Department of Real Estate and Construction (Class No.

)
The University of Hong Kong

BSc(Surveying)

Group No.: 14 Name of Student(s): Student I.D.(s):

(For Group assignment; 1.Lau Tin Nam 1.3035932173
No need to fill in for 2.Ng Wai Yin 2.3035933206
Individual assignment)
3.Shum King Heng 3.3035933490
4.Wan Ho Yat Bruno 4.3035933799
5. 5.
6. 6.

Year: 2 Semester: 2 Module Code: RECO2043

Module Name: Advanced Building Technology

Assignment Title: Individual Assignment

Teacher: Dr K. Deng, Dr S. W. Poon Submission Deadline: 30 March 2023

Comments: Contents / Structure / Analysis / Explanation / Conclusions / Presentation

Further Improvements:

Course Teacher: Second Marker: (if required)

Grade: Grade:

Final Grade:
Table of Content

1. Introduction P. 2

2. Comparison of Different Vertical Structural Subsystems P. 3

3. Recommended Structure for 30 Storeys P. 4-6

4. Recommended Structure for 50 Storeys P. 7-9

5. Recommended Structure for 60 Storeys P. 10-12

6. Recommended Structure for 70 Storeys P. 13-15

7. Conclusion P. 16-17

8. References P. 18-19

9. Work Distribution P. 20

1
1. Introduction

From “The list of tall buildings in Hong Kong” in Wikipedia, the number of storeys range
from 33 (Entertainment Building) to 112 (International Commerce Centre). Buildings with
50, 60 and 70 or more floors are studied because the vast majority of skyscrapers comprises
50-70 storeys. The remaining category, including buildings with 30 floors, are investigated in
order to analyse different vertical structural systems adopted in Hong Kong more
comprehensively. Of all buildings in the list, several examples are used for references to
illustrate the recommended suitable vertical structural system for tall building development in
Hong Kong based on the four above mentioned categories.

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2. Comparison of Different Vertical Structural Subsystems

After analysing at least 10 examples from the list of tall buildings in Hong Kong, one type of
vertical structural subsystem for each category, which is further discussed in Section 3-6.

Vertical Structural Subsystem Storeys Examples in Hong Kong

(Number of Storeys)

1. Frame Building frame Up to 15 Ko’s House (12)

Tie beam Up to 50 /

Braced frame Up to 15 /

Infilled frame Up to 30 /

2. Shear Wall System Shear wall Up to 40 Entertainment Building (33)

Times Square Tower 2 (39)

Coupled shear walls Up to 40 The Coronation (32)

Wall frame 40-60 Chelsea Court (54)

3. Tubular Systems Frame-tube 40-100 Jardine House (52)

Tube-in-tube Up to 80 Hopewell Centre (64)

Modular tube Up to 120 /

Braced tube Up to 100 /

Trussed tube Up to 110 Bank of China Tower (72)

4. Others Outrigger Up to 110 International Commerce Centre (108)

Suspended Up to 100 Chinese People’s Liberation Army

Forces Hong Kong Building (28)

5. Hybrid Combined two or more Up to 100 Residence Bel-Air (55 storeys)

Table 1: Summary of different vertical structural systems

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3. Recommended Structure for 30 Storeys
- Shear structure wall

Features and Characteristic of the Structure:

- Built to resist both horizontal and lateral force such as wind and seismic waves
through the use of concrete or steel (Constructionor, n.d.)
- Shear walls in office buildings are arranged in clusters near service cores, elevator
shafts, and lift wells to construct a rigid box-shaped structure
- Unlike petition wall, shear walls are permanent load-bearing building structure
- Shear walls that have openings have been observed to have a reduction in strength
(Resmi & Yamini Roja, 2016)

Building Requirement:
- The axial compression ratio of the shear wall is limited by th Hong Kong structural
concrete code 2013 to prevent brittle fractures of RC shear wall (HKIE, 2015)
- Buildings with less than 35 storeys in Hong Kong must consist of shear walls
(Constructionor, n.d.)

Figure 1: Shear wall design and floor plan (Mishra, 2014)

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Support from Horizontal and Vertical Components to Withstand the Force:
Horizontal Loading
- Structural shear walls can protect the building from seismic waves through an
effective bracing system and the high lateral load resistance. The wall is designed to
prevent excessive side-away of the roof and floor
- Human and building services load for example ventilation, staircase, lift add
horizontal forces to the beam

Vertical Loading
- Shear wall is a stiff vertical component that has the ability to transfer lateral loads
from the exterior walls, floors, and roofs to the foundation of the building along a
direction that is parallel to their surfaces.

