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CONTENTS

• Lesson 1

– Model Making Workshop - Structure of

Tall Buildings and Towers

• Introduction to Tall Buildings
• Loads and Forces on Buildings

 Vertical Forces
 Horizontal Forces
 Internal Forces

• Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings
• Project Brief on Tower-Making Workshop

• Class activity

• Role Play

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Model Making Workshop

Lesson 1

Model Making Workshop –

Structure of Tall Buildings

and Towers

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Tall Buildings

Introduction to

Tall Buildings

Do you know these tall
buildings?

How tall are they?

What are the structures?

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Tall Buildings

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The Leaning Tower of Pisa (55.86 m) was built
in 1372, using marble stone in a Romanesque
style. Its current leaning

appearance is due to

sub-soil

settlement.

The Eiffel Tower is a 320-m-high steel
structure that was completed in 1889 as the
entrance arch for that year’s World’s Fair.

How tall are they?

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Tall Buildings

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The 90-m-high Royal Liver Building in
Liverpool was one of the

first concrete

buildings

in the world. It was completed in 1911 after
a
Neoclassical design by Walter A. Thomas.

© Chowells － Wikipedia User

• In the early 20th century, cities

became bigger and denser.
Urban populations were
growing but land supply
was limited. High-rise
buildings became an essential
solution to the problem.

• New technologies and

building materials, such as
industrial reinforced concrete,
steel and elevators, made
high-rise structures feasible
and drove innovation.

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Tall Buildings

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The 36-storey Equitable Building in New York
was completed in 1915. Its architect, Ernest R.
Graham, used
a Neoclassical style despite the building’s
modernity: it
was the

first building equipped with elevators

.

It triggered the implementation of height
limits and setbacks for tall buildings to allow
sunlight to reach street level.

The modernist Wainwright Building in
St. Louis was completed in 1891 by
architects Dankmar Adler & Louis
Sullivan. Its 10-storey are supported
by an early

steel framing system

.

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Tall Buildings

Loads

and

Forces

on

Buildings

The statics of a building deal with its structural
stability. According to Newton’s First Law, when an
object is in equilibrium, the sum of all forces
equals zero.

What are the sources of forces that act on the
building structure?

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Loads and Forces on Buildings

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Loads and Forces on Buildings

There are three types of loads generally:

• Dead Load

– Dead loads are the loads of the structure and fixed

components.

– It is a permanent force that is relatively constant for a extended

period of time.

– The force is gravitational.

• Live Load

– Live load is a changing force generated by mobile objects

inside the building, such as people within the building or stock in a
warehouse.

– The force is gravitational.

• Environmental Load

– Environmental loads are forces acting on the building from its

environment and may include wind, rain, earthquakes and
temperature changes.

– The forces created can be either horizontal or vertical, positive or

negative.

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Loads and Forces on Buildings

Vertical Forces

Dead loads
e.g. Weight of the
building

• Dead loads and live loads

contribute to the vertical
forces on the structure of
buildings.

• Vertical loads are transferred

from the floors to the columns
and walls, and eventually to
the soil or bedrock.

• At times, environmental loads

also act vertically.

Environmental
loads
e.g. Wind

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Loads and Forces on Buildings

Horizontal Forces

• Environmental loads

contribute most of the
horizontal forces acting on the
structure of a building, with
loads from wind being the
most common.

• Architects refer to these

horizontal forces as shear
force.

• Adding cross bracing or

shear walls can improve
structural resistance to shear
forces.

Environmental
loads
e.g. Wind

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Loads and Forces on Buildings

Internal Forces

• The internal strength of the entire

structure must be = or > the total
forces applied on the building

• The ability to withstand all forces

depends on the structural
component’s dimensions and the
solidity and elasticity of the
material.

• Internal forces :

•

Compressive and Tensile
Forces

According to Newton’s Third Law,

forces act in pairs. In structural
terms, tensile force pulls a
structural element apart while
compressive force compresses it.

•

Torque

If opposing forces are applied at

different points, a structural
element may become twisted.

Compressive
Force

Tensile Force

Torque

Internal forces in a structural element

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings

Typical

Structural Systems

in Tall Buildings

Installation of outriggers at
the
International Commerce
Centre

© Raymond Wong

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Core and Outrigger structure

• The International Commerce

Centre is built using a ‘Core
and Outrigger’ concept.

• The core at the centre of the

building bears most of the
vertical load,

• while columns at the

perimeter carry less weight
and are thus smaller in
dimension.

• Loads are transferred to the

core through steel
outriggers that balance the
lateral forces on the whole
building.

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings

Outrigger connecting the core and the columns

Plan of International Commerce Centre

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Steel

• It is a common construction

material for tall buildings

• good performance in withstanding

compressive and tensile forces,
as opposed to concrete’s low
tensile strength in compression.

• Steel bars can be used to reinforce

concrete to add extra structural
performance.

• Relatively weak in fire-

resistance.

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings

Bank of China Tower

The Bank of China Tower is a steel
trussed-tube structure. The whole
building acts as a single tubular truss,
with the diagonals wrapping the
building to transfer loads.

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Truss

• Common structural element in architecture.
• Steel members are joined together into triangular

shapes, which are able to resist external forces.

• When joined together, these triangles can form large truss

systems that can span long distances.

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings

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Truss

Common types of truss
© Structural Building Components Association

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Lesson 1 – Typical Structural Systems in Tall Buildings

Summary

• Although humans have long attempted to

build tall structures, skyscrapers began to
appear in our cities in the late 19th
century as a result of technological
breakthroughs in building materials and
methods, including reinforced concrete,
steel, and elevators.

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Summary

• Buildings bear three types of loads: dead

loads, live loads and environmental loads

• All loads are resolved into vertical and

horizontal forces on the structure.

• Typical structural systems used in tall

buildings include core and outrigger
structures, steel frames and trusses.

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

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| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Class Activity

Class Activity:

Model Making Workshop-

Tower

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Class Activity -

Model Making Workshop - Tower

Step 1- Divide the class into groups of
four to five.

Step 2- Each group is required to build
a tower that should be:

• Structurally stable and aesthetically
pleasing
• Height
• Weight-height ratio
•

Resistant to wind

•

Load supporting

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Class Activity

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Class Activity -

Model Making Workshop - Tower

Tools needed

• Sketching papers and pencil
• Scissors, cutters, tape, glue
• Different weights (10 g/ 50 g/ 100 g/ 500
g/ 1 kg)
• Weight scale
• Measuring tape
• Electric fans

Suggested materials

• Cardboard
• Bamboo sticks
• Recycled cans
• Recycled plastic bottles
• Fishing line

| Model Making Workshop – Structure of Tall Building and Tower |

Class Activity