In early December, Liu Zhangning was tending her cabbage patch when she saw a tall yellow construction crane in the distance. At night, the work lights made it seem like day.
Fifteen days later, a 30-story hotel towered over her village on the outskirts of the city like a glass and steel obelisk.
"I couldn't really believe it," Liu said. "They built that thing in under a month."
A time-lapse video of the project in Changsha, which shows the prefabricated building being assembled on site, has racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube and left Western architects speechless.
"I've never seen a project go up this fast," said Ryan Smith, an expert on prefabricated architecture at the University of Utah.
In other countries, the most advanced prefab construction methods can reduce building times by a third to half, Smith said. The builders of the Changsha hotel did better, knocking one-half to two-thirds off the normal schedule.
"It's unfathomable," Smith said.
The warp-speed construction is a startling illustration of the building boom in China, where an exodus from the countryside to the cities has swelled the urban population by almost 400 million since 1990.
Click here to read more and to view a time lapse video of the construction. BD+C
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Dec 15, 2021
MEP design considerations for rural hospitals
Rural hospitals present unique opportunities and challenges for healthcare facility operators. Oftentimes, the infrastructure and building systems have not been updated for years and require significant improvements in order to meet todayās modern medical demands. Additionally, as these smaller, more remote hospitals are acquired by larger regional and national healthcare systems, the first step by new ownership is often to update and rehabilitate the building. But how can this be done thoughtfully, economically, and efficiently in ways that allow the engineering and facility staff to adapt to the changes? And how can the updates accurately reflect the specific needs of rural communities and the afflictions with which these areas most commonly face?
Architects | Dec 13, 2021
Dan Hart, FAIA, inaugurated AIA 2022 President
Dan Hart will be the AIA's 98th President.
Architects | Dec 13, 2021
MASS Design Group receives 2022 AIA Architecture Firm Award
The annual AIA Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture practice.
Architects | Dec 13, 2021
2022 AIA Gold Medal awarded to Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa
The Gold Medal honors an individual or pair whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
K-12 Schools | Dec 10, 2021
Trends in K-12 school design, with Dan Boggio and Melissa Turnbaugh of PBK
Dan Boggio and Melissa Turnbaugh of PBK, the largest K-12 design firm in the U.S., Ā discuss the favorable market conditions and the latest trends in K-12 school design with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.Ā Ā Ā
Architects | Dec 9, 2021
Hoffmann Architects wins Connecticut American Institute of Architects Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award
The AIA Connecticut J.E.D.I. Challenge, launched in November 2020, offers member firms the opportunity to commit to actions in each of the Challenge areas.
Giants 400 | Dec 5, 2021
2021 Justice Facility Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. justice facility/public safety sector
Turner Construction, DLR Group, AECOM, and Stantec top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms for justice facility/public safety buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 3, 2021
2021 Hotel Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. hospitality sector
Gensler, Jacobs, Suffolk Construction, and WATG top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest hotel sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Architects | Nov 29, 2021
LRK Names Tony Pellicciotti āManaging Principalā of firm
Pellicciotti is one of LRKās fourteen principals representing its markets in Memphis, Dallas, Philadelphia, Orlando/Celebration, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, and Princeton.
Architects | Nov 23, 2021
HMC names new Director of Design
James Krueger will oversee design and lead strategies to improve the impact of HMCās work.
