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47-story skyscraper & no elevator 2
- Thread starter WWTEng
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The article is poorly written, I had to read a couple of different articles on this building to understand what really happened. Saying the building has "no elevators" as the article suggests is not accurate. The building has elevators... for the first 20 floors out of 47. Providing no elevator shafts for 27 floors is still a stunning error. I am curious to see if they can possibly retrofit the building, or if it is a total loss.
concretemasonry
Structural
Very strange situation.
I have seen no elevator service on tall buildings in China on the first seven floor where they went by tradition from the rebuilding after WWII and no elevators that stopped on the first floors since they were not needed. In many areas of Russia, I saw many systems that had small elevators with open cages that stopped/paused at every floor or totally stopped at a landing half-way between floors (2-1/2. 4-1/2, etc to,) to serve all floors with only a 1/2 floor walk up or down.
Eliminating the upper floors seems to be a huge mistake by the architect. Nothing to do with the structure, but neglect of duties. Social engineering-
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
I have seen no elevator service on tall buildings in China on the first seven floor where they went by tradition from the rebuilding after WWII and no elevators that stopped on the first floors since they were not needed. In many areas of Russia, I saw many systems that had small elevators with open cages that stopped/paused at every floor or totally stopped at a landing half-way between floors (2-1/2. 4-1/2, etc to,) to serve all floors with only a 1/2 floor walk up or down.
Eliminating the upper floors seems to be a huge mistake by the architect. Nothing to do with the structure, but neglect of duties. Social engineering-
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
I was going to post this but didn't.
I thought the title of the story was very misleading and very dramatic. Probably the way most stories are written today.
What I took away from the story was that the architect designed a 20 story building. Then the developer decided he wanted a 47 story building. I thought the architect just continued on up with the same floor plan forgetting to either 1) increase the size of the elevator or 2)increase the number of elevators. I have never worked on a tall building. I imagine the size and number of elevators required to service the upper floors will increase with the occupancy of the building.
Typical "hurry up and get it done". I find people usually get something done correct the first time. Every time something changes once the project design is completed the more likely something will be screwed up because somebody "missed" something during the revision.
I thought the title of the story was very misleading and very dramatic. Probably the way most stories are written today.
What I took away from the story was that the architect designed a 20 story building. Then the developer decided he wanted a 47 story building. I thought the architect just continued on up with the same floor plan forgetting to either 1) increase the size of the elevator or 2)increase the number of elevators. I have never worked on a tall building. I imagine the size and number of elevators required to service the upper floors will increase with the occupancy of the building.
Typical "hurry up and get it done". I find people usually get something done correct the first time. Every time something changes once the project design is completed the more likely something will be screwed up because somebody "missed" something during the revision.
That article seems to be based entirely on the Gizmodo article, which in turn is based on a Spanish article linked in it, but the Spanish article does not seem to support the Gizmodo article's claims. The best I can gather, is they had room allotted on the roof for a 20-story elevator, but not a 47-story elevator, so they're short on real estate, and they didn't have work elevators running until the 20th story or so. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the internet, they mention the project was originally 75 stories and shortened, so that point seems to be in doubt as well.
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Just read.... They are going to replace one of the exterior windows in each condo with a sliding glass door. Then they plan on leaving the tower crane in place, and you call the crane operator to make a reservation to be picked up at door 43D on the south side, at 3:30p. This will pay for the bldg. in short order because in the morning and evening, at rush hour, they plan on an auction for the service and time slots. The architect and developer were probably to busy dreaming about that crazy round roof at the top seven floors to worry about elevators. With that extra cost, there was no room in the budget for elevators.
concretemasonry
Structural
After reading the original post, I realized that I had been within a block or so of the site. It is almost as bad/good cost-wise as Barcelona, but there is a demand for space along the Mediterranean coast. I got involved in the structural addition of 4 floors to a 7 story loadbearing masonry building in Valencia a few years because of the demand and international investment. Some of the units were occupied no more than 1 or 2 weeks a year.
It is probably not a defect in the original design of the structure by either architects or engineers, but the FACT that the land there is very precious now and impossible to buy. The only choice is to go upward in some way that that can be justified or scrap the structure, which is difficult in a condo building. It takes unique approaches and design to create something that is economically feasible.
If the original structures foundation is adequate, adding 27 stories is both an economic and engineering challenge to gain more high priced space if it is designed correctly. Often, the physical inconveniences and uniqueness can demand very high prices in that part of the world.
The structure can be added on to if the budgets/benefits can be satisfied.
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
It is probably not a defect in the original design of the structure by either architects or engineers, but the FACT that the land there is very precious now and impossible to buy. The only choice is to go upward in some way that that can be justified or scrap the structure, which is difficult in a condo building. It takes unique approaches and design to create something that is economically feasible.
If the original structures foundation is adequate, adding 27 stories is both an economic and engineering challenge to gain more high priced space if it is designed correctly. Often, the physical inconveniences and uniqueness can demand very high prices in that part of the world.
The structure can be added on to if the budgets/benefits can be satisfied.
Dick
Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.
paddingtongreen
Structural
I've bumped this because the article was wrong, it resulted from a bad translation of a confusing original Spanish article. JStephen's post above appears to be close to the true picture.
Michael.
"Science adjusts its views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved." ~ Tim Minchin
Michael.
"Science adjusts its views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved." ~ Tim Minchin
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bridgebuster
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No elevator? Michael Bloomberg is probably behind it. 
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