provides engineering design,
investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide
on projects of every size and level of complexity.
Tall and Supertall
Our engineers, architects and sustainability practitioners
collaborate from offices worldwide. Our unique suite of
integrated services affords us an unparalleled ability to help
our clients plan, design, build, maintain and renew structures
of every kind, throughout their life cycles.
Our Practices
Structural Engineering
Weidlinger Protective Design
Façade Engineering
Weidlinger Transportation
Construction Engineering
Sustainability
Weidlinger Applied Science
Forensics
Property Loss Consulting
Renewal
www.ThorntonTomasetti.com
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Cover images: Jeddah Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia © Jeddah Economic Company / Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
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Contents
The New York Times Building, New York, N.Y. Jim Kent / Thornton Tomasetti
Introduction
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Firm Profile
06
Integrated Practices
07
How We Work11
Role in Tall Buildings
Project Examples
Jeddah Tower
16
Shanghai Tower
17
30 Hudson Yards
19
Torre KOI
20
Chengdu Greenland Tower
21
Kohinoor Square
22
Federation of Korean Industries Head Office Building
23
Crescent Tower
24
King Abdullah Financial District
26
Wuhan Greenland Center
27
Wilshire Grand Center
29
Federation Tower Complex
30
Signature Tower
31
The New York Times Building
33
Ping An International Finance Centre
35
International Finance Centre Seoul
36
Comcast Center
38
World Trade Center Towers 1-4
39
Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith
40
Petronas Towers Kuala Lumpur City Centre
41
Taipei 101
43
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Firm Profile
Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China, by Ermell (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
Thornton Tomasetti is a leader in engineering design,
investigation and analysis, serving clients worldwide on
projects of every type, size and level of complexity. We
are a 1,200-person organization of engineers, architects,
sustainability practitioners and support professionals
collaborating from offices across the United States and
in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. We address
the full life cycles of structures through our 10 integrated
practices: Structural Engineering, Weidlinger Protective
Design, Façade Engineering, Weidlinger Transportation,
Construction Engineering, Sustainability, Weidlinger
Applied Science, Forensics, Property Loss Consulting
and Renewal.
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Pioneers in the design of high-rise buildings, we use
advanced analysis to optimize structural systems,
resolve interdisciplinary conflicts, and guard the
safety and comfort of occupants. For structures of
unconventional size, shape, structural system or
function, we employ performance-based design
methodologies when prevailing building codes are
inapplicable or inadequate, such as in high-seismic areas.
Our deep bench of seasoned professionals combines
unequalled experience with sophisticated technological
tools to enrich the creative process, promote effective
collaboration, improve coordination and enhance
visualization and communication throughout planning,
design and construction.
We strive to realize our clients’ visions within budget
and often on fast-track schedules, adapting our approach
or inventing new technology to support architectural
creativity. Throughout the design process, we work
closely with owners, architects, contractors, consultants
and user groups to facilitate efficient integration of
architecture, structure, building services, infrastructure
and sustainability criteria, creating buildings that
positively impact their occupants, the community
and the environment.
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
6
Integrated Practices
Thornton Tomasetti
intermodal transit stations, streetscapes and tunnels.
Our multidisciplinary expertise – in structural, civil and
geotechnical engineering – supports client needs for
both new and existing transportation structures.
Construction Engineering
Structural Engineering
We collaborate with architects, owners and builders
to design elegant solutions for projects of all types,
sizes and levels of complexity. From designing
the world’s tallest buildings and longest spans to
engineering inventive special structures of every
scale and designing modern expansion projects,
we continually seek the best balance among
the demands of form, function, sustainability,
constructability, schedule and budget.
Weidlinger Protective Design
Our 50 years of experience in providing physical
security analysis, advice and design – to architects,
owners, developers and public agencies – have
made us the premier provider of protective design
services. We analyze vulnerability to multiple hazards
and provide balanced and economical mitigation for
every type of structure. We collaborate with team
Renewal – Chrysler Building, New York, N.Y.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
members to achieve solutions that uphold each
project’s aesthetic and budgetary goals, crafting
designs that provide the required level of protection
without compromising architectural integrity.
Façade Engineering
We provide façade consulting services to architects,
owners and developers. We offer a suite of specialty
analyses to solve complex design challenges,
improve constructability, maximize energy efficiency
and increase security. From materials research
and specialty analyses, through detailed design,
engineering and construction support, to glass and
façade failure investigations, our expert staff helps
clients execute ambitious architectural visions.
Weidlinger Transportation
We specialize in providing engineering solutions for
a wide variety of transportation infrastructure. We
perform analysis, design, construction inspection,
evaluation, monitoring and rehabilitation for
projects ranging from aviation facilities, bridges,
cruise terminals and waterfront facilities to rail and
Property Loss Consulting – Deutsche Bank Building Deconstruction, New York, N.Y.
