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Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47

Sustainable Development of Civil, Urban and Transportation Engineering Conference

Design Transformation for the Sustainability of

High-Rise Residential Buildings
Le Minh Ngoa,*
a
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Ton Duc Thang University, 19 Nguyen Huu Tho, District No7, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam

Abstract

The design of high-rise residential buildings in Shanghai has been changing in recent years. This transformation encompassed the
changes in: building shape, floor plan composition, the number of apartments on each floor, the functionality of each apartment
and living habits. Gianfranco Caniggia’s architectural composition and building typology methodology was used to study
Shanghai’s architectural transformation. The author has found the following trends: 1. Shanghai’s high-rise residential buildings
are increasingly following the trend of combined apartment buildings that leads to high economic benefit; 2. Auxiliary area,
shared between apartments, are accounting for larger portion of a typical floor plan (additional 12-18% of external auxiliary
area). Understanding the causes and effects of this transformation in design will provide valuable lessons for other developing
metropolitans in China and other countries in the region.
© 2016
2016Published by Elsevier
The Authors. Ltd.by
Published This is an open
Elsevier Ltd.access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016
Keywords: Shanghai; combined apartment building; transformation; floor plan

1. Introduction

Caniggia laid the foundation for morphology analysis of architectural transformation [1]. This methodology
focuses on the analysis of formation and transformation of both buildings and structural components. In floor plan
design, there are four levels of analysis: structural, apartment, urban area, and the region [2]. In this study,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +84 966 347766

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-7058 © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.02.011
 Le Minh Ngo / Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47 43

morphology analysis methodology is applied to study the geometric structure and floor plan design of high-rise
residential buildings in Shanghai during its developmental periods.
In Shanghai (China), from the 1990s to present day, high-rise residential buildings have grown rapidly as a result
of multicipal development policies associated with the market economy. The advantages of high-rise housing
include: land saving, larger construction area, can accommodate larger population, higher social investment
effectiveness, better location and more convenient transportation. However, high-rise buildings requires much
higher capital investment in comparison to multiple storey buildings due to higher cost of elevator system,
emergency exit, public transportation, management works and other complex devices.
Typically, Shanghai high-rise buildings have relatively enclosed exterior layers, especially the one that is facing
the North direction [3]. All windows, doors, balcony, and corridor are made of reinforced glass to withstand strong
wind. This feature is the remarkable characteristic that distinguishes Shanghai high-rise buildings from South China
regions and Hanoi.

Fig. 1. A high-rise residential building in Pudong, Shanghai [4]

2. The transformation of floor plan design of high-rise apartment buildings

Before 1995, high-rise apartment buildings in Shanghai were almost single tower-shaped buildings. From 1995
up to now, the design has changed from residential tower-shaped buildings into combined apartment buildings. This
is the first transformation in the building shape. This floor plan design achieves better solar radiation, reduced heat
losses and better natural ventilation. With small depth, the desgin also possesses other advantages such as: better
utilization of natural light (instead of artificial light), ease on design arrangement, and improved privacy for the
residents. Bedrooms, living rooms are arranged to face the South direction and other rooms to face the opposite
direction.
According to Shanghai Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, combined apartment building is at least
nine floors high. It consists of many individual departments with each block has its own stair and elevator. The
combined apartment building has two edges: the long edge is facing the North-South direction to obtain more
sunlight in cold weather; the other one is facing the East-West direction [4].
The “1T2” design, a floor plan that has two apartments sharing one intersection, was popular in the first period
of combined apartment building development. In the “1T2” design, shown in Fig. 3, the two apartments share an
elevator and exist stairs.
44 Le Minh Ngo / Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47

Fig. 2. Combined apartment building plan, 18 floorsp [5] Fig. 3. The structure “1T2” design [7]

In Shanghai, most of the residents desire small apartments (60 – 70m2), while the upper class needs larger
apartments (120 – 150m2). In 2006, to control the rocketing housing prices, China’s central government issued the
"7090 policy", a macro-control measure regulated that small apartments of less than 90m2 must account for at least
70% of the total space of new residential housing development projects. As a result, most of the apartments in high-
rise buildings constructed during the implementation of the "7090 policy" do not meet the demand of Shanghai’s
residents. After the “7090” policy was postponed by China’s Ministry of Construction, Shanghai developers have
been building smaller apartments to meet the real housing demand.
Economic, lifestyle and living habit changes also drove the transformation of high-rise residential building to
smaller apartment design. As apartment prices are rocketing, young employees can only afford to purchase smaller
apartments. Modern lifestyle causes many generations to share the same residence which directly affects the number
of rooms and their functionality. Living habit has changed in the last decades where Shanghainese now prefer to
gather at their offices, restaurants, bars, clubs, or other more convenient public places rather than at home. Home
gradually becomes a quiet, discreet and private place. Activities at home mostly happen in the bedroom, kitchen and
dining room. As a result, the living room area as well as the size of the whole apartment is gradually reduced [6].

