CCTV Headquarters, Beijing

A Structural Design Overview

By Peter M. Bach (August, 2008)
Before we start
Will it stand
by itself?
Before we start
It can! But the question is: How much
effort does it take to make it fall?
Before we start
THIS?!
Topics
General Project Details
Architecture
Construction Challenges
Diagrid Framing System
Other Structural Features
Miscellaneous Topics
The Other Buildings
Conclusion




General Project Details
General Project Details
Background
The new HQ for Chinas CCTV
Completion in time for Olympics
Will broadcast the Olympics to the World
Components:
CCTV Building (Headquarters & Broadcasting)
TVCC Wing (Cultural Center, Performing Arts)
Media Park (Social Gathering Place)
First of 300 towers to be constructed in Beijings CBD

General Project Details
Location
In Beijings CBD (Third Ring Road)
East of Forbidden City

General Project Details
Admin Site History
Project Manager: Dongmei Yao
Partners in Charge: Ole Sheeren & Rem Koolhaas
Architects: Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)
Structural Engineers: Ove Arup & Partners

10-hectare site
Two L-Shaped Towers, tallest tower is 230m high
Total Estimated Construction Cost: 600million

Will employ 10,000 people

General Project Details
Admin Site History (cont.)
Comparing Building Heights in Asia
Comparing Building Heights in the World
The building is by any conventional
definition a Skyscraper
(UK Telegraph)
General Project Details
Admin Site History (cont.)
Towers Lean at 60
o
angles and kink at right
angles at the top
Cantilever overhang starts after 36 floors and
is 13 floors high.
The towers cantilever 75m outwards

History
December 2002 - OMA wins design
March 2003 Project Start (after review)
September 2004 Groundbreaking
Mid 2007 Overhang Construction Underway
Early 2008 Finalizing Construction


General Project Details
Space Usage
Administration
16.13%
Program Offices
13.98%
News Production
15.05%
Broadcasting
8.60%
Program Production
25.81%
Staff Facilities
6.45%
Parking
13.98%
CCTV Total Area Distribution
Administration
Program Offices
News Production
Broadcasting
Program Production
Staff Facilities
Parking
General Project Details
Space Usage (cont.)
Yellow = Canteens
Dark Blue = Studios
Green = Open Studios
Orange = Lobbies (Tower & Sky)
Pale Green = Broadcasting
Light Blue = Sports & Recreation
Red = VIP Areas

-Lobbies on Ground & Top Floors
-Recreation mainly on bottom
-Elevators in both towers
-Separate Lobby & Elevator for
VIPs
-Two Ground Floor Lobbies
-Continuous Loop through Towers
-Studios mainly on the lower
Floors
General Project Details
Nicknames & Descriptions
Twisted Donut

The Pants

Two drunken, upside-down Ls

Each Tower is a banana, built with a deliberate slight
curve

Contorted Loop

Lopsided Colossus


Architecture
Architecture
Architecture
The Skyscraper Concept
What do all the above buildings have in common?
Height! Human Capabilities
Architecture
The CCTVs Concept
Architect: Rem Koolhaas
China willing to try out new ideas
Everything to do with TV Production is within the CCTV Building
(An inter-connected loop of inter-connected activities)
Iconographic Constellation instead of hopeless race for ultimate
height
As verticality soars, creativity crashes
An Expression of Verticality
Idea should create buildings that will actively engage the
cityscape

Architecture
The Architects Opinion
Community combined as opposed to separate
Concentrate every program into a single system
It is important to encourage different kind of work of
engineering as it is with architecture
Experimenting with Engineering liberates imagination and
makes other things possible
The idea links a bit with communism as is still seen in China
There is a natural affinity between the values of architecture
and the values of socialism
Hopes to spread this new building idea in Europe

Architecture
The Basic Geometry
Mobius Strip (continuous loop)
Cantilever Overhang
Diagonal Structural Grid System
L-Shaped


