International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

International Journal of
September 2017, Vol 6, No 3, 237-248
High-Rise Buildings
[Link] [Link]/ijhrb/[Link]

Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change

Leo Chow†, AIA, Mark P. Sarkisian†, and PE SE LEED
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, One Front Street, Suite 2400, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA

Abstract

China’s rapid growth has created great opportunities for design and construction of projects that not only transform sites but
cities. This work combines local, national, and international expertise in developing memorable designs that seek to humanize
urban life and emphasize the importance of visionary clients. Innovative examples of work in China will be presented with
emphasis on three iconic projects designed and built for Poly Corporation based in China. These projects include developments
in Beijing and Guangzhou and introduce the use of locally supplied materials and construction techniques. The Poly Corporate
Headquarters, the Poly Real Estate Headquarters, and the Poly International Plaza, and will be described through innovative
ideas that integrate urban planning, structure, and architecture.

Keywords: Structural steel, Efficiency, Cable net, Mechanism, Seismic

1. Introduction tion immediately adjacent to the Capital Airport Express-

way and the interchange with the Fifth Ring Road. The
The rapid and sustained growth of the Chinese econ- building offers a unique light-filled spatial experience for
omy, the desire of some enlightened clients to create sig- entering and moving through the office building, utilizes
nature buildings, and the ability of Chinese domestic fab- a long-span structure to open up interior spaces, and emp-
ricators to produce quality architectural components have loys a highly sustainable architectural/mechanical engin-
all coalesced into an unprecedented period of design opp- eering approach to address climate and air quality issues
ortunity. In particular, the Poly Corporation has been a particular to Beijing.
champion of supporting high quality design that has not
only transformed local development but has influence 2. The Rocker Mechanism and the Tallest
ideas for other building projects around the world. Cable Net in the World - Poly Corporate
The Poly Corporate Headquarters building in Beijing, Headquarters
China was the first to be designed and built. Creating a
“window to the world” this unusual mixed-use develop- 2.1. Architectural Concept
ment includes 24 stories of office space, an eight-story The client’s goal for this headquarters building was to
hanging museum ‘lantern’ structure and a 90 meter-tall represent the company’s disparate subsidiaries as a unified
atrium enclosed by the world’s largest cable-net supported whole. The program for the building contains a wide range
glass wall. The second was the Poly Real Estate Head- of spaces including office, retail, restaurants and the Poly
quarters located in Guangzhou, China. Located on the Museum. The museum, established by one of the comp-
bank of the Pearl River, this project consists of two any’s subsidiaries, has the unique purpose of repatriating
slender towers carefully integrated with a ground level China’s cultural antiquities through purchases at interna-
landscaped area as well as a podium. This project prov- tional auctions.
ides column-free office space, a structure that has a dual The project is prominently located at a major intersec-
purpose of shading the southern facades, and a vertical tion along Beijing’s second ring road, northeast of the
transportation system that uses translucent and transparent Forbidden City. The site’s primary orientation is northeast
glass. Located approximately half way between the For- toward the intersection and beyond to the client’s existing
bidden City and the Beijing Capital Airport, the third pro- headquarters building. The triangular form minimizes the
ject, Poly International Plaza occupies a prominent posi- perimeter length exposed to the elements, while a series
of interior atriums provide additional interior surface area
†
Corresponding authors: Leo Chow to give office areas maximum access to daylight. The
Tel: +1-1-415-352-6824; Fax: +1-1-415-398-3214 result is a simple ‘L’ shaped office plan that cradles a large
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
Corresponding authors: Mark Sarkisian
atrium (Fig. 1). The exterior walls of the atrium are com-
Tel: +1-1-415-352-6803; Fax: +1-1-415-398-3214 prised of minimal glass membranes supported on two-
E-mail: [Link]@[Link] way cable nets to maximize visual and solar transparency.
238 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 1. Atrium Concepts.

Figure 3. Typical High-Rise Plan.

Figure 2. The ‘Museum Lantern’.

