Time Lapse: 57-Story Prefab Skyscraper Built in Only 19 Days in China
What if Philly’s next skyscrape could be built in under a month? It’s not Lego, it’s now actually possible. A construction firm called Broad Sustainable Building (BSB) just assembled their new 57-story tower–called Mini Sky City in Changsha, China–in just 19 days. 19 days! How did they construct a building roughly the same height as the BNY Mellon Center so quickly? Well, it’s the world’s tallest pre-fabricated skyscraper.
Using “energy-efficient, factory-produced Lego-like blocks,” crews were able to complete about three floors per day. Here’s more from Sploid:
This building has 19 10-meter-high atriums, 800 apartments, and office space for 4,000 people. [BSB representative Xian Min] Zhang claims that the use of modules reduced the use of concrete by 15,000 trucks, which he says almost eliminated all the release of dust in the air, an important advantage in pollution-ridden China.
Hah! And you thought nothing could top 3-D printed houses. Soon, they could be meshing the two practices together–boom, instant skyscraper, just add water! Curbed has some sweet animated GIFs of the the feat.
Naturally, you’re probably (hopefully?) wondering if this thing is safe, considering how quickly it all came together. BSB assembled a smaller, 30-story hotel in 2012 using similar methods that “can resist a 9 magnitude earthquake,” according to this piece in Gizmodo. There’s video, too.
Unlike a certain building designed by Sir Norman Foster (CITC), this tower is built more for the function of housing BSB employees, rather than the form (and function) of being the showpiece office building of a corporation like Comcast.
- Broad Sustainable Building completes world’s tallest prefab, 57 stories [Treehugger]
- Wow, China builds complete 57-story skyscraper in record 19 days [Sploid]