Construction Challenges
Construction Challenges
What kinds of Challenges will this Project face?
A lot steel is used Weight Issues (instability)
Beijing is an Earthquake Prone Area (need
seismic stability)
Every building encounters vertical and lateral
loads
Temperature changes, material deformation
Subsoil Conditions:
Shallow foundation not sufficient
Pore Water present in great amounts
High Settlement Risk

Construction Challenges
What kinds of Challenges will this Project face?
Needs to accommodate 10,000 people, heavy equipment
High service loads
Vulnerable to Natural or Man-Made Disasters
How to design & construct?
Diagrid Framing System
Diagrid Framing System
What is it?
Short for Diagonal Grid System
Triangulated structure with diagonal
support beams
Similar to a typical moment frame
Triangles connected at Nodes and Rings
intersect the nodes
Combines the benefits of a hollow tube
with a truss
Loads follow diagonals, gravity and lateral
loads can be transferred by the system to
the ground

Swiss Re, London
Diagrid Framing System
What is it? (cont.)
Can be constructed of either:
Steel (most common)
Timber
Reinforced Concrete

Steel is typical because of high tensile and
compressive strengths

Essentially marrying columns, diagonals and
bracings into one system

Not a new technology, used in early aviation
and small-scale structures
Diagrid Framing System
Load Transfer
1.) Vertical Loads
2.) Lateral Loads
Diagrid Framing System
Load Transfer
Load transfer happens primarily through diagrid
Internal Cores will transfer minimal amounts of gravity loads
Floor Slabs do not have to transfer lateral loads
Less internal columns required = more space
Floor plates do not have to be of the same shape on each floor

Continuous and Uninterrupted Load Transfer

Rings help to resist Buckling Loads
transforming whole system into one big tube
Diagrid Framing System
Advantages of this System
Structurally very strong
Less material required (~20% reduction in
steel as opposed to typical moment frame
method)
Aesthetically Pleasing Blends in together
with faade
Floor plan becomes open and free more
internal space
Most forms can be created with a triangulated form
architectural freedom
Self-reliant structure, simple in shape

Diagrid Framing System
Advantages of this System (cont.)
Simple Construction Technique
Skyscraper Structural Failure minimized by diagrid construction
Better ability to redistribute loads than a moment frame (Failure of one
portion does not mean complete structural failure)


Diagrid Framing System
Disadvantages of this System
Not thoroughly explored for skyscraper construction yet

Inexperienced construction crews

A diagrid structure will definitely show in the aesthetics, very difficult to
hide

Difficult to create a consistent window design

Heavy-handed if not executed properly

Material usage can be very excessive if loads are not high


Other Structural Features

Other Structural Features
Connections Butterfly Plates
Critical Members in the Structural System

Must ensure a strong joint-weak member system

Must resist maximum probable load from braces with minimum yielding
and stress concentration

Butterfly plates used to assist smooth
load transfer

Finite Element Analysis of Connection








Other Structural Features
Connections Butterfly Plates
Other Structural Features
Foundation Piled Raft
Total Settlement estimated as <100mm
Differential Settlement kept to 1:500
Piles are 1.2m diameter and 35m long
Piled Raft is 7m thick and has a footprint greater than the towers
Tension piles used away from towers
to resist uplift pressures





Other Structural Features
Load Transfer Assistance - Trusses
Hidden from view for architectural purposes inside

Link up external columns with internal steel core via pin-joints

Trusses span the bottom two floors of the overhang, loads above
are transferred to these trusses, which subsequently transfer
loads to the diagrid system

Major trusses located at building base (podium) to support the
above loads









Other Structural Features
Load Transfer Assistance - Trusses
Other Structural Features
Building Internal Cores
Three main cores accommodating
elevators

Cores remain vertical despite Tower Slope
(shifted against floor plates)

One core dedicated to Grandness
(Administrative), the other to Newness
(News & Technology)



Miscellaneous Topics

Miscellaneous Topics
Construction Procedure
Miscellaneous Topics
Seismic Stability Design Approach
CCTV Performance-based Design for Seismic Stability well outside
National Building Codes