We work closely with designers, developers,
contractors, fabricators and erectors to efficiently
move a project from concept to opening day. Our
services include integrated design and fabrication
modeling, connection design, erection engineering,
field engineering and site representation. Our
construction support experience enhances our
structural engineering services on complex, timesensitive projects, but we also offer these services
for projects designed by other engineering firms.
Sustainability
We collaborate with clients and project partners
to integrate successful green solutions into the
planning, design, construction and operation of
buildings, reducing their environmental impact at
every stage of their life cycles and supporting energy
performance, health and well-being. Our services
include sustainable design strategies, energy analysis,
Courtesy Perkins Eastman and Ennead Architects
Our firm is organized into 10 integrated practices
that are engaged globally in a wide range of
market sectors.
Structural Engineering – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center/CUNY Hunter College,
New York, N.Y.
Applied Science – In-house software predicts blast effects in urban canyons.
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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© Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Integrated Practices, continued
Façade Engineering – Federation of Korean Industries Head Office Building, Seoul, South Korea.
Weidlinger Applied Science
We apply a unique combination of technologies and
expertise – in solid and fluid dynamics, mechanics,
materials, acoustics, stochastics, software
development and computational simulation – to
engineer practical solutions to intractable problems.
We undertake research, development and design
to manage risks to life and structures in military and
civilian buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities
and vehicles. Our 65-year record of success is driven
by the sustained focus of our uniquely qualified team
of engineers and scientists.
Forensics
We provide attorneys, property managers, building
owners, contractors/manufacturers and design
professionals with a wide range of engineering
and architectural forensic services. As design
professionals, we evaluate for standard of care;
as forensic specialists, we seek root causes;
as problem solvers, we seek resolution. Our
deliverables typically include a report, expert
testimony, a set of calculations/drawings, and
computer models and simulations.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Property Loss Consulting
Our Property Loss Consulting practice helps
insurance companies analyze pre- and post-loss
risks, damage and property claims arising from
natural or man-made perils. Our professionals
represent diverse disciplines, from architecture
to experts in structural, mechanical, electrical and
plumbing engineering. At the heart of our practice
is the investigation of damage to structures, which
includes cause and origin analyses, engineering
assessments for reinstatement of damaged
buildings, building code upgrade analyses, and
responding to emerging specialized claims, such as
LEED-certified structures, renewable energy claims
and requirements for buildings to react to
changing environmental conditions.
Renewal
We provide building owners and managers with
a wide range of envelope, structural and MEP
solutions for existing structures of all types. We
conduct performance investigations, condition
assessments, prepurchase due-diligence surveys,
feasibility studies and peer reviews. We design
repairs, renovations and alterations, and oversee
their execution.
Weidlinger Transportation –
San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge, San Francisco, Cal.
© Michael Warwick Dreamstime.com
green building certification consulting, sustainability
analysis and upgrades for existing structures, along
with education and training.
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Life-Cycle Support
Our unique suite of integrated practices, services
and resources affords us an unparalleled ability to
help our clients plan, design, build, maintain and
renew structures of every kind.
Bess Adler / Thornton Tomasetti
We work with owners, architects, contractors and
fabricators on design and construction of new
buildings and on expansions and renovations of
existing structures. We also help building owners,
managers, insurers and occupants meet ongoing
needs throughout the building’s life cycle.
BIM & Beyond
Building information modeling is an ever-improving
tool we use to help clients realize their goals. Having
used it for decades, we’ve found that even basic
BIM tools can dramatically improve collaboration,
coordination, visualization and communication. But
we’re also using more advanced methods for
digital project design, delivery and fabrication.
Computational design – parametric and generative
modeling – advances creative exploration by
allowing project teams to quickly view and analyze
a host of concepts and variations. These tools
also increase documentation speed and quality,
accelerate geometry-based analysis tasks, and
simplify calculation of material quantities.
We’re also pushing BIM beyond design and
construction. Our forensic information modeling
services now harness the power of BIM to improve
the way forensic data is stored, analyzed, accessed
and used.
We Bring the Whole Team
Michele Cyr and Sebastian Mendez set up a test tank experiment on a shake table.
Collaboration Drives Value
What is the key to successfully balancing the
competing priorities present in every project?
Collaboration. At Thornton Tomasetti, we don’t limit
our focus to just our scope of work. Instead, we
talk to teammates across disciplines to identify the
critical areas of intersection. We ask questions and
look beyond the obvious, searching for the unique
approach best suited to each project.
The Thornton Tomasetti and Ping An teams meet at the Ping An South Tower construction site in Shenzhen, China.
To Us, Global Is Local
Courtesy Heerim Architects & Planners
We add value and make lasting contributions by
working collaboratively, using the best tools and
fostering an environment where innovation can –
and does – thrive.
Thornton Tomasetti
How We Work
Design and construction practices vary greatly
by location. Different conditions, availability of
materials, wind or seismic activity, and legal
and regulatory environments all affect “what
works” in any given place.
Whether it’s a new building or an existing structure,
we have a team to help. Our 10 integrated practices
offer a range of services that yield benefits greater
than the sum of their parts.
