9) ode Miele rey Bre i= at Birkhau4. When Does a Building Become a High-rise? Jn everyday usage, the term high-rise com- ‘monly designates any tall ulding, The height at which a building is considered tall is ofcourse relative and has undergone many changes at different times and places ‘throughout all epochs of building history. A building is characterized as a high-rise when Itisconsiderably higher than the surrounding structures and explodes their scale. For example, if buildings in an urban setting have an average height of twoto three stores, a 5 tory building that soars above them may be considered a high-rise, However, matters become mere complicate ifa bulling’s ‘neighbors are five to six stores high: now a pbuilding exceeding ther height by a mere two to hice stories will barely be percened a5 2 dominant structure. The town planners’ def- nition ofa high-rise asa building that rises above the skyline offers a relative but not absolute measure. Obviously it wil scarcely serveas.a basis for an unequivocal definition of high-rise Jn Germany, consensus has been reached for the purposes of building supervision to define ahigh-isein accordance with certain safety criteria. The dictates offie protection and, above all the effective use offre escapes, have produced the following definition: “High-rses are buildings in which the floor of ‘a east one occupied room is more than 22 m ‘above the natural ora prescribed ground level” Other countries also have building aws that define buildings exceeding specified heights [which can vary between 3 m and 50 m) as high-rises. This limit may even vary within single country itis therefore difficult to gener- alize about how high-rises are defined in international legislation. tn their comparative surveys of high-rise buildings international databases such as skyscrapers.com have chosen a building height of 35m or 12 stories 1 a benchmark. From the standpoint of bull ing typology the category ofheight alone~ whether fr fire safety or for database consid erations —is not satisfactory far determining Whether or nat a building should be classified ‘as ahigh-rice. The construction of tll bulld- ings also includes questions of form and design. These in turn are primarily elated to ‘the load-bearing structure, which must not ‘only be designed to withstand the horizontal loads generated by the wind and earthquakes, but als take into account never-ending devel- ‘opments in building technology as well as the environmental and social compatiblity of large structures The forms assumed by high-rise buildings have changed repeatedly over the course of time Inventions and developments affecting structures and technologies, manifold influences exerted by prevaling legislation regulating the impact of high-rises on their immediate surroundings and urban sur roundings,andlast but not least, a wealth of architectural theories and styles have all let ‘their markon high-rise design. The following contains a survey, presenting typical exam- ples, ofthe chronological development of this typeof building and discusses the ques- tion: What are the characteristic features of the development ofthe high-rise as a specific type of building at a particular time and place? — ‘ypology | ut \We cannot consider the develogment of high rise buildings in Europe and subsequently Jn Asia without frst examining high-rise Aypologies in the USA. Tal buildings obviously existed long before the United States was founded: in Ancient Rome, for exarnple, the ‘timber framed houses constructed to accomn- modate the lower classes in mass housing "were around 35 m high. However, the progres: sive development of the high-rise proper begins in 1oth-century Chicago, and its contin- al typological evolution can be followed ‘there and in New York well nto the 1970s, Although other US cities followed this line of evelopment, they have had nothing ike the influence of Chicago or New York on high-rise construction 2. The Beginnings in the USA Chicago the Block The high-rise asa specific type of structure originated in the booming city of Chicago towards the end of rth century. ts develop ment was decsivaly influenced by the great inventions of the age. The technological pre conditions were created with the develop iment of safe elevators and the skeleton steel structure made of rolled iron sections ~two of the most important parameters ~and with ‘the development of service systems, such as, communications system. Thet combined impact led to the development of large office blocks and expensive floor areas stacked on top of one another« ~ Organization 03 of Office Towers Timo Brehme und Frank Meitzner ” 33. 34 35 36 ‘Market Forces: What Makes an Office Tower Skyrocket Who Builds High-rises? Consequences of Separating the ‘The Role ofthe investor “The Project Developer as Client Representative “The interests of the User wtand User Roles “The New Criteria for Office Area Efficiency Criterion: Price transparency Criterion 2: Actual Rent Criterion 3: Occupancy Capacity Criterion 4: Area Efficiency Criterion 5: Flexibilty Criterion 6: Use Strategy Criteion 7: Productivity Office Organization and 8 ‘The Modular Office The Combination Office ‘A Comparison - Advantages and Disadvantages Functionality and Area Efficiency ‘The Right Concent in the Right Place The Requirement Profile for the Comfort Office Ensuring Flexibility through Standardized Office Scenarios, Ensuting Building Flexibility ‘Marketing Strategies Client Loyalty from the Outset Determining Market Demands ‘Occupancy Planning and Area Optimization Online Marketing Service Summary: Reaching for the Sky through Quality and Flexibility31 Market Forces: What Makes ‘an Office Tower Skyrocket Since the beginning ofthe last century there ems to have been a nearly inseparable co ‘elation between economic growth rates and the height of