may be thought of as a
cantilever beam with its fixed end at the ground; the pressure of the wind on the building causes it to
bend with the maximum deflection at the top.
● In addition, the flow of wind past the building produces vortices near the corners on the leeward side;
these vortices are unstable and every minute or so they break away downwind, alternating from one
side to another.
● The change of pressure as a vortex breaks away imparts a sway, or periodic motion, to the building
perpendicular to the direction of the wind.
● Thus, under wind forces there are several performance criteria that a high-rise structure must meet.
The first is stability—the building must not topple over; second, the deflection, or sidesway at the
top, must not exceed a maximum value (usually taken as 1/500 of the height) to avoid damage to brittle
building elements such as partitions; and, third, the swaying motion due to vortex shedding must not
be readily perceptible to the building occupants in the form of acceleration, usually stated as a
fraction of gravity, or g.
 Earthquake Loads
Earthquake or seismic forces, unlike wind forces, are generally ● Use of shear walls
confined to relatively small areas, primarily along the edges of the slowly ● Use of Seismic
moving continental plates that form the Earth’s crust. Protection Systems in
Foundation
When abrupt movements of the edges of these plates occur, the energy ● Designing of Skeleton
released propagates waves through the crust; this wave motion of the to resist load
Earth is imparted to buildings resting on it.

Timber frame buildings are light and flexible and are usually little
damaged by earthquakes; masonry buildings are heavy and brittle and are
susceptible to severe damage.

Continuous frames of steel or reinforced concrete fall between these

extremes in their seismic response, and they can be designed to survive
with relatively little damage.
Earthquake Loads
 MEP Services in High-Rise buildings
This high visibility demands that those involved in the planning, design and development of supertalls
be fully aware of the challenges that exist in this building typology, and of the opportunities available
to dramatically enhance performance through a deeper understanding of
the role that Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing & Fire Protection (MEP/FP) engineering systems play
in the fulfillment of the owner's project objectives, the support of an architectural vision, and the
realization of a project within budget.

Building Codes play an important role in stabilizing carbon emissions from new buildings, while
related regulatory, voluntary or market driven initiatives will fuel increased efficiencies in the existing
building sector.
The design of complex, supertall buildings requires an MEP/FP engineer to work collaboratively with
the architect and vertical transportation consultant to organize the building into independent, vertically
stacked zones, frequently reflecting the functional occupancies found in a mixed-use building. These
vertical zones facilitate the organization of MEP/FP equipment into manageable capacities and
working pressures that can be constructed and
operated efficiently.
 Stacking
The first step in the realization of a highly sustainable supertall building is
the planning of MEP equipment rooms and vertical riser pathways, in
close coordination with the project architect and structural engineer.
Dedicated Technical floors establish vertical
zones extending up the height of the tower.

These floors can be single height, serving a single zone immediately

above or below; double height, serving zones above and below, or even
triple height with a mezzanine to accommodate oversize equipment
including air handlers, electrical transformers and water storage tanks.

Technical floor planning typically includes accommodation of structural

and architectural elements, including outriggers, belt trusses and transfer
systems, elevators, sky lobbies and life safety areas of refuge.

Greenland Tower, Chengdu

 Mechanical Systems
It is common for a single technical floor to support between 15-20 floors, either above or below its
location. Technical floor spacing beyond these parameters will increase losses from friction and
gravity forces, which diminish energy performance and give rise to ongoing operation and
maintenance issues.

Outdoor ventilation is introduced into technical floors via outdoor air louvers, and distributed within
the core of the building at each floor, where it is supplied to occupied spaces.

In residential and hospitality buildings, ventilation is supplied either via vertical shafts located in
each living unit or corridors, and is coordinated with exhaust shaft requirements for bathrooms,
kitchens, and laundries. The opportunity for energy recovery from these exhaust air streams is
maximized by locating air handling units alongside exhaust fans to facilitate the installation of an
enthalpy wheel between the intake and exhaust air-streams.
 Mechanical Systems
This can be achieved by stacking fans on top of one
another or side by side. For supertall buildings, this
fan placement can pose height clearance or floor space
challenges within constrained technical floors.

Sufficient space is required to ensure that outdoor air

and exhaust louvers are placed on the exterior of the
building with sufficient separation to avoid the cross-
contamination of intake and exhaust air streams.