We have offices around the world and a
breadth of international know-how that few
engineering firms can match. We hire local
staff with knowledge of regional design and
construction cultures.
Combined expertise in sustainability, façade support
and structural engineering, for example, provides a
holistic understanding of how these elements affect
one another in a building. Coordination among our
designers and construction engineering specialists
makes for more efficient construction. And lessons
learned by our forensics, property loss consulting
and renewal staff improve the way we design new
buildings – and vice versa.
Our international presence – in Asia-Pacific,
Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and
North America – allows us to speed forensics
and property loss consulting experts to
any location at any time. Our deep bench
supports fast deployment and continued
presence on-site until our clients’ needs
are met.
We are committed to proactive collaboration, to
open communication and to making the complex
understandable to all stakeholders.
Baku Residential Complex, Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Bess Adler / Thornton Tomasetti
Role in Tall Buildings
New Design
In recent years, supertall buildings have become
more structurally challenging and visually
exciting. Lateral accelerations on windy days and
differential column shortening (post-construction
creep and shrinkage) as height increases
pose special challenges. Powerful computer
programs now aid in geometric modeling
and structural analysis.
in fewer changes, reductions in field issues and
shorter construction schedules. Modeling technology
enables all project stakeholders to visualize the
entire structure early on, optimizes the interplay
between aesthetic and functional considerations,
eliminates clashes between systems and facilitates
accurate early material procurement.
Design-Build
Design criteria and construction methodology
are just two of the key components of supertall
buildings that often require expert review and value
engineering. Often, local codes and practices,
or construction materials and methods that are
appropriate for projects of more conventional size,
are applied to supertall designs for which they were
never intended. We have experience around the
world in helping reviewers understand and apply
current international standards for these unique
projects. We also assist contractors and developers
by sharing best practices.
Thornton Tomasetti has more than 20 years of
experience in design-build project delivery. Our
successful track record includes projects across a
wide range of market sectors: commercial, sports,
residential, cultural, education, healthcare, aviation,
retail and industrial. By combining design and
construction into a single contract, all members of
the team – architect, engineers, contractors and
fabricators – work together from the start to improve
coordination and constructability. The enhanced
collaboration that is integral to design-build results
Chris Christoforou and Aine Brazil at Hudson Yards, New York, N.Y.
Efe Karanci / Thornton Tomasetti
A broader understanding of wind and seismic
loads and new architectural and structural
materials, along with improved construction
technologies, all facilitate the design process.
This knowledge base – buttressed by our
understanding of the interaction among structural
system framing elements, building skin, and
architectural and mechanical systems – is
invaluable in providing designs that
are safe, comfortable, economical,
sustainable and constructable.
peer review services applies the lessons learned
during our work on both new building designs and
existing building investigations. We know how to
address conflicting design criteria when it is time
to provide suggestions and observations as a peer
reviewer. This experience means our comments
focus on the realities of supertall buildings rather
than hypothetical considerations.
Feasibility Studies
1,776’
There is no substitute for experience when an
early decision is needed on concept feasibility.
Evaluation must be based on a combination of
extrapolations from completed designs of other
high-rise buildings and computer models that
condense structural details while preserving
attributes essential to answering preliminary
design questions. Our design professionals
use both historical information and an analytical
approach to develop the answers owners and
design teams need to select an appropriate
design course.
Peer Review
It takes a firm experienced in supertall building
design to know whether a design proposed by
another firm is appropriate. Our approach to
Value Engineering
2007
2016
1998
2004
1,969’
One World
Trade
Center
Signature
Tower
New York
New York
Jakarta
Indonesia
2014
2015
2016
2021
2020
10 Hudson Yards, New York, N.Y.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Jeddah Tower
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
We are performing structural design for Jeddah Tower,
the centerpiece of the new 5.2-million-square-meter
Jeddah Economic City development. Upon completion,
the tower will be the world’s tallest building and will
house luxury condos, a hotel, apartments, office space,
and the world’s highest observation deck.
A high-performance exterior wall system will minimize
energy consumption by reducing thermal loads. In
addition, a series of notches along each of the tower’s
three sides will serve as outdoor terraces, providing
stunning views of Jeddah and the Red Sea and shielding
areas of the building from the sun.
Architects
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture
Completion Date
2019 (estimated)
Contractor
Saudi Binladin Group
Total Area
530,000 m² / 5.7 million sf
Number of Stories
167 above ground
2 below ground
Height
1,000+ m / 3,307 ft
Images © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The structural system design is based on
stringent performance criteria for supertall structures,
entailing both international performance standards
and regional building codes. Key challenges include
establishing wind loads appropriate to the building’s height
and location, fine-tuning the building’s form to minimize
the impact of wind loading while optimizing the structural
system, designing the slender spire elements
and designing a foundation that can support the heavily
loaded structure and mitigate differential settlement.
Owner/Developer
Jeddah Economic Company
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Shanghai Tower
Developer
Shanghai Tower Construction
and Development Company
Shanghai, China
Architect
Gensler
We provided structural engineering design and façade peer
review services for Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in
China and the second-tallest in the world. The development
features Class-A office space, retail, a luxury hotel and
cultural venues.