Forming a unique solution to the unusual mixed-use

requirements of this project, the Poly Museum is sus-
pended within a ‘Lantern’ in the main atrium space (Fig.
2). This defined programmatic volume within the atrium
space, is both isolated from and yet enclosed by the main
building volume. Its crystalline surface of laminated pat-
terned glass is pleated to increase its light reflecting/ref-
racting qualities. Inside the ‘Lantern,’ exhibit and lease
spaces are enclosed by wood walls which control daylight
while common circulation areas occupy the void between
the solids and the glazed perimeter walls.
Secondary ‘Sunset’ and ‘All-Day’ atriums cut through
the west (Fig. 3) and south (Fig. 4) legs of the ‘L’ to act
as daylight chambers for bringing direct sunlight into the
main atrium. The exterior walls of these atriums are com-
prised of minimal glass membranes supported by two way
cable nets in order to maximize visual and solar trans- Figure 4. Typical Low-Rise Plan.
parency. The main atrium’s cable-net is stiffened by two
‘V’-cables that are in turn counterweighted and kept in
tension by the self-weight of the suspended ‘Museum Lan- pre-tension in the parallel-strand cables. An innovative
tern’ (Fig. 5). ‘rocker mechanism’ is used to isolate the cable hanger
The cable-net wall is 90 meters high by 60 meters wide system from forces induced by lateral drift. The ‘rocker
- dimensions making a simple cable-net supported wall mechanism’ is architecturally ‘celebrated’ - an exposed
uneconomical. The design is achieved by folding the articulated joint mechanism made of rigid pin-connected
cable-net around diagonal V-shaped, parallel-strand castings which perform as a pulley equivalent.
bridge cables, subdividing the wall into three facets and The project is prominently located at a major intersec-
reducing the effective cable spans. The parallel-strand tion along Beijing’s second ring road, northeast of the
cables also support the ‘lantern’ as it hangs in the atrium Forbidden City. The site’s primary orientation is northeast
space without any columns extending to grade. Gravity toward the intersection and beyond to the client’s existing
loads from the ‘lantern’ are used to induce high levels of headquarters building. The triangular form minimizes the
 Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change 239

Figure 6. Northeast Building Elevation.

Figure 5. Northeast Elevation Rendering.

perimeter exposed to the elements, whilst a series of inte-

rior atria provide additional interior surface area to give
office areas maximum access to daylight. The result is a
simple ‘L’ shaped office plan that cradles a large atrium.
The exterior walls of the atrium are comprised of minimal
glass membranes supported on two-way cable nets to
maximize visual and solar transparency (Figs. 6 and 7).

2.2. Technology
While conceptually simple, cable-net curtain wall sys-
tems may still be considered an exotic solution for the
structural support of glass curtain walls. However, the
completion of several major walls around the world has
established a proven track record of an achievable scale
and level of transparency. Planar two-way cable systems
support and stabilize glass facades through the resistance
to deformation of the two-way pre-stressed net. Gravita-
tional loads from the glass elements are carried through
the attachment nodes to the vertical cables, and up to a
transfer structure in the base building above. Lateral def- Figure 7. Upward View from Atrium Floor.
ormations due to wind and seismic loadings are resisted
by the tendency of each of the horizontal and vertical
cables to return to its straight-line configuration between ness by the building’s occupants.
supports, while being subject to a perpendicular force.
The flexible nature of a planar cable-net under lateral 2.3. Challenge
loading means that the critical design goal is limiting The Poly Corporate Headquarters project is a 100 m tall
deflection through adjusting axial stiffness of the cables, composite structure and includes a 90 m tall atrium enc-
and the cable pre-stress. Deflection limits of L/40 to L/50 losed by a cable-net glass wall, 90 m high by 60 m wide.
are generally set for the design loading condition (typic- The scale of this wall greatly exceeds that which has been
ally the 50-year wind event), to protect the integrity of the built before, introducing specific challenges that are not
glass and sealants and to minimize a perception of weak- critical in smaller walls. SOM’s preliminary analysis sho-
240 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 8. Pully Equivalent Concept.