A triple height technical floor configuration

(or two adjacent 1.5X height floors) can normally
achieve this.
Mechanical Systems
When choosing a ventilation system, the
following factors are taken into account:

● height and number of floors of the

building;
● location of the building;
● environmental noise level;
● the degree of pollution of outdoor air.

Ventilation of basement rooms is one of the

factors ensuring the proper operation of the
entire ventilation system. For the natural
circulation of air masses in the basement in its
walls are special holes. This not only reduces
the humidity at the bottom of the house, but
also creates traction in the mines.
Stack Effect in High-Rise
Stack effect occurs in two modes, driven by the natural buoyancy of air, and
the relative difference in the properties of indoor and outdoor air.

During the heating season, indoor air rises upward across what is
referred to as the neutral plane, creating a negative pressure at the base of the
tower, and drawing cold air in through lobbies and out of the top floors of the
building.

The effect is reversed during the cooling season, with cool air dropping inside
of the building, spilling out of the base of the tower, and resulting in uneven
cooling loads along the height of the tower, if left uncontrolled.

Because all air that crosses the thermal envelope of a building is subjected to
heating and cooling requirements as controlled by the
buildings thermostats, results in wasted energy.
Stack Effect in High-Rise
Building stacking and the separation of Mechanical systems into
smaller segments are key strategies employed to minimize the
pressure difference along the height of tall shafts.

The design of independent mechanical systems to pressurize elevator

vestibules is critical to balancing the pressure differences in elevator
shafts from elevator movements, improving the overall energy
performance and functionality of a supertall.

A recent design for a pair of supertall residential towers in the

Yongsan District of Seoul, Korea proposed an external “stack effect
shaft”, enhancing available natural airflow. The design enabled
residents to cross ventilate their apartments through the use a
naturally ventilated mullion system with a connected “stack effect
shaft” which collected exhaust air from multiple units on a floor.
Heating and Cooling
Systems
Gensler and engineering firm Cosentini Associates, in New
York, divided the tower into nine zones, each 12 to 15 floors in
height, and fitted it with two chiller plants, one in a sub-
basement and the other in a mechanical space spanning the 82nd
and 83rd floors.
Each of the nine zones also has its own ventilation system,
water heaters, and electrical transformers. By doing so, the
designers eliminated the need for a massive chiller plant in the
upper reaches of the building and reduced the load on the pumps
at grade.
Zones also allow HVAC systems to operate with much-needed
flexibility. Ambient air temperature changes with altitude, and
for supertalls, the change can be substantial. At the Shanghai
Tower, the air surrounding the upper floors will be as much as 6
F colder than that at grade.
Heating and Cooling
Systems
A cam-shaped exterior with a semi-fritted-glass
curtain wall wraps the building, inside of which rise
21 air-conditioned atria, ranging from 10 to 14
floors tall, that feature restaurants and other
amenities.

The net effect is a blanket of chilled air that reduces

the cooling load of the building core, where the
hotel and offices are located, and does double duty
as a passive cooling element.

Thanks in large part to the double skin, the building

uses 21 percent less energy than if it had a
conventional HVAC system.
Heating and Cooling
Systems
At 120 stories or more, the pressure differential can be massive, creating
uneven demand for heating and cooling and forcibly jamming elevator
doors shut.

The typical solution of using air pressure–preserving features, such as

revolving doors, must be taken to an extreme in supertalls: Some structures
have vestibules at every stairwell and elevator lobby.

Beyond the specialized technology and equipment, the key to comfort in a

supertall is a holistic design approach that embeds a heating and cooling
strategy at the center of the planning.

Supertalls have to be developed and integrated as an integral design. The

coordination and organization of systems have to be hand in hand with the
structure from the start.
References and Further Reading
https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-042513-150621/unrestricted/Giatas.pdf

https://booksite.elsevier.com/samplechapters/9781856175555/02~Chapter_1.pdf

https://www.bbva.com/en/can-50-story-high-rise-survive-earthquake/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMPR7flpf4

https://buildings.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/lbnl-43642.pdf

https://en.decorexpro.com/ventilyaciya/v-mnogokvartirnom-dome/

https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/how-to-heat-and-cool-a-supertall_o

Wind and Earthquake in High Rise buildings- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agAOoGI4pWs

Seismic protection systems- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1NWtVaTg7I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xqps5t3ZWI