Completion Date
2015
Total Area
380,000 m² / 6.2 million sf
We engineered a simple, safe and cost-effective structural
system that enables a creative architectural form. The
tower’s exterior – a twisting triangular surface that tapers as
it rises – is wrapped around a concrete core composed of
nine stacked cylinders.
Number of Stories
127 above ground
5 below ground
Height
632 m / 2,074 ft
An efficient design of super columns with outrigger trusses
derives stiffness from the concrete inner building, forming
an effective system for resisting wind and seismic loads.
We developed a unique support system for the twisting
curtain wall that employs hanger rods supported at
mechanical levels, horizontal girts, braces and cross-braces
at each level.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Courtesy Shanghai Tower Construction and Development
Thornton Tomasetti
Courtesy Howe Keen Foong/Gensler
The design, which incorporates such sustainable
technologies as energy-generating wind turbines and solar
panels, has received certifications from the China Green
Building Committee and the USGBC.
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Client / Architect
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC
General Contractor
Tutor Perini Corporation
Tishman Construction
Completion Date
2019
Total Area
2.6 million sf
Number of Stories
90
New York, New York
Monterrey, Mexico
Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural design services
for a 90-story, 2.6-million-square-foot office tower with a
1.3-million-square-foot podium. The structure is part of a
17-million-square-foot mixed-use development consisting
of residential, commercial and retail, as well as 14 acres of
public open space. The site encompasses six city blocks,
totaling 28 acres.
Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design, through
design development, for a 69-story tower that, when
completed, will be Mexico’s tallest. Stark+Ortiz is serving
as the local engineer for the 917-foot-tall building.
The building’s location presents a major challenge, as a
significant portion of the building footprint is situated over
the LIRR rail yard, which restricts the placement of building
foundation and support columns because of track positions
and clearances. Multistory transfer trusses at the lower
levels distribute column loads to the nearest foundation.
In many areas, these transfer systems will extend into the
retail podium, requiring the two buildings to be constructed
as one structure.
Courtesy The Related Companies
Height
395 m / 1,296 ft
Torre KOI
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Owner
Internacional de Inversiones
The mixed-use tower will house offices, nine levels of
parking, and luxury apartments, which will offer panoramic
views of the Cerro de la Silla, Sierra Madre and Cerro de las
Mitras mountains.
The structural system consists of post-tensioned concrete
flat slabs supported by concrete columns and a concrete
shear-wall core with post-tensioned concrete waffle slabs
at the garage levels. The core’s high aspect ratio posed a
significant challenge for meeting wind acceleration limits.
Full-story concrete belt walls at Levels 21 and 61 link the
tower columns to the shear-wall core to resist lateral loads
and enhance stiffness, minimizing perceptible accelerations
due to wind loads.
Architect
VFO Arquitectos
Completion Date
2017
Number of Stories
69
Height
279.5 m / 917 ft
Sustainability
LEED Silver
Christopher Crilly / Thornton Tomasetti
The Related Companies
Oxford Properties
30 Hudson Yards
Courtesy Internacional de Inversiones
Owner
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Owner
Greenland Group Chengdu Shu
Feng Real Estate Development
Co., Ltd.
Chengdu Greenland Tower
Kohinoor Square
Chengdu, China
Mumbai, India
Design Architect
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture
Inspired by the neighboring landscape, the architectural
design for this mixed-use tower entails a highly complicated
geometry with facets sloping in all directions to resemble
snow-covered mountains. Surrounding the main tower are
two smaller towers and a six-story podium.
We provided structural engineering design and façade
consulting services for a pair of commercial towers at
Kohinoor Square. The larger of the two, at 48 stories, will be
among India’s tallest office buildings.
Completion Date
2018
Construction Cost
$2 billion
Total Area
455,530 m² / 4.9 million sf
Number of Stories
101
This tower is located in an active seismic zone. Its primary
lateral force-resisting system is a reinforced-concrete core
wall with 16 reinforced-concrete columns, which zigzag
along the height of the tower. The secondary system
includes a high-performance braced-frame system made
of reinforced-concrete columns with an outer periphery of
steel beams and braces, which serve as both structural
members and architectural components.
The main tower features a core wall with sloping walls –
the first use of this system in a high-rise in China.
Courtesy Greenland Group
Height
468 m / 1,535 ft
Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural engineering
services for the project’s schematic design and design
development phases, and structural peer review services
for the construction documents phase.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
“Kohinoor” means “mountain of light” and is also the name
of one of the world’s largest diamonds. While the gleaming,
slope-sided towers were designed to evoke the facets of cut
diamonds, the specific shape and structure of the towers
were based on extensive wind-load studies. The structure
comprises a concrete core and post-tensioned concrete
slab and spandrel beams. The façades consist of faceted
unitized aluminum curtain walls with provisions for double
façades on portions of each tower. The towers are linked by
a podium with a façade of custom point-supported glazing
on specialty steel trusses.