wed that the cable-net spans were too large to be econo- Figure 9. The ‘Rocker Mechanism’ Model.
mically achieved using a simple two-way cable-net design.
SOM determined however that the cable-net could be
achieved by subdividing the large cable-net area into
three smaller zones by folding the cable-net into a faceted
surface, and introducing a relatively stiff element along the
fold lines. The faceted cable-net solution allows the indi-
vidual sections of the cable-net to span to a virtual bound-
ary condition at the fold line, effectively shortening the
spans. Rather than introduce a beam or truss element to
stiffen the fold line, a large diameter cable under signifi-
cant pre-stress is used. The largest of these primary cables
is 275 mm in diameter and consists of a parallel strand
cable bundle of 199 individual 1×7 strands, each strand
being 15.2 mm in diameter. The largest cable is pre-stre-
ssed to 17,000 kN, and experiences a maximum in service
loading of 18,300 kN during a 100 year wind event. Using
the faceted design solution, the typical horizontal and
vertical cables are limited in diameter to 34 mm and 26
mm respectively.
By introducing the large diameter diagonal cables, an
issue is created as one is solved. As the base building
structure is subject to seismic and wind loads, it experi-
ences inter-story drifts as any building structure does. By Figure 10. The ‘Rocker’ Installed.
connecting a point on one floor slab with an axially stiff
element diagonally to another point 45 m higher up the
structure, the diagonal cable element behaves as a brace cable (Fig. 8). This allows the base building to drift with-
element and tries to resist the base building drift. Thus out significantly increasing or decreasing the level of pre-
analyzed, the forces in the main cables were too great to stress in the main cables. The pulley analogy was realized
be resisted by the main cables, or the base building struc- in a buildable form as a cast ‘Rocker Mechanism’. By
ture. However, when the base building drifts in a direc- crossing the cables and connecting to the rocker casting
tion that causes one diagonal cable to go into tension arms, the need to provide curved pulley surfaces and cur-
(tries to lengthen) the other cable that forms part of the ved sections of the main cable were eliminated (Figs. 9
“V” configuration goes in compression (tries to shorten). and 10).
A pulley analogy was developed that allowed the “V”
cables to be considered as a single element, with rotation 2.4. Performance
at the base of the “V” allowing the length increase of one The critical service level load condition, (the 50 -year
cable to be offset against the length decrease of the other wind event) was determined through careful Wind Engin-
 Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change 241

Figure 11. Deflected Shape Under Wind Loading. Figure 12. Completed 90mx60m Folded Cable-Net.

Table 1. Project Summary Statistics

Overall Parameters Main Cables Horizontal Cables Vertical Cables
Height Width Deflect. Dia. Pre-stress Dia. Pre-stress Dia. Pre-stress
90m 60m 928mm 248mm 17MN 36mm 210kN 26mm 90kN

eering studies performed by Beijing University. The wind environment, structural solutions, building orientation and
studies included a traditional rigid model of the building integrated systems are important considerations. To achi-
massing as well as that of the surrounding building fabric, eve a high level of sustainability, the structure must allow
and an aero-elastic wind tunnel study performed on a the entry natural light and natural ventilation, air distribu-
flexible model of the actual cable-net configuration, using tion from below the floor, shaded outdoor spaces, green
wires and a membrane to replicate the anticipated dyna- roofs and minimal material use. The structural concept
mic response of the cable-net system. This study, likely for the 525 ft (160 m) twin Poly International Plaza Tow-
the first of its kind to be performed on a cable-net curtain ers (Fig. 13) incorporates a long-span concrete floor fra-
wall system was used to verify and modify where appro- ming system with a series of concrete buttress walls to not
priate the results of the rigid model. Analysis and testing only resist gravity and lateral loads but provide shading
shows that the New Beijing Poly cable-net wall behaves of the south facades (Fig. 14) significantly reducing the
very much as conceived. The results from the static non- need for mechanical cooling of towers over their opera-
linear (large displacement) analysis clearly show that the tional life.
strategy of subdividing the wall into facets with shorter To further enhance the shading effects, two lines of bra-
individual spans was successful (Fig. 11). This strategy ces were incorporated into the south facades of the towers
allows the overall displacements to meet the established to provide significant stiffness in the east-west direction
for the project, while maintaining the economic viability of the towers (long direction), but more importantly, act
of the project (Fig. 12). to anchor the structure in the north-south (short direction)
Table 1 illustrates the key attibutes of the northeast cable of the towers functioning in tandem with the buttress walls
net. as a “stressed skin” through the action of the outriggers.
The stressed skin acts as a flange to resist compressive
3. Braced Concrete Butresses-Poly Real and tensile loads applied in the short direction. See Fig.
Estate Headquarters 15 for the construction of the south façade. See Figs. 16
and 17 for architectural and structural floor plans respec-
In considering a structure’s life and its effects on the tively.
242 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 15. Poly International Plaza Under Construction

Illustrated Structural Steel Interconnected with Concrete
Elements.

efficient bracing system on the south facades and the

openings that allowed for winds to pass through the
Figure 13. Poly International Plaza, Guangzhou, China. structure, a 15% savings of structural materials was achi-
eved when compared to conventional structures of the
same height (even with slender forms). See Fig. 18 for an
exploded view of major building components. See Fig. 19
for the completed building.

