TURNING TORSO @ MALMO, SWEDEN

BY SANTIAGO CALATRAVA
 LOCATION
Sweden Malmo
 SITE
 SITE POTENTIALS :
 The tower is located west of the Malmo,
near the bridge over the Oresund strait,
which connects Sweden with Denmark.

 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN :
• The building is located in an urban area
degraded, which will be updated, from an
industrial area vintage, to the residential
area, ensure facilities for leisure and shops
close to downtown and the beach
Ribeirsburk.
 TYPOLOGY VERNACULAR :
The tower is not only expresses the concept of geometric characteristic, but also on
technology and advanced technology, it is constructed of steel, glass and concrete
and the centre of the building which correspond exactly with the axis of rotation of
floors, the outer shell of the building is made of panels of glass and aluminium.
Characterized by dynamically tested in the wind room at the University of Western
Ontario in Canada. The drum major central structures that are connected by a
horizontal Kabuli contain lifts, technological system and services.
 INTRODUCTION
 Turning Torso is a neo-futurist
residential skyscraper in Sweden and the
tallest building in Scandinavia.
 It is regarded as the first twisted
skyscraper in the world.
 Architecture data’s
 This is a solid, immobile building
constructed in nine segments of five-story
pentagons that twist relative to each other
as it rises.
 the topmost segment is twisted 90 degrees
clockwise with respect to the ground floor.
Each floor consists of an
irregular pentagonal shape rotating around
the vertical core, which is supported by an
exterior steel framework.
 The two bottom segments are intended as
office space. Segments three to nine house
147 apartments.
 STRUCTURAL INFORMATION  TECHNICAL DETAILS
• Building type : skyscraper • Floor count : 54
• Usages : commercial office, Rental apartments • Floor area : 27,500 sq. m.
• Construction : 2001-2005 • Lifts/Elevators : 5
• Structural material : composite structure
• Foundation system : pile foundation  DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
• Façade material : aluminium • Architect : Santiago Calatrava
• Façade system : curtain wall • Structural engineer : Santiago
• Architectural style : structural expressionism Calatrava
• Main contractor : NCC
 HEIGHT
• Roof : 190 m
• Main roof : 182.31 m
• Top floor : 178.79 m
• Floor-Floor : 3.18 m
 LAYOUT
Structure Facts regarding structure materials
• basement – 2 • building : mixed use • concrete core-shear
• 9 cubes of 5 floors • 1st to 2nd cube : commercial walls
each space • concrete floor slabs
• each floor: 1.6 deg • 3rd to 9th cube: residential space • steel spine
• each cube: 10 deg • cost : 235million US$
 4,200m² of office space on floors 2–12, the first
two cubes has its own pair of lifts, as well as
separate heating, cooling systems.
 A separate parking block for residents and business
tenants can be accessed via a private tunnel.
 CONCEPT
• The design philosophy is based on
twisting human spine, in which the
original sculpture of Turning Torso,
seven cubes are set around a steel
support to produce a spiral structure.
• Form is made up of 9 cubes, each
individual cube containing five stories.
 FOUNDATION
 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS : Malmo Silty clay
 Malmo Plains is a quiet residential neighbourhood in southwest Edmonton.
 The name comes from the type of soil (Malmo silty clay loam) found in the
area.
 The central core is supported by a foundation slab, while at the corner of
each floor is a concrete column supported by a pile foundation.
 Shaft is a foundation element composed of cast-in-place reinforced concrete
that is placed into an open excavation.
 The foundation of the Turning Torso is a cylindrical box
with a diameter of 30m and a depth of 15m.
 The foundation slab rests on the limestone bedrock and
has a depth of 7m.
 The main load-bearing structure is a circular
reinforced concrete core, whose center corresponds
exactly to the rotation center of the floors.
 The core’s inner diameter is 10.6m and is constant.
 The thickness of the concrete is 2.5m at the bottom
and gradually taper to 0.4m at the top.
 Inside the core is the elevator and the staircase core,
which is a secondary structural element.
 The tower rests on piles driven into a foundation
of solid limestone bedrock at 49ft. below ground
level. Avoids unacceptable bending or swaying.
 SUPERSTRUCTURE
• The two bottom segments are intended as office space.
• Segments three to nine house 147 luxury apartments.
• There is also one floor between all the cubes - these floors are used for different
purposes (rooms with a view, conferences areas or activity/gym room).
• With perimeter walls that both "swirl" and cut back to the core, the 26,000-sq-m
tower in Malmö, already a landmark, has demanded some highly tailored
vertical supports.
• The 7-meter thick concrete structure will sway less than 30 centimeters during
the heaviest wind load that statistically happens only once every 100 years.
 FLOOR PLAN