Architect
gkkworks / SSA
Contractor
Larsen & Toubro Limited
Completion Date
2016
Number of Stories
48
Height
203 m / 666 ft
Kohinoor Square is one of the first skyscrapers in India
to receive a LEED Gold rating from the Indian Green
Building Council.
Images courtesy gkkworks
Architect of Record
East China Architecture Design
& Research Institute
Owner
Kohinoor CTNL Infrastructure
Corporation
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Architect
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture
Contractor
Hyundai Construction
Completion Date
2013
Total Area
Tower: 170,000 m² / 1.8 million sf
Conference Center: 6,000 m² / 64,583 sf
Crescent Tower
Baku, Azerbaijan
Seoul, South Korea
We performed schematic structural design for this 245meter commercial tower. Our team designed a structural
system consisting of a reinforced-concrete core and
composite columns, augmented by steel outrigger trusses
and perimeter steel belt trusses. Revit and Tekla modeling
applications were used to document the design. The
tower’s furrowed exterior wall provides optimal placement
for spandrel-mounted photovoltaic panels and plays a
key role in disrupting the formation of wind vortices.
An adjacent three-level conference center occupies an
ornamental egg-shaped structure. Our façade experts
designed and detailed its glazing system using Gehry
Technologies’ Digital Project.
Courtesy Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Height
245 m / 804 ft
Federation of Korean
Industries Head Office
Building
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
We provided structural and parametric façade design
services through design development for these iconic
residential towers on a hillside overlooking the Caspian
Sea. To resist extreme winds (“Baku” means “windy city”)
and severe seismic forces, we designed a dual system:
a special reinforced-concrete shear wall and a special RC
moment frame. The structural floor system combines a twoway 200-millimeter slab and RC beams. The curved towers
have special requirements for façade panelization that
allows the use of flat quadrangle unitized façade systems.
Parametric modeling allowed us to determine the optimal
façade unit geometry, thereby reducing fabrication and
erection costs.
Owner
Crescent
Architect
Heerim Architects & Planners
Completion Date
2012
Total Area
Tower 1: 56,522 m² / 608,340 sf
Tower 2: 45,464 m² / 489,370 sf
Number of Stories
Tower 1: 46
Tower 2: 37
Courtesy Heerim Architects & Planners
Owner
Federation of Korean industries
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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King Abdullah Financial District
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
We provided structural and façade design to Henning Larsen
Architects for several tower projects in the new King
Abdullah Financial District.
Crystal Towers will serve as the district’s main financial
center. The complex is split into two towers of 135 meters
and 95 meters, linked by a 70-meter elevated podium
bridge that forms a gateway to the development.
The Gem Building consists of two mid-rise reinforcedconcrete office and residential towers that link to two
“gem” structures composed of a two-story steel frame
structure and a concrete shell forming a single crystalline
roof over a double-height retail space.
Developer
Rayadah Investment Company
Architect
Henning Larsen Architects
General Contractor
Saudi Binladin Group
Completion Date
2017 (estimated)
Total Area
Crystal Towers: 93,000 m² /
1 million sf
The Gem Building: 33,500 m² /
360,591 sf
Villas in the Sky: 41,000 m² /
441,320 sf
Awards
Crystal Towers:
Be Inspired Award
for Innovation in Building,
Bentley Systems, 2010
Images courtesy Henning Larsen Architects
Villas in the Sky is a 33-story tower with 12 levels of
residential units above 13 floors of office space.
The building is topped by a “sky gym,” spa and roof
terrace. Our engineers used BIM on these projects to
speed analysis of complex building geometries, increase
design flexibility, improve coordination among design team
members and simplify clash detection and resolution.
Owner
The Public Pensions Agency
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Owner
Greenland Group
Architect
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture
Completion Date
2018
Construction Cost
$4.5 billion U.S.
Total Area
396,088 m² / 4.3 million sf
Number of Stories
125 above ground
6 below ground
Height
636 m / 2,087 ft
Wuhan Greenland Center
Wuhan, China
We are providing structural design and façade services for
this 125-story tower, to consist of office space, apartments,
a hotel and a penthouse-level private club. Because the 636meter structure exceeds the China building code’s height
limits, engineers used performance-based design to satisfy
seismic requirements set by an expert review panel.
The building’s structure uses a composite-concrete core,
floor system and columns. Concrete with embedded steel
provides superior strength and ductility and improves costeffectiveness, since in East Asia, concrete is much less
expensive than steel.
The tower’s tripod plan and rounded form reduce wind
resistance and the formation of vortices that cause
uncomfortable building motions. The tapered structure
reduces forces at the top of the building. The aerodynamic
performance of this configuration minimizes the required
amount of structural material, reducing costs and
environmental impacts.