Figure 2: Shear wall forces action (Lynn Engineering, 2021)

Advantages:
1. High construction efficiency: The shear wall can be prefabricated which reduce cost
for construction
2. High resistance: The structure can prevent typhoon and earthquake’s lateral forces
which is favourable for buildings in hazard-prone area
3. High flexibility: Shear wall has high variety in terms of the direction of orientation

Disadvantages:
1. Low energy dissipation capacity and stiffness
2. Limitation: Presence of opening might reduce shear wall strength and further limit the
building design (windows, doors)

5
Examples in Hong Kong:
- Entertainment Building (30 Queen's Road Central in Central)
- 33-storey, 186-metre office building

Figure 3: Outlook and floor plan of Entertainment Building (Corporate Location, n.d.)

- Time Square Tower 2 (1 Matheson Street in Causeway Bay)

- 39 storeys, 168-metre office building

Figure 4: Outlook of Time Square

How the Example Illustrate the Structure:

- Different buildings have vary shear wall orientation which provide several degree of
strength to the building
- The building is supported by coupled shear wall, column and beam with reference to
figure 3 and 4

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4. Recommended Structure for 50 Storeys
- Wall Frame structure

Figure 5: A wall frame structure system (Mak, 2018)

Features and Characteristic of the Structure:

- A hybrid structure combined of frame and shear wall together
- Commonly adopted in high-rise building as it is effective and cost-efficient, especially
for those with 40-60 storeys
- The walls take more of the wind loads as its lateral rigidity is greater
- Shear walls are surrounded with elevator shafts and stair well, moment resisting
frames to share the gravity loading (Farag, 2015)
- Rigid frame → resistance by shear force
- Shear wall → resistance by component flexibility

Support from Horizontal and Vertical Components to Withstand the Force:

Horizontal Loading
- Shear walls have a higher resistance to lateral forces than the frame, thus it resists
most of the horizontal forces
- Compared to columns, shear walls are stiffer and hence most of the lateral load is
allocated on it.

Vertical Loading
- Axial force is acted on both shear wall and column
- The wall and frame form an interaction through the floor slabs and deflect identically
(Nollet, 1991). It helps increase the stiffness of the frame, hence preventing soft
storey collapse.
- As the mode of deflection is different, ‘the shear wall tends to restrain the frame near
the bottom storeys and the frames tends to restrain the wall on upper storeys’ (Farag,
2015).

7
Advantages:
1. Cost effective: It has a lower construction cost than frame structure without shear wall
2. Minimised lateral deflection: The frame restrains the shear wall in upper storeys while
the shear wall restrains the frame in lower storeys (Obinna, 2021)
3. Increased lateral stiffness: The combination of the shear wall and the frame allows
them to interact to form a stronger structure to resist deflection.
4. Reduction in size of column: The use of shear wall in the frame structure allows a
smaller size of columns, hence more spaces to be utilised.
5. Less bending moments in walls with the help of the frame
6. Speedy construction: The framework of the upper and lower floors could be carried
out at the same time

Disadvantages:
1. Difficulty in transportation: The prefabricated shear wall is bulky and difficult to be
transported
2. Blocked view: The extra shear wall may limit the view of the building

Example in Hong Kong:

- Chelsea Court (100 Yeung Uk Road in Tsuen Wan)
- Two towers of 45 and 54 storeys, 215-metre residential building

Figure 6: Outlook of Chelsea Court (Wikimedia, 2018)

8
Figure 7: Floor Plan of Tower South (Ricacorp Properties, n.d.)

How the Example Illustrate the Structure:

- The building comprises column, shear wall and frames as shown in figure 7
- The shear walls are applied on the side to provide support, while the frame creates the
basic structure.
- From figure 7, shear walls are placed surrounded with lift shafts and the remaining
area allows greater flexibility on layout planning.

9
5. Recommended Structure for 60 Storeys
- Tube-in-tube structural system (Hull and
core structural system)

Figure 8: Tube-in-tube Structural System

Features and Characteristic of the Structure:

- Most commonly used structural system for high-rise buildings with more than 50
storeys
- Internal tube can aid vertical transportation demand and be used for movement
between the floors by the means of staircase and lift (Lavanya, 2017)
- Exterior tube constitute dense columns and deep beams (Lavanya, 2017)
- The vending and transverse shears are supported three dimensionally at the flange and
web surface in the structure
- A concrete shaft with a steel-rigid frame exterior tube is very capable of resisting
bending and giving sufficient shear rigidity to the structure
- The tube in tube structure with a core wall is better than other tubular systems as it
exhibits less storey shear, displacement, and drift (Goud, 2019)

Support from Horizontal and Vertical Components to Withstand the Force:

Horizontal Loading
- The inner tube is effective in resisting the shear, but not in resisting
overturning
- The exterior tube with larger width can resist overturning forces efficiently,
but the openings reduce its capacity to resist shear
- The exterior tube carries most of the lateral loading from wind, seismic
pressure and so on (The Constructor, n.d.)

