The developer of the planned new world's tallest building, Sky City, is one step closer to making the colossal structure reality. Broad Sustainable Building has received government approvals to build the 2,749-foot, 220-story tower in Changsha, China. The Building Team will begin site work next month, according to Treehugger.com.
As its name suggests, Sky City is designed to be a fully functional city, complete with residential units for 4,450 families, schools, offices, a hospital, recreational spaces, theaters, hotel rooms, and nearly a million sf of vertical farms. In all, the tower will house 11 million sf of live, work, and play spaces. Apartments will range from 645 sf to more than 5,000 sf.
A six-mile-long ramp will link the entire structure, allowing occupants to move from floor to floor without taking one of the building's 92 elevators. The design also incorporates more than 50 courtyards that will house shared community spaces, such as basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools, and parks.
The program is certainly impressive in size and scale, but the most eye-popping fact about the project is construction schedule. By employing extensive prefabrication, the skyscraper will be assembled in just three months. As Treehugger's Lloyd Alter describes: "The Broad system is based on prefabricated floor panels that ship with everything need to go 3D packed along with it, so they are not shipping a lot of air. It all just bolts together. Broad claims that by building this way, they eliminate construction waste, lost time managing trades, keep tight cost control and can build at a cost 50% to 60% less than conventional construction."
Check out renderings and plans for the project:
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | May 30, 2017
Heated debate over whether Calif.’s prevailing wage requirement stymies affordable housing
There’s disagreement around how much pay regulations add to cost of projects.
Reconstruction & Renovation | May 30, 2017
Achieving deep energy retrofits in historic and modern-era buildings [AIA course]
Success in retrofit projects requires an entirely different mindset than in new construction, writes Randolph Croxton, FAIA, LEED AP, President of Croxton Collaborative Architects.
Architects | May 26, 2017
Innovations in addressing homelessness
Parks departments and designers find new approaches to ameliorate homelessness.
Architects | May 26, 2017
BIG plans: Architecture isn’t Bjarke Ingels Group’s only growth path
Kai-Uwe Bergmann, the firm’s head of global business development, says engineering and urban planning are key opportunities. And how about that Hyperloop?
Museums | May 25, 2017
The museum as workspace
Many museum staff are resistant to the idea of open offices.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Applying machine learning to building design, Daniel Davis, WeWork
Daniel Davis offers a glimpse into the world at WeWork, and how his team is rethinking workplace design with the help of machine learning tools.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Learning from Silicon Valley - Using SaaS to automate AEC, Sean Parham, Aditazz
Sean Parham shares how Aditazz is shaking up the traditional design and construction approaches by applying lessons from the tech world.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: The data-driven future for AEC, Nathan Miller, Proving Ground
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! (May 11, 2017, Chicago), Nathan Miller presents his vision of a data-driven future for the business of design.
Architects | May 23, 2017
Queens Museum exhibit shows New York City as it could have been
The installation will showcase 200 years worth of unrealized Big Apple projects via original drawings, renderings, newly commissioned models, and 3D visualizations.
Education Facilities | May 22, 2017
Educational design taking lessons from tech firms
Recently, in educational design, we have seen a trend toward more flexible learning spaces.