Images © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Façade services included parametric modeling, analysis and
reconstruction to develop practical curtain-wall solutions for
the warped geometries.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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General Contractor
Turner Construction Company
Completion Date
2017 (estimated)
Construction Cost
$1 billion
Total Area
204,386 m² / 2.2 million sf
Hotel: 900 rooms
Office: 400,000 sf
Retail: 45,100 sf
Total Height
1,100 ft
Number of Stories
73 above ground
5 below ground
Sustainability
Pursuing LEED Silver
Awards
Design Concept Award,
Los Angeles Architectural
Awards, 2013
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Federation Tower Complex
Los Angeles, California
Moscow, Russia
The new Wilshire Grand Center will redefine the Los
Angeles skyline. Reaching 73 stories and topped by an LEDilluminated “sail,” the tower will be the tallest building in
the western United States. It will house a four-star hotel,
Class-A offices, five levels of subterranean parking, and
an upscale rooftop “sky lobby” with sweeping views
of Los Angeles. A five-story podium will include retail
and dining options.
Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering
and performance-based design services. The tower’s
superstructure lateral system is a nearly rectangular four-cell
cast-in-place reinforced concrete shear wall system. The
gravity system consists of concrete-filled metal deck floor
slabs supported by composite steel wide-flange framing.
We applied PBD principles to validate the tower’s seismic
performance and successfully presented the design to
the building department’s peer review panel. We also
established a parametric façade panelization strategy for the
geometrically complex all-glass façade.
Rising 373 meters, the Federation Tower complex provides
accommodation for Class-A offices, a five-star hotel and
luxury apartments. It will become the centerpiece of the
new Moscow International Business Center.
Adjacent to the 101-story Tower Vostok (east) is its
64-story partner, Tower Zapad (west). The complex is the
first project in Russia to use super high-strength concrete
technology. Three levels of steel outrigger-truss systems
distribute gravity and wind loads between the core and
perimeter framing. The project design incorporates modern
requirements for occupant safety in supertall structures.
In addition to structural engineering services, Thornton
Tomasetti provided façade consulting and specialty glass
and steel design. We used computational geometry
and building information modeling to develop innovative
and efficient designs for the tower caps, integrating
the structure with architectural elements, maintenance
requirements and mechanical functions.
Owner
Mirax Group, Moscow
Architect
NPS Tchoban Voss
Completion Date
2016
Total Area
325,160 m² / 3.5 million sf
Number of Stories
Tower Vostok (east): 101
Tower Zapad (west): 64
Height
373 m / 1,224 ft
Awards
Prix d’Excellence, Office
Category Winner, International
Real Estate Federation
(FIABCI), 2009
Images courtesy Mirax Group
Architect
AC Martin Partners
Wilshire Grand Center
Len Joseph / Thornton Tomasetti
Owner
Korean Air
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Owner
PT Grahamas Adisentosa
Architect
Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart,
Stewart & Associates, Inc.
MEP Engineer
Beca Engineering
Completion Date
2021
Total Area
593,000 m² / 6.4 million sf
Height
638 m / 2,093 ft
Number of Stories
111
Signature Tower
Jakarta, Indonesia
Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural engineering
services for a 111-story, 638-meter mixed-use tower
located on Lots 6 and 7 of the Sudirman Central Business
District in Jakarta, Indonesia. The structure has an
observatory at the top level, 25 floors of hotel space, 70
levels of office space, and a 10-story retail podium with a
conference center, ballroom and restaurants, and six levels
of basement parking.
The building is located in one of the most active seismic
zones in the world. Classified as Seismic Design Category
D, Signature Tower presents enormous challenges to
engineers because of high seismic reactions and extremely
soft soil conditions. The primary lateral system includes
a composite core wall, composite super columns, steel
outrigger trusses and steel belt trusses.
Images courtesy Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc.
The exterior megaframe includes nine steel belt trusses,
six steel floor trusses and composite super columns. We
used performance-based design to evaluate the building’s
behavior under different levels of seismic hazard in order to
ensure an efficient and safe structure.
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32
Owner
The New York Times Company
Architect
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
FXFowle Architects
Developer
Forest City Ratner Co.
General Contractor - Core and Shell
AMEC Construction Mgmt. Inc.
General Contractor - Interiors
Turner Construction
Completion Date
2007
Construction Cost
$650 million
Total Area
157,935 m² / 1.7 million sf
Number of Stories
52
The New York Times Building
New York, New York
The New York Times Building is a 52-story office tower
topped by a 300-foot mast that tapers off and seems to
disappear into the sky. The tower’s design emphasizes
lightness and transparency, with an elegant structural
steel exoskeleton integrated into the architectural design
and a glass-and-ceramic curtain wall that admits abundant
natural light into all the building’s floors.
The exposed structural steel presented a number of
challenges for our design team, including compliance with
the city’s fire and building codes, detailing the steel to
achieve aesthetic elegance, and designing for forces and
movements caused by temperature differentials.
Adding appeal to the building’s façade are thin, horizontal
ceramic rods placed on a steel framework 18 inches in front
of the low-emissivity glass. The first of its kind in the United
States, this curtain wall acts as a sunscreen, helping reduce
heating and cooling requirements while the rods reflect the
changing colors of the sky.