43th FLOOR PLAN

RECEPTION PLAN SINGLE UNIT PLAN
 FLOOR PLANS

1 2

1. Cube 3
2. Cube 5
3. Cube 7
4. Cube 9

4
3 4
 SLAB
 Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal shape
rotating around the vertical core
 The structural slab is fitted around the core.
 Each floor consists of a square section around the core
and a triangular part supported by an external steel
structure.
 each cube were made with self-compacting concrete.
 Because of its flow capacity, this type of concrete does
not need vibrating.
 The forms for the floors were rotated
approx. 1.6 degrees for each floor in order
to create the characteristic twist of the
building. The time table dictated that a
new floor tier was poured every 10th day
on the average for more than a year. The
erection of the exterior exoskeleton
started when the construction of the
concrete structure had reached the 5th
cube and was completed few weeks later
than the concrete.
 Conical slab: 90-40 cm
thickness
Deck level : Diagonals and
Horizontals anchorages

Standard Floors: 27 cm
thickness

Conical slab: 90-40 cm

thickness
 WALL AND FLOOR CONSTRUCTION
• Deck levels: Diagonals anchorage. The upper slab of each cube or “deck
level” is where the diagonals and horizontals are connected. These slabs are
thicker at the anchorage area.
• Standard Slabs: Each cube is composed of 6 RC slabs. The upper 5 are
standard slabs 27 cm thick, fully fixed to the concrete core and supported by
means of steel columns at the perimeter that transfer the load to the lower
conical slab.

 EXTERNAL WALL CONSTRUCTION

• 2,800 panels and 2,250 windows.
• Used of cold bent glass panels with cold bent aluminium framing (curtain
walls).
• The steel support is located on the exterior of the building, which is linked
together by the spine, acting as the loading back bone from the winds.
• It enables economically materialising architecture with free geometry.
 ERECTION PROCESS
Automatic Climbing Structure Tableforms are added

Pouring of the Concrete Tableforms complete

ACS climbs up Reinforcement added and

floor poured
CONSTRUCTION
 PERI Automatic Climbing System (ACS)
• The Automatic Climbing System (ACS) is a
hydraulically operated self-climbing
formwork system used for the
construction of tall concrete structures
such as building core walls and bridge
pylons.
• Tall concrete structures have historically
been formed with crane lifted formwork
often referred to as “jump” forms.
• These systems require a worker to ride
the formwork as it is raised to its next
position in order to insert reties through
the previously cast lift to secure the
form.
• This procedure requires extensive crane
time and is too slow, unsafe and
unproductive for tall structures where the
concrete walls are typically on the critical
path.
• All formwork, working scaffold, storage areas and equipment used to form the
internal and external walls are self-climbed in one single operation. During
the climbing procedure, the complete climbing unit is enclosed. No open
edges are created which could be a fall hazard.
• The working platforms are able to carry high loads; for example, the storing of
reinforcing steel for the next climbing section. Even the placing boom for the
concrete pump can climb on the ACS self-climbing system if required.
• The core wall of the Torso was formed with PERI GRV articulated walkers and
externally using PERI RUNDFLEX formwork. Adapting to the changing wall
thicknesses (from 2.00 m at the bottom to 40 cm at the top) is carried out
with filler elements on the external formwork.
• The climbing mechanism is the heart of
all ACS systems, with a lifting power of
100 kN.
• The positively-controlled climbing device
lifts the climbing rail and formwork
scaffolding to the next casting segment
safely and jerk-free.
• All loads are safely transferred during
every climbing phase. Due to the almost
noiseless PERI climbing hydraulic,
working outside of normal working hours
is possible without disturbing surrounding
residential areas.
• The stroke speed is 0.5 m/min whilst the
effective climbing speed is 0.3 m/min.
• The loads from the climbing scaffold must
be safely transferred through the anchors
into the building.
• This is particularly important because
very often the system is climbed the day
after concreting has taken place.
 CORE
 The core is the main load bearing
structure.
 The central reinforced concrete core is
supported by the foundation slab and
accommodates stairs, lifts, and other
services.
 The inner diameter of the core is 10.6
meters.
 The walls are 8ft. Thick at the bottom,
gradually shifting to 1ft. thick at the top.
 Section
Mega core systems consist
of reinforced concrete or
composite core shear walls
with much larger cross-
sections than normal,
running continuously
throughout the height of
the building. Since the
mega core can resist all
vertical and lateral loads in
this system, there is no
need for columns or shear
walls on the perimeter of
the building. In mega core
systems, floor slabs are
cantilevered from the core
shear wall
 OUTER STEEL SUPPORT AND SPINE
 The steel support is located on the exterior of
the building, which is linked together by the
spine, acting as the loading back bone from the
winds
 The steel support transfers shear forces to the
supporting concrete core.
 Each steel section of the spine has to fit precisely
in the one below it
 The system consists of a spine column at the
corner of each floor plus horizontal and diagonal
elements that reach to each side of the glazed
spine
 Stabilizers also connect the floor slabs with the
framework.
 The steel support is a welded construction with a
very thorough paint treatment for optimal
protection against corrosion.
 The outer steel support consists of a steel
column and 20 horizontal and 18 diagonal ”steel
cigars”
 FACADE
 Glass and aluminium construction.
 All windows in the tower are flat and
rhomboid, the windows are leaning
either inwards or outwards by 0 to 7
degree designed to follow the natural
curved shape of the building as it
twists its way towards the sky.
 Because the building twists, the
façade is double curved, which made
its construction very complicated.
 Cold bending offers an alternative
where bent glass is too expensive or
not feasible.
 The façade is a glass and aluminum
construction. There are approximately
2800 panels and 2250 windows in the
façade. The aluminum panels are
curved and the glass ones are flat.
• Six different families of windows are used, depending upon where they
are situated. The most visual difference can be seen by comparing
windows in the ‘square’ section of a cube with those used in the
‘triangular’ section.
• Apart from the aluminium cladding, the most important materials used in
the construction are steel, for its inner load-bearing structure and marble
which contributes to the sculptural effect created by the Turning Torso.

