VERTICAL STRUCTURES

AR 209: Structure and Architecture

7th November 2023
 Vertical Structural System

Collect load from horizontal planes stacked upon one

another in height and transfer vertically them to the
ground is vertical structural systems.

Buildings of 14 storeys or 50 metres’ height and above could be

considered as “tall buildings”;
Buildings of 300 metres’ and 600 metres’ height and above are
classifed as “supertall buildings” and “mega-tall buildings”
respectively.
Ali, M. and Armstrong, P., Architecture of Tall Buildings, Council on Tall Buildings and
Urban Habitat Committee (CTBUH), New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1995 .

• Predominantly vertical
• Firmly anchored in ground
• Secured against gravity and lateral loads
• Service Core integration
 Tall Structure

Driving Forces to increase in the height of buildings:

a) Shortage and high cost of urban land

b) To prevent disorderly urban expansion
c) Advanced materials
d) Advanced tools & technology for construction, serviceability and maintenance
e) Better understanding of structure system
f) Desire to go high
 Tall Structure

Challenges:
a) Tall structures are vulnerable to wind and earthquake induced lateral loads
b) Occupancy comfort (serviceability) are also among the foremost design
inputs
c) Successful integration of Service core - functional and structural
d) Excessive building sway due to wind can cause damage to non-structural
elements, the breakage of windows
 TRANSMISSION OF LATERAL FORCES

1 2 1 2 1 2
Arch System Truss System Bending System

1. Additive
2. Integral
 Vertical Structural System

Form-active girder Vector-active girder Bulk-active girder

Vertical Load Transmission through vertical / horizontal members in

combination of Form active, Vector Active, Bulk Active and Surface Active
 Tall Structure

Flat Slab
Without and with column capitals
Premium of heights

Core System

Shear Wall System

 HSBC Hong Kong

Exoskeleton Structure

Architect: Lord Norman Foster and Partners

Client: Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation (HSBC)
Gross Floor Area: 99000m2
Completion Year: 1985
Height: 179 m
Cost US$: 5.2 billion
Lifts: 10
HSBC Building
 STRUCTURAL CONCEPT

Typical Floor plan of HSBC Section

The building features eight masts, each consisting of four

columns, supporting five discrete double-storey height steel
suspension structures which span 33.5m between the masts
and cantilever 10.7m beyond them. This system carries all the
structural loads and allows the creation of a spectacular
column-free ground floor level.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS OF HIGHRISE BUILDINGS
Structural Concept
 Rigid Frames

Outrigger Braced Hinged

Structures Frames

Internal Structure of
Highrise

Shear Wall (or

Shear Shear Truss) +
Wall + Shear Wall
Frame
Rigid Hinged Frames
Frames Interaction
System

Braced
Rigid
Frames
TYPES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Committee (CTBUH)

 TYPES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)
Sub· Material Efficient
Category Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
Category Configuration Height Limit

1.860 & 880 Lake Shore

Drive Apartments
(Chicago, USA, 26
stories,82m),
Expensive moment 2. Business Men's
Provide flexibility in
connections. Assurance Tower
Steel 30 floor planning.
Expensive fire (Kansas City, USA, 19
Fast construction.
proofing. stories),
Rigid 3. Seagram Building,
-
Frames 30th to the top floor
(New York, USA, 38
stories, 157 m)

Provide flexibility in 1. Ingalls Building

Expensive formwork.
Concrete 20 floor planning. (Cincinnati,USA, 16
Slow construction.
Easily moldable. stories,65 m)

Efficiently resist
lateral loads by axial
Interior planning
forces in the shear
Braced Steel Shear limitations due to
truss members.
Hinged - Trusses + Steel 10 diagonals in the shear High-rise buildings
Allows shallower
Frames Hinged Frnmes trusses. Expensive
beams compared
diagonal connections.
with the rigid frames
without diagonals
 Rigid frame systems

Lever House, New York, 1952

 TYPES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)
Sub· Material Efficient
Category Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
Category Configuration Ht Limit

1.77 West Wacker Drive

Shear Wall+ Concrete Shear Effectively resists Interior planning
(Chicago, 50 Fl. 204 m),
Hinged - Wall + Steel 35 lateral shear by limitations due to
2.Casselden Place (Melbourne,
Frames Hinged Frnme concrete shear walls. shear walls.
Australia, 43 Fl., 160 m)