Height
319 m / 1,046 ft
Awards
Award of Excellence, AIA New York
State Institute Honors, 2009
Diamond Award ­– Structural
Systems, ACEC New York, 2008
Project of the Year, New York
Construction, 2007
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Images © David Sundberg/Esto
Best Building Award – Americas,
CTBUH, 2008
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
34
Owner
Ping An Life Insurance
Company of China
Ping An International
Finance Centre
International Finance
Centre Seoul
Architect
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Shenzhen, China
Seoul, South Korea
Our engineering team used performance-based design
methodologies to design this new office tower, set to be
the tallest in China. Because supertall structures behave
differently than the shorter buildings that are the basis for
standard building codes, PBD allows engineers to design
structures based on how they react to various conditions.
The structural system is a concrete core with steel
outriggers connecting to eight super columns. The project
also includes a 90,000-square-meter parking basement and
an 11-story steel-framed podium with a conference center,
shopping mall, restaurants and rooftop cafés.
IFC Seoul is a mixed-use development with three
Class-A office buildings, a five-star hotel and below-grade
retail and parking. The LEED Silver-certified complex
incorporates such sustainable features as rainwater
harvesting systems and photovoltaic panels. Its three steelframed commercial towers have reinforced-concrete core
walls with outrigger trusses at mechanical levels.
This structural system accommodates large
column-free tenant spaces.
Completion Date
2016
Construction Cost
$678 million U.S.
Height
600 m / 1,969 ft
Total Area
462,000 m² / 5 million sf
Owner
American International Group
Seoul Metropolitan
Government
The 38-story hotel, framed in reinforced concrete, houses
446 guest rooms, a fitness center, conference facilities, a
ballroom, and dining and retail venues. Solar panels on
the rooftop and on the south-facing façade will provide
electricity for hot water and lighting.
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Architect
Arquitectonica
Construction
GS Construction, POSCO
Construction
Completion Date
2012
Construction Cost
$1.6 billion U.S.
Total Area
509,524 m² / 5.5 million sf
Height
Tower One: 186 m / 610 ft
Tower Two: 176 m / 577 ft
Tower Three: 279 m / 915 ft
Courtesy GS Construction
Courtesy Arquitectonica
C.T. Tam / Thornton Tomasetti
The development sits atop a seven-level basement consisting
of reinforced concrete bound by a slurry wall. The belowgrade area houses four levels of parking and a three-story
luxury mall with a glass pavilion extending above ground to
let in natural light.
Developer/Project Manager
AIG Global Real Estate
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Comcast Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The LEED CS Gold-certified Comcast Center is the tallest
building between New York and Chicago. Its design
incorporates lessons learned by Thornton Tomasetti while
leading the assessment of the 9/11 collapse of the World
Trade Center towers.
The center’s elevators, sprinklers, communications systems
and stairwells are encased in a massive concrete core
stretching the full height of the building. Stairwells are 10
inches wider than code to facilitate evacuation. And because
the building footprint is small and the core relatively slim,
exterior walls are thicker than usual to minimize flexing due
to wind stress.
The building has expansive open spaces designed without
columns. A nine-story glass winter garden leads to a
three-story lobby and 90-foot-wide column-free atrium. A
tuned liquid-column mass damper – a 300,000-gallon water
reservoir – near the top of the structure limits wind-induced
building movement.
Owner
Liberty Property Trust
Architect
Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Environmental Consultants
Atelier Ten
Completion Date
2008
Construction Cost
$352 million
Total Area
125,400 m² / 1.35 million sf
Number of Stories
58
Height
297 m / 975 ft
Awards
Diamond Award for
Engineering Excellence,
ACEC New York, 2010
Images by Stephan Eisenreich / Thornton Tomasetti
Best in the Nation, Office
Building Category, McGrawHill Construction’s Best of
the Best Awards, 2008
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Best Commercial Project,
General Building Contractors
Association’s Construction
Excellence Awards, 2008
Best of 2008 Overall Project
of the Year, Mid-Atlantic
Construction, 2008
Award of Excellence, The
Americas, Urban Land
Institute, 2009
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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WTC 2-4: Silverstein
Properties, Inc.
Project Team
WTC 1: SOM
WTC 2: Foster + Partners / BIG
WTC 3: Richard Rogers
WTC 4: Maki and Associates
Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith
New York, New York
Busan, South Korea
Our Weidlinger Protective Design practice provided blastresistant design services for World Trade Center Towers
1 (also known as the Freedom Tower) through 4. We
worked closely with the developer, security consultant,
project design team and state and city officials to establish
the appropriate level of protection for these buildings and
determine the associated operational security measures.
The tallest residential tower in Asia topped out in early
2011, rising above the waterfront of South Korea’s secondlargest city, Busan. At 80 stories and 984 feet (300 meters),
the tallest of the three towers in We’ve the Zenith forms
the centerpiece of a 4.1-million-square-foot development,
which also includes a retail podium and six below-grade
levels for retail, parking and mechanical facilities.