STEEL SPINE

GLASS FACADE
LATERAL LOADS

Spine Cantilever Floor Slab Concrete Core Foundation

STEEL SPINE CANTILEVER FLOOR SLAB CONCRETE CORE FOUNDATION

 WIND LOADS
 The twisted form can be very effective, alleviating the effects of vortex-
shedding induced by lateral wind loads and minimizing the wind loads from
prevailing direction.
 When analyzing the structure under wind loads, Calatrava found that the
Turning Torso could move up to 3ft. at the top during the most severe storm .
 Giant pins attached to the ground were then implemented, decreasing the
movement to less than a foot during the most severe storm, which is nearly
unnoticeable.

 BUILDING SERVICES
 The Turning Torso’s elevators, fire stairs and utilities are located in the concrete
core that runs vertically throughout the length of the building. “There are three
high-speed lifts in the core of the building servicing the apartments. The
commercial area has two separate lifts, also located in the core.”
 The Turning Torso’s residential services are distributed threw out 4 dwellings
on each of the 35 identical residential floor plates, which duplicate and rotate
around the core.
 LIFTS
 3 lifts service the residential part of the
building and HSB Turning Torso
Meetings
 Two separate lifts service the offices:-
ensures high capacity and minimum
waiting even during “rush hour” and in
the instances when a lift is closed for
maintenance.
On site test
 Plate load test
 Vane shear test
 California bearing ratio test
 Dry density/moisture relationship
 STP(system performance test)
 Lightweight dynamic
penetrometers
 Cone penetration test
 Methane / oxygen / barometric
pressure test
Lab test
 Tri-axial compression test
 Liquid and plastic limit test
 Sieve analysis-particle size and
distribution
 Moisture content
 PH value test
 SUSTAINABILITY
 Energy Efficiency
o The energy supplying the tower, as electricity and heating come from wind
power, biogas, geothermal and solar sources.
o Electricity is supplied with 100% locally produced renewable energy through
the energy concept developed by Sydkraft.
o There is diode lighting in common corridors.
o Heat is supplied by solar cells and underground water reservoirs, aquifers.
o All installations are energy efficient
o Rain water harvesting

 Waste management
o Kitchen waste disposal unit in every apartment for grinding organic waste.
o Waste transported though separate pipes for decomposition and biogas
production at Malmö’s waste incinerator and heat plant
o Recycling done in building itself
o Non recyclable waste collected in a garbage chute at the basement level
 Safety measures
 Sprinklers in all room
 Pressure increasing pumps
 Rising pipes
 Emergency elevator
 Fire gas ventilation
 Door shutters
 Fire alarm
 Smoke detectors
 Emergency electricity
 Emergency light
 Every floor and apartment have its own fire cell
It enables economically materialising architecture
with free geometry
 CONCLUSION
 The Finished Building consists in 4.400 metric tons of steel reinforcement,
25000 metric tons of concrete poured and 900 metric tons of steel in spine
and ribs.
 Fire safety is supported by an extensive sprinkler system with fire zones
limited to individual cubes.
 Dynamic form
 Structural Supremacy
 Sculptural Aesthetics
 Functionally Sound
 Energy conscious design
 Sustainable architecture
 Judicious utilization of waterfront to create a picturesque view
 Overall an iconic building
 REFRENCES
 www.wikipedia.com
 http://enr.construction.com/
 www.designbuild-network.com
 ConcreteQuarterly – Sept 2004
 www.peri.de
 docdownloader.com-pdf-turning-torso%20(1).pdf
 42199803-01-jt-twisting-super-tower-project.pdf%20(1).pdf
 245349%20(1).pdf