4. Combining a Concrete Shear Wall with a

Diagrid Frame - Poly International Plaza
The Poly International Plaza Tower (Fig. 20), located at
a prominent site approximately half way between the For-
bidden City and Beijing Capital Airport, China, incorpor-
ates a faceted exoskeleton system to create an iconic exte-
rior envelope highly visible in the surrounding skyline ser-
ves as part of the gravity and lateral force resisting system
while allowing for long 18 m (60 ft) column-free spans
combined with the reinforced concrete central core. A
primary design goal of the 32-story office building is to
Figure 14. Shading Effects on South Façade. provide a unique, high-quality work environment utilizing
long span structural framing to open up interior spaces and
achieve a light-filled spatial experience throughout the
Sustained gravity loads are used as ballast within the tower.
primary lateral load resisting elements achieved through The diagrid perimeter structure is designed to resist
long-span reinforced concrete framing where compres- gravity and lateral loads axially, with only minor bending
sive loads are placed on both the north and south facade effects due to the rigid welded nodal connections. The
structural systems. Openings were introduced into the concrete filled steel tube (CFT) diagrid members serve as
mid-height of the two towers to provide an area of refuge effective axial members to resist high compression loads
during an emergency and to provide an aperture for pre- due to gravity and lateral overturning, varying from 1300
dominant winds to pass through the structure. The screen mm (51”) in diameter at the base to 800 mm (32”) at the
enclosures at the top of the towers consist of tilted indi- top. The load path of the axial force travels around the
vidual panels, providing open paths for wind to pass thr- perimeter diagrid down to the base, allowing for long
ough, reducing wind loads on the top of the towers where spans between nodes while providing global stiffness to
they would induce the highest demand on the structure. distribute lateral forces.
Through balancing load on the structure by using an While the helical load path is advantageous in allowing
 Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change 243

Figure 16. Typical Architectural Floor Plan.

Figure 17. Typical Structural Floor Plan.

Figure 19. South Façade and Base of Tower.

Figure 18. Exploded View Showing Major Building Com- for long perimeter spans and large atriums, the axial forces
ponents. in the elliptical exterior diagrid result in tensile perimeter
244 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 20. Poly International Plaza Tower Rendering (left), Building Under Construction (right).

Figure 21. Helical Axial Load Path (left).

Figure 22. Diagrid System Lateral Load Path vs. Conventional System Lateral Load Path (left to right).

hoop and radial floor diaphragm forces that needed to be An advantage of designing a diagrid structure is the
resolved through the perimeter steel framing members at availability of helical axial load paths for resisting gravity
nodal levels and radial steel floor framing members that and lateral loads (Fig. 21) while allowing for a column-
connect the diagrid nodes to the inner concrete core. The free interior and long span framing without compromis-
interior reinforced concrete shear walls form an elongated ing effective global stiffness.
core that follows the same elliptical shape as the exterior In a structure with a conventional perimeter moment
façade. The shear walls vary in thickness from 1300 mm frame system, a continuous floor slab diaphragm is needed
(51”) thick in the basement to 400 mm (16”) at the top. to transmit lateral forces to the frames at each level. The
The varying shear wall thickness and diagrid member loads then travel down each respective plane of frames to
diameters were optimized to meet design drift limits the building base. In a diagrid system, however, lateral
using strain energy optimization with ETABS and Excel loads are transmitted to the base in a helical manner not
VBA. The combination of the perimeter diagrid and inner relying on a continuous diaphragm slab at the building
concrete shear wall core create a tube-in-tube lateral force ends (Fig. 22). The exoskeletal diagrid system on the peri-
resisting system, sharing a balanced portion of lateral meter acts in tandem with the concrete walls at the build-
forces between the two systems. ing’s core to provide a dual gravity and lateral load resist-
 Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change 245

Figure 23. Diagrid Floors Showing Hanger Columns (left).

Figure 24. Typical Structural Floor Plan (right).

Figure 25. Floor Plan Showing Hoop and Radial Stresses in Diaphragms.

ing system with multiple continuous and redundant load Concrete filled steel tubes (CFT) were chosen as the
paths. most efficient member type for the diagrid, since gravity
Since the diagrid members are most efficient as axial forces resulted in high compression loading in the axial
members, connections of the floor diaphragms are limited members.
to nodal floors to avoid imposing bending demands at the A challenge of using concrete filled tubes is ensuring
mid-spans of members. With a four-story tall diagrid mo- that the connection at the diagrid nodes is stronger than
dule, every alternate floor connects to diagrid nodes and the members framing in. Connections were envisioned for
every other intermediate floor requires hangers to connect the CFT nodes as either fabricated using castings or wel-
to members of the nodal floor above (Fig. 23). These han- ded steel plates. The lower cost, efficiency and modular
gers at non-nodal floors were incorporated into the enc- possibilities available using welded steel plates ultimately
losure mullions to maintain a column free perimeter. The led to their selection for use in the node connections.
annular space created between the slab edges of hung In addition to the axial diagrid forces due to gravity and
floors and the nodal floors above and below made it po- lateral loads, the nodes also transmit perimeter hoop and
ssible to have a double plane exterior wall, which afforded radial diaphragm forces that result from the folded diagrid
the building sustainable thermal buffering possibilities. geometry (Fig. 25). Caused by the bulging tendency of the
The typical floor framing plan at a nodal floor is shown diagrid’s form under gravity loads, maximum hoop and
in Fig. 24. radial forces in the diaphragms were noted primarily at the
246 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 26. Lateral Axial Force Distribution. Figure 27. Concrete Shear Wall within Diagrid Frame.