Analysis for different seismic events

Level 1: Frequent Earthquake No structural damage

Level 2: Intermediate Earthquake Repairable Structural Damage

Level 3: Rare Earthquake Severe Structural Damage permitted, must
not collapse
Miscellaneous Topics
Seismic Stability Design Approach
Other Research shows test results depicting Overhang vertical
displacement with time during an Earthquake








Tests also show that some braces go into plastic buckling during the
Earthquake Dissipate seismic energy (GOOD)







Maximum downward
displacement = 700mm
Miscellaneous Topics
Dealing with Wind
Wind Tunnel Experiments had to be carried out to
assess the severity of Wind Loads

Building strength against a 100-year Wind was
assessed

Method: Dynamic Analysis using High-Frequency
Pressure Integration Method

285 Pressure Taps installed on
1:500 Scale Model

North and West Winds Critical

Southwest Wind worst for Vertical Loads
Miscellaneous Topics
Emergency Scenarios
In the event of a fire or a major disaster (natural or man-made) that
causes major structural damage, what are the possible escape routes
and how long will it take?
Miscellaneous Topics
Emergency Scenarios (cont.)
Numerous Escape Routes

Looped Structure an
Advantage

Reduced Escape Time

Better Safety




The Other Buildings

The Other Buildings
The TVCC Building
Hotels, Theaters, Cultural Center for Performing Arts








The Other Buildings
Service Building & Media Park
Service Building: Energy Center, Guards Dormitories, Major
Broadcasting Vehicle Garages, Fire Control Center

Media Park: Social Gathering
place, filming options








Construction Progress
Latest Pictures of the Building
Dated June 2008
Conclusion

Conclusion
Building is to become an icon of Beijings Cityscape once completed and
will play an important role for the 2008 Olympics

Architecture looks at iconography rather than the race for height
engineering creativity is better than height

Many structural challenges to overcome in realizing the project
Performance-based design needed

Diagrid System, Butterfly Plates, Piled Raft Foundations, Load Transfer
Trusses all deemed good solutions

Seismic and Wind Stability ensured through rigorous analysis

Emergency Escape Routes are effective

Other buildings on-site serve unique functions


References
*1+ Carroll, C., Xiaonian, D., Gibbons, C., Lawson, R., Lee, A., Luong, A., Megowan, R., Pope, C., (2006), China Central Television Headquarters Structural Design, Steel
Structures 6

*2+ CB Richard Ellis, (2007), The CCTV Tower: Central Icon of Post-Urban Beijing?, CBRE Research Asia 2007 Issue 1

*3+ CCTV Address, China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, http://www.ckni.net, Last Accessed 25
th
May 2008

*4+ CCTV by OMA, A+U Architecture & Urbanism July 2005 Special Issue, Tokyo, Japan

*5+ China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters, Design Build Network, http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/cctv/, Last Accessed 25
th
May 2008

*6+ Koolhaas, R., (2004), Beijing Manifesto, Wired Issue 8 2004

*7+ Lee, S., Nonlinear Dynamic Earthquake Analysis of Skyscrapers, CTBUH 8
th
World Congress, Dubai 3-5 March 2008

*8+ McCain, I., DiaGrid: Structural Efficiency & Increasing Popularity, http:// daapspace4.daap.uc.edu/~larsongr/Larsonline/SkyCaseStu_files/Diagrid.pdf, Last accessed
25
th
May 2008

*9+ OMA New Head Quarters Central Chinese Television, arcSpace.com, http://www.arcspace.com/architects/koolhaas/chinese_television/, Last Accessed 25
th
May
2008

*10+ Telegraph.co.uk, 2008 Olympics: New Towers for a New Superpower, UK Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/29/babeijing129.xml, Last Accessed 25
th
May 2008

*11+ Telegraph.co.uk, Chinas ambitious building passes key test, UK Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572347/China%27s-ambitious-building-passes-key-test.html, Last Accessed 25
th
May 2008

*12+ Xie, J. , To, A., Design-Oriented Wind Engineering Studies New China Central Television Headquarters, Technotes Issue No. 26, RWDI Consulting Engineers &
Scientists


Questions