1.Empire State Building (New

Effectively resists York, USA,102 stories, 381 m),
Concrete/Steel
Braced lateral loads by Interior planning 2. Seagram Building, 17th to
Shear Trusses +
Rigid 40 producing shear truss - limitations due to 29th floor (New York, USA, 38
Concrete/Steel
Frames frame interacting shear trusses. stories,157 m)
Rigid Frames
system. 3. Suncorp Building, Sydney; 42
stories, 182m

Shear Wall Effectively resists

(or Shear Concrete Shear lateral loads by Interior planning 1. Seagram Building, up to the
Truss) · Wall + Steel 60 producing shear wall - limitations due to 17th floor (New York,
Frame Rigid Frame frame interacting shear walls. USA, 38 stories, 157 m)
Interaction system.
System Shear
Wall + 1. 311 South Wacker
Rigid Drive (Chicago, USA, 75 stories,
Frames Concrete Shear 284 m),
Wall + Concrete 70 " " 2. Cook County Administration
Frame Building, former Brunswick
Building (Chicago, USA, 38
stories, 145 m)
 Architect
Seagram Building
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe New York, 1958
Philip Johnson
Engineer- Severud Associates
Height 157 m
Floors 39 30th to the top floor
Rigid Steel Frame

17th to 29th floor

Braced Rigid Frame

Upto 17th Floor

Concrete Shear Wall
+ Steel Rigid Frame

17th to 29th floor: diagonal

core bracing (shear trusses)
Shear Wall (or Shear
Truss) - Frame
Interaction System

Suncorp Tower, Sydney

 A story of Ecological skyscraper

Commerz Bank, Frankfurt

259m, 53 stories. Construction 1994 -1997
public shopping, a restaurant, a public lecture hall,
and residential housing and offices

Mega column system

Typical Floor plan of Commerz Bank

Commerz Bank

Equilateral triangle plan

with each side measuring
60 meters

The plan was configured

to maximize the amount
of daylight entering the
tower and minimize
shadows cast on the old
structure
 TYPES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)

Sub· Material Efficient

Category Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
Category Configuration Ht Limit

Shear Cores
(Steel Trusses
or Concrete 1. Taipei 101 (Taipei,
Shear Walls) + Taiwan, 101 Fl, 509 m)
Outriggers
Effectively resists
(Steel Trusses 2. Jin Mao Building
bending by exterior Outrigger structure
Outrigger or Concrete (Shanghai, China, 88
- 150 columns connected to does not add shear
Structures Walls) stories,421 m)
outriggers extended resistance.
+ (Belt Trusses}
from the core.
+ Steel or 3. Burj Khalifa (Down
Concrete Town, Dubai, 163
Composite stories 829.8m
(Super)
Columns
 Outrigger System

Outriggers are interior lateral structural systems provided to improve the overturning
stiffness and strength of high-rise buildings. It is a lateral load resisting system that is
located within the building. The whole system consists of a core structure connected
to the perimeter columns of the building by means of structural members called
outriggers. The outriggers can be in the form of horizontal beams, truss, or walls.

https://theconstructor.org/exclusive/outriggers-high-rise-building/247964/
 Burj Khalifa, Dubai
2010

Outrigger Structures

Total height of 829.8 m

Roof height of 828 m

Building with most floors: 163

 Burj Khalifa, Dubai
1. Spiraling “Y” shaped plan
2. Structural system “buttressed core”,
3. This central core provides torsional resistance
4. Corridor walls terminating in thickened hammer headwalls.
5. Perimeter columns and flat plate floor
6. At mechanical floors, outrigger walls link perimeter columns
to the interior wall system

https://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/the-tower/structures/#:~:text=The%20structural%20system%20can%20be,central%20core%20or
%20hexagonal%20hub.
 Bundled Braced
Tube Tube

Tube in Framed
Tube Tube
Tube

Exo- skeleton Diagrid

External Structure of
Highrise

Super Frames Space Truss

TYPES OF EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE
 TYPES OF EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)

Catego Efficient
Sub Cat. Material Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
ry Height Limit

Efficiently resists lateral • Shear lag hinders

true tubular behavior 1. Aon Center
loads by locating lateral
Steel 80 (Chicago, USA, 83
systems at the building
perimeter • Narrow column stories,346 m)
spacing obstruct view
Framed Tube

1. Water Tower
Concrete 60 “ “ Place (Chicago, USA,
74 stories, 262 m)

100 • Efficiently resists

Tube lateral shear by axial
(With Interior
forces in the diagonal 1. John Hancock
Columns)
members Center (Chicago,
Steel - 150 Bracings obstruct the view.
• Wider column spacing USA, 100 stories
(Without
possible compared with 344 m)
Interior
framed tubes
Columns)
Braced Tube •Reduced shear lag