We performed high-fidelity finite-element analyses of the
primary structural elements of each building to determine
their responses to extreme blast loading. Our team
used the results to determine the most cost-effective
combination of blast-hardening upgrades that satisfied
the design criteria. We also performed similar finiteelement analyses of the façades to determine curtain-wall
design requirements.
Exposure to typhoons was the biggest engineering
challenge in the design of We’ve the Zenith. The team
designed these structures to withstand sustained winds
of 90 mph and gusts to 105 mph. The towers present a
smooth, rounded face to the wind, which makes them more
aerodynamic and reduces wind loads. Also helping improve
stability and comfort for occupants is the very wide stance,
with an aspect ratio of nearly 1:7. The efficient design of
the core wall, which is butterfly-shaped in cross section,
maximizes building stiffness while minimizing the amount of
material used in construction.
Lorenzo Sanjuan / Thornton Tomasetti
Completion Date
2012
World Trade Center Towers 1-4
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Owner/Developer
Daewon Plus Construction
Architect
DeStefano + Partners
Contractor
Doosan Engineering and
Construction
Completion Date
2011
Total Area
378,500 m² / 4.1 million sf
Number of Stories
70 and 80
Height
300 m / 984 ft
© Halohoon
Owner
WTC 1: Port Authority of New
York & New Jersey
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
40
Owner
KLCC (Holdings) Sdn. Bhd.
Architect
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects with
Adamson Associates
Completion Date
1998
Construction Cost
$1 billion U.S.
Total Area
306,580 m² / 3.3 million sf
Number of Stories
88
Height
452 m / 1,483 ft
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
We provided structural design for two slender towers,
the world’s tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004, that soar
452 meters above Kuala Lumpur. Their dramatic design is
enhanced by a sky bridge at floors 41 and 42 that connects
the towers and creates a visual gateway to a major public
park. The sky bridge was designed with slender structural
members rather than heavy trusses to be compatible with
the building’s architecture and was constructed more
than 150 meters above street level. It accommodates
independent movement of the towers as they sway with
wind loads. The KLCC complex also includes a 5,143-car
underground garage, a seven-story retail facility and an
acoustically isolated 864-seat concert hall that spans over
the entryway to the towers and retail areas.
Images courtesy Michael Goodman
Awards
The Aga Khan Award for
Architecture, 2004
Petronas Towers
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
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42
Architect
C. Y. Lee and Partners
General Contractor
KTRT Joint Venture
Completion Date
2004
Construction Cost
$1.7 billion U.S.
Total Area
204,388 m² / 2.2 million sf
Number of Stories
101
Height
508 m / 1,667 ft
Awards
Grand Award, Popular
Science, 2004
Outstanding Project Award,
National Council of Structural
Engineers Associations,
Excellence in Structural
Engineering Awards, 2005
Diamond Award for
Engineering Excellence, ACEC
New York, 2006
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Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
Taipei 101
Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei 101 features a 508-meter tower with a unique
profile, a five-level basement and a surrounding six-story
retail structure. The building opens upward, evoking a
blossoming flower, which, in Chinese culture, signifies
financial richness and everlasting vitality. It is divided into
eight-floor segments, the number “eight” representing
prosperity and good fortune. The building’s architecture
relies on inwardly slanting segments, which, in conjunction
with energy-conserving transparent glass and innovative
lighting design, give the tower its elegant, crystal-clear
appearance. The building ranked as the world’s tallest from
2004 through 2009.
The tapering walls result in most of the building’s floor
plans ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 square meters (21,500
to 27,000 square feet), with some as small as 47 square
meters (506 square feet) above the main roof. The tower
was designed to withstand typhoon winds and seismic
activity. The structure includes a tuned mass damper
suspended in the upper floors to offset movement caused
by wind gusts. The tower’s ultrafast elevators take only 39
seconds to reach the 89th-floor observatory.
C. Y. Lee and Partners engaged our services to provide
concept and preliminary designs and review the final
structural design by the local engineer of record. We also
responded to questions from the architect and advised the
architect and owners during construction.
Images courtesy C.Y. Lee and Partners
Owner
Taipei Financial Center
Corporation
Thornton Tomasetti – Tall and Supertall
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Offices
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Beijing, China
Boston, Massachusetts
Bristol, England
Chicago, Illinois
Christchurch, New Zealand
Cupertino, California
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Edinburgh, Scotland
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Glasgow, Scotland
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Hong Kong, China
Irvine, California
Kansas City, Missouri
London, England – Farringdon
London, England – Lloyd’s Avenue
Los Angeles, California
Miami, Florida
Moscow, Russia
Mumbai, India
New York, New York – Madison Avenue
New York, New York – Wall Street
Newark, New Jersey
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Maine
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
São Paulo, Brazil
Seattle, Washington
Shanghai, China
Toronto, Canada
Washington, D.C.
West Hartford, Connecticut
www.ThorntonTomasetti.com
Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan. Courtesy C.Y. Lee and Partners