Figure 28. Finished Building Photograph.

Level 6, Level 8 and Level 10 nodal floors. The diaph- distribution is shown in Fig. 26.
ragm hoop forces are resisted by tension in the steel floor Suspended intermediate level floor diaphragms do not
framing members around the perimeter of the floor plan connect to the perimeter diagrid frame and transfer all
that connect the diagrid nodes. The radial diaphragm for- their inertial seismic forces to the core walls. These diap-
ces are resisted using the steel floor framing members that hragm slabs thus act as in-plane cantilevers supported at
span between the core walls and diagrid nodes. In order the face of the core walls. They are reinforced to transfer
to protect the connections of these critical members, addi- horizontal seismic forces during the moderate earthquake
tional plate strengthening elements were provided at the to the core walls without yielding. See Fig. 27 for the
diagrid node connections, and embedded steel wide flan- concrete cone and diagrid frame under construction and
ged shapes were used to strengthen the connections of the the finished building in Fig. 28.
radial members to the core walls. The lateral axial force
 Site | Structure | Architecture - Projects that Create Change 247

Figure 29. Rendered Elevation at Building Base and Finished Building.

5. Conclusions, Opportunities, and the Future the elements and internal comfort. A closed loop structural
system integrated with the exterior wall system that inc-
Each of the Poly projects uniquely responded to their ludes liquid-filled structural elements such as pipes could
sites and use while creating an integrated design solution. provide a thermal radiator that when heated during the
Perhaps in the future projects will refer to this work for day could be used for building service systems such as
new inspirations. See rendered elevation at based and hot water supply or heat for occupied spaces, especially
finished Poly International Plaza in Fig. 29. For instance, during the evening hours. A solar collection system could
exterior wall systems for structures represent the single be integrated into the network and incorporated into dou-
greatest opportunity to consider flow and interaction bet- ble wall systems where it can be used to heat the internal
ween structure and building service systems. Hundreds of cavity in cold climates. See Figs. 30 and 31.
millions of square feet of occupied area are enclosed each Transparent photovoltaic cells could be introduced into
year by a system that essentially provides protection from the glass and spandrel areas to further capture the energy

Figure 30. Exploded View of Integrated Systems.

248 Leo Chow et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 31. Internal Column-Free Space.

of the sun. When storing fluid in structural systems of could be frozen for additional structural rigidity.
great height, pressures within the networked vessel bec- For example, the Poly International Plaza, Beijing,
ome very large. With this level of pressure, water supply China, offers a unique insight into towers of the future.
systems to the structure or to neighboring structures of The structure makes significant steps in the direction of
lesser height could easily be supplied without requiring the most advanced technologies. Because of significant
additional energy to move the water. Constant low flow levels of seismicity and the concern for life-cycle seismic
through these systems would prevent the liquid from performance, concrete was used in the exterior tubular
freezing. frame. In the future, however, this framed system could
Liquid within the networked system could act to cont- be utilized for a fully integrated approach where structure,
rol motion with fluid flow acting to dampen the structure architecture, and mechanical systems are completely syn-
when subjected to lateral loads due wind and earthquake ergetic.
events. In addition, liquids at high pressure could add sig- The study of these emerging forms as they interact with
nificantly to the axial stiffness and stability of structural the architecture (overtly or covertly) will only yield fur-
members subjected to compression, increasing capacities ther opportunities to explore light, space, structure and a
without increasing structural material by creating capped new relationship that combines them all in an ephemeral
compartments. Combining ultra-high strength tensile ma- solution. The investigation into the flow of material that
terials such as carbon fiber fabricated into closed circular can be manipulated to adhere to a seismic, temperature or
forms where loads are primarily resisted by hoop stress safety condition can only inform us of new ways to design
with the liquids under ultra-high compressive stress would and build.
likely result in greatest efficiency in resisting applied load.
The concept of flow can be further developed into References
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