1. Ontario Center
(Chicago, 58 stories,
174 m),
Concrete 100 “ “
2. 780 Third Avenue
(New York, USA, 50
stories, 174 m)
 100 stories 344 m

John Hancock Centre

Chicago

Braced Tube
 TYPES OF EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)

Catego Efficient
Sub Cat. Material Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
ry Height Limit
Interior planning
1. Willis/ Sears
limitations due to the
Steel 110 Reduced shear lag. Tower (Chicago,
bundled tube
USA, 108 fl. 442 m)
configuration.
Bundled Tube
1. Carnegie Hall
Tower (New York,
Concrete 110 “ “
Tube USA, 62
stories, 230.7 m)
Ext. Framed
Effectively resists lateral
Tube (Steel 1. 181 West
loads by producing Interior planning
or Concrete) Madison Street
Tube in Tube 80 interior shear core - limitations due to shear
+Int. Core (Chicago, USA, 50
exterior framed tube core.
Tube (Steel stories,207 m)
interacting system.
or Concrete)

1. Hearst Building
(New York, USA, 42
stories,182 m),
Efficiently resists lateral
2. 30 St Mary Axe ,
Steel 100 shear by axial forces in Complcated joints.
also known as Swiss
the diagonal members.
Diagrid - Re Building
(London, UK,41
stories, 181 m)

Expensive forrnwork . Slow 1. 0-14 Building

Concrete 60 “
construction. (Dubai)
Willis/ Sears Tower

Tube in Tube
Willis/ Sears Tower
30 St Mary Axe Building, London

2004
Previously known as Swiss Re
Building and informally known
as the Gherkin

41 floors, 180 metres

Diagrid Structure
 TYPES OF EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF HIGHRISE (Ali & Moon, 2007)

Efficient
Category Sub Cat. Material Advantages Disadvantages Building Examples
Height Limit

Efficiently resists lateral

Space 1. Bank of China
shear by axial forces in Obstruct the view. May
Truss - Steel 150 (Hong Kong, China,
the space truss obstruct the view.
Structures 72 stories, 367 m)
members.

1. Chicago World
Building form depends to a Trade Center
Could produce supertall
Steel 160 great degree on the (Chicago, USA,
buildings.
structural system. 168 stories,
Unbuilt)
Super
-
Frames

1. Parque Central
Tower (Caracas,
Concrete 100 “ “
Venezuela, 56
stories, 221 m)

- 1. HSBC, Hong
Kong
Interior floor is never Thermal expansion I 2. Hotel de las
Exo-
Steel 100 obstructed by contraction. Systemic Artes
skeleton
perimeter columns. thermal bridges. (Barcelona,
Spain, 43
stories, 137 m)
Super Frames/ Mega Column systems

RC or composite columns
And/or shear walls with much larger
cross-sections than normal,
running continuously throughout the
height of the building.
Mega columns and/or mega shear
walls can resist all the vertical and
lateral loads
 Mega core systems

RC or composite core shear walls with

much larger cross-sections than normal,
running continuously throughout the
height of the building

Aspire Tower, Doha, Qatar

HSB Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden

Mega core systems

 Taipei 101

Building type Skyscraper

Structural system Core plus outrigger
Structural material Composite
Facade material Glass
Facade system Curtain wall
Architectural style Oriental revivalism
Taipei 101 height 508.2 m
Taipei 101
Taipei 101
REFERENCES

Ali, M. M. & Moon, K. S., 2007. Structural Developments in Tall Buildings: Current Trends and
Future Prospects. Architectural Science Review Volume, 50(3), pp. 205-223.

Ali, M. and Armstrong, P., Architecture of Tall Buildings, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban
Habitat Committee (CTBUH), New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1995

Weingardt, R.G., Great Achievements – Notable Structural Engineers: Fazlur Rahman Khan,
The Einstein of Structural Engineering, Structure Magazine, February 2011.

Baker, W.F., Korista, D.S. and Novak, L.C., Engineering the World’s Tallest – Burj Dubai,
Proceedings of the CTBUH 8th World Congress 2008, Dubai, 2008

Scott, D., Hamilton, N. and Ko, E., Structural Design Challenges for Tall Buildings, Structure
Magazine, Vol. 2, pp. 20–23, February 2005.

Aya Alsayed Abd EL-Tawab, Comparing the structural system of some contemporary high rise
building.