Fig.4. Combined apartment building plan, designed 2009. Each apartment has an area of 58, 80, and 85m 2 [7]

Apart from “1T2” design mentioned above, the new designs - “1T3”, “1T4”, “1T6”, or “1Tn” designs – have also
been developed in Shanghai to meet the diverse housing demand. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. show the floor plan of “1Tn”
design.
Typical features of “1Tn” design:
 Le Minh Ngo / Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47 45

x “1Tn” design has additional closet, smaller bedroom, living rooms and auxiliary space than “1T2” design.
x “1Tn” design still ensures natural ventilation because natural ventilation is supported by ventilation slots
created between continuous apartments and arranged in the South direction of the building.
x All apartments have natural light illumination for at least two hours per day. However, natural light
illumination of apartments in the North can be limited in the “1T6” or “1T8” design.
x The design focuses on high-rise building between 18 to 34 floors in order to achieve the highest economic
benefits.

Fig. 5. Summary of structure “1Tn” design

Fig. 6. Eight combined apartment building floor plan [7]

3. Case study of Shanghai combined apartment building

Tongji University of Architectural Design and Research Institute studies the design of high-rise buildings in
Shanghai and other cities in China. The followings are their new findings on the design of combined apartment
building [3]:

Two apartments floor (1T2): two large high-end apartments (167m2 and 174m2 respectively) sharing two
elevators (i.e. one elevator per apartment).
46 Le Minh Ngo / Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47

Fig. 7. Two combined apartment building plan (1T2 design), designed 2010 [7]

The floor plan has three areas: utilization area, auxiliary area, and structural area. Utilization area is the total
living spaces of each apartment. Auxiliary area is the total external space including staircase, corridor, and
emergency exit. Structural area is calculated by summing all wall and column spaces. With this arrangement, each
apartment shares an equal public area and the price of the apartment must cover the shared public space. Generally,
in Shanghai, each apartment is charged 12-18% more for external auxiliary area, in some cases amount to over 20%.

Three apartments floor (1T3): 22-floor building, each floor has three apartments (101, 148, 154m2 respectively).
Each apartment has two bedrooms, two main rooms, one or two toilets.

Fig. 8. Three combined apartment building plan (1T3 design) [7]

Four apartments floor (1T4): 34-floor building, each floor has four apartments (two 138.5m2 apartments and two
93m2 apartments, with the total floor space of 926m2).

x 138.5m2 apartment has three bedrooms, two main rooms, and two toilets. This apartment has 114m2 of
utilization area and 24.5m2 of auxiliary area (17.7% of total area).
x 93m2 apartment has two bedrooms, two main rooms, and one toilet. This apartment has 76m2 of utilization area,
and 17m2 of auxiliary area (18.2% of total area).
 Le Minh Ngo / Procedia Engineering 142 (2016) 42 – 47 47

Fig. 9. Four combined apartment building plan (1T4 design) [7]

These case studies shed light on the transformation of high-rise residential building design in terms of apartment
layout, architectural features and building materials. Lessons learned from Shanghai transformation will allow to
create an energy efficient and economic effective solution to sustainable housing and social development.

4. Conclusions

The demand for an energy efficient and economic effective solution to sustainable housing and social
development was the main driver of the transformation of Shanghai high-rise residential apartment building design.
This transformation is critical to meet diverse needs of current residents as well as people from all over the world
currently living and working in Shanghai.
Over the last decades in Shanghai, the most significant transformation in high-rise residential apartment building
design was the change from residential tower-shaped buildings into combined apartment buildings, followed by the
change in floor plan composition, and the number of apartments on each floor. In addition, we also see changes in
apartment functionalities and resident living habits.
On the typical floor plan, auxiliary area (staircase, elevator, corridor, technical box) is shared between
apartments. Even though the auxiliary space has been reduced significantly over recent years in Shanghai, it still
accounts for 12-18% of total apartment area. Shanghai experience shows that high-rise residential building
developers utilize both “1Tn” and “1T2” designs in combined apartment buildings. Apartment with different size,
ranging 60m2 to 300m2, are constructed and offered to home buyers to meet their diverse needs.
Understanding the causes and effects of this transformation in the design will provide valuable lessions for other
developing metropolitans in China and other countries in the region.

References

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