office towers—when the ‘economy grows s0.do high-rises The fst office towers were erected circa 870-80 in ‘he conurbations of New York and Chicago. By ‘he beginning of the 20th century a beom in ‘the economy and on the stack market ‘sulted ina competition for building height. Ser which there seemed to be no limit. The “stock market crash of 929 and the depression followed brought an end tothe building ‘he tallest bullding of the world re- {a an impressive testimony to the ition: the Empite State Building, built he crisis and completed in 1931.1 ly became New York's landmark, but ec: cally it proved a failure for many years pie State Bullding was only surpassed twake of te economic prosperity in the fand 19705 withthe erection, in 1972, of id Trade Center, at arj m the highest ‘of the world, and shorty after by the STover in Chicago, which reached 3 ‘of 443 m including its antenna ly the highest office towers, and most fers have been built in Asia: between, snd the end of1997 2,437 high-rises were jn Shanghai alone, of which 966 rise toa ‘of over 20 floors. The Petronas Towers ), the tallest high-se in the world, are in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Bulls High-rises? tate funds, which have increased in and scope since the 19905, represent type of client, uilding or commission dings increasingly forthe speculative ‘of renting through third partes. This pment gave rise toa multitude of lized project development companies erect turnkey real estate objects a trend continues today. Another factoris that and more banks and insurance compa- re spinning off thelr real estate inven. ‘and merging it with theirinvestments er to repatriate the capital oftheir ‘owner-occupied properties. This development hhas resulted ina noticeable trend towards globalization with all the attendant advan- ‘ages and disadvantages of the real estate market One opportunity offered by this new client scene les no doubt in the mixed use ofthese objects (in addition to offices, plans often include reall areas, restaurants, observation platforms fitness centers or cineplexes) This (opens the high-rises up to the public 2 situa- tion that didnot exist with owner-oceupancy The fipsideis the cause for concern with regard tothe quality of purely profit driven objects and structures. 3.2, Consequences of Separating the Client and User Roles ‘Changes in the marketplace and in particular the evolution of the client as owner-occupier to clent/landiord for third-party users have resulted in fundamental changes in the project organization of building and the plan ning process. The classic client was an in- vestor, project developer and user llin one. Once the roles are separated, the number of project participants increases, as does the ‘need for coordination among the partis Project management and project control take ‘on fat greater importance. Anather change ‘occurs with regard tothe planning process For the approach of the"classic client" was to determine his qualitative and quantitative requirements and then to set about realizing the tasklecation, site, planner, design and execution. When ists are the cent). the pocessis ‘ares tines in facta sy eerses the project devcloper rates a propery for explanation by undertating a feast stdy, initiating the creation ofthe corresponding design and defning the outline condtons. The nest step stolok fran ivestor to vom the poets presented in deta and Cast in umber data and facts Fal the er eters into the proces 25 the ast acto and ony much ter the actual requirement ‘Many fruitful projects are proof ofthe success cof such project processesrthe decisive factors fate the optimal harmonization af tne vastly Crganeation of OF Towers different interests of the individual actors and the decision to make quality competition the binding utimate goal. n the fllowing, che problems and challenges associated with this process are explained. The Role of the Investor ‘The Investor has one goal return on invest ‘ment. To calculate itll benchmark data that ‘may influence the financial conditions must be defined and contractually fixed with the project developer at avery early stage. This ‘occurs ata point in time when detailed plan- ring ~ at least to any considerable degree —Is stl impossible. Cost and deadtine stability is ‘the primary goal. To delegate this responsibil ‘ty nd the risks associate with it as qulckly as possble,a general contractor is usually brought on board. Quality isthe only variable, since its the most dificult quantifiable factor in words or numbers. Investors are on principle interested in long term rental agreements, because the invest: iments are often for 20 years or even longer ‘terms. In practice, however, the question often arises: 1s the investor's thinking truly long- term? To answer this question we must difterentiate between the goals f the ect sion-taker andthe corporate goals, which are geared towards the coming decades. Corpora tions listed on the stock exchange often present the Image that current or real-time figures ate so explosive and relevant as to render strategies for the medium ar long term lessimportant, Moreover, decision takers are rot capital owners but only trustees ~ and rarely active in ane corporation for an entire working life, as isthe case in family-owned ‘companies for example. This is the only expla ration forthe fact that large buildings have to bbe demolished even before they reach the 20- ‘year term—even though they have not yet fully depreciated - because renovation would be too expensive and the outcome would therefore na longer be profitable. ‘The scope for action also depends on the number of interested parties: the greater the umber of parties involved in a projec. the ‘fewer the options for action. Even a single change results in an enormous number of contract adaptations theres ttle room for a