Vertical Loading
- The exterior tube takes the majority of gravity loads from beam, column, slab,
wall and other permanent members because of its greater structural depth (The
Constructor, n.d.).

10
Advantages:
1. Increased lateral stiffness: The horizontal interaction of the inner and outer tubes in a
wall-frame structure results in shear and flexural components, providing the benefit of
enhanced lateral stiffness (Design Buildings, 2020)
2. High flexibility: The design allows for more flexibility in the building's floor plan, as
there are fewer load-bearing walls or columns needed. This allows for more open and
adaptable spaces, which is particularly useful for office buildings.
3. Reduced construction time: The lengthy process of resolving detail layout and service
requirements in the core area does not affect the final analysis and design of the tube
(Patil, 2018). In addition, the highly repetitive pattern of the system leads itself to
prefabrication of steel, and to use of rapidly removable formwork in concrete
construction, so the construction time can be reduced.
4. Significant reduction in displacement and drift: Tube-in-tube constructions exhibit a
decrease of 46.98% and 48.6% in displacement compared to frame structures, while
tube mega frame structures demonstrate a reduction of 18.84% and 26.5% in
displacement (Goud, 2019)
5. Effective use of material: Tubular forms have been known to utilise the same amount
of material as would have been employed for a structure that is half as large when
framed conventionally

Disadvantages:
1. Blocked view: Wide perimeter columns and deep perimeter beams constrain the view
(Patil, 2018)
2. Limited interior planning: The placement and size of the inner tube constrain the
layout of the interior spaces (Patil, 2018)

11
Example in Hong Kong:
- Hopewell Centre (83 Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai)
- 64-storey, 222-metre office building

Figure 9: Typical Floor Plan Figure 10: Part of the Elevation

(Hopewell Real Estate Agency Limited, n.d.) (Hopewell Real Estate Agency Limited, n.d.)

How the Example Illustrate the Structure:

- As can be seen from Figure 9 the tube-in-tube structure is adopted with the service
core and internal lift.
- The inner tube is located at the centre of the building, so the reduction in displacement
and drift can be maximised.
- A rounded shape in Figure 9 allows wind to flow more easily around a tall building.
Building Codes allow the wind pressure for octagonal and hexagonal shapes to be
reduced 20% while circular and elliptical shapes may be reduced by 40% (Buildings
Department, 2019).
- Figure 10 illustrates the closely spaced perimeter column that may constrain the view

12
6. Recommended Structure for 70 Storeys
- Trussed Tube System

Figure 11: Trussed Tube structure system

(Hesson. R, 2023)
Features and Characteristics of the structure:
- Cater for construction in steel, reinforced concrete and composite development
- It allows the construction with fewer columns while the steel bracings are served to
interconnect the exterior columns.
- The steel diagonals or system of trusses intersecting from the corner of the columns to
form a rigid box could empower the building for substantial heights (i.e. buildings up
to 100 storeys) (Mehmet Halis Gunel, 2007).
- It resists the lateral shear by axial force rather than through flexure (Designing
Buildings, 2020).
- The fascia truss interconnected by diagonals also interact with adjacent perpendicular
truss systems, therefore a rigid cantilever tube is formed to withstand the wind and
gravity loads (Mehmet Halis Gunel, 2007).

Support from Horizontal and Vertical components to Withstand the Force:

Horizontal Loading
- The configuration of the major columns would result in eccentric load, while the
uniform shear force exerted could restrain such bending (Anne Nichlos, 2008).
- The planar truss could help withstand the lateral load, while the horizontal bracings
could transfer it to the vertical bracing system.

Vertical Loading
- The vertical load and gravity are mainly supported through braces, steel columns,
space trusses and Transerver truss.
- The space truss system offers support to the building such that most of the
gravitational load is allocated at the exterior (Anne Nichlos, 2008).
- The central column which erects at 25 th storeys also contributes to hold the
gravitational load and resist the overturning moment.

13
Advantages:

1. More spacings for windows: The adoption of diagonals in the perimeter columns
allows fewer column designs, hence more spacings could be utilised for windows. It
typically caters the design requirement for high- end offices such as requiring a glass
curtain wall (Anne Nichlos, 2008).
2. Withstanding lateral load effectively: According to the wind load analysis, the highest
wind speed in Hong Kong could reach over 140 mph, coupled with the high
possibility of typhoon, the cantilevered-like trussed-tubular system to the ground
serves as strong structural wall for high-rises to resist lateral load that may exceed
6000 Pa (Anne Nichlos, 2008).
3. Save building materials and weight saving: As the space trusses are used for holding
the main load of the building, it is estimated that almost half of the dead load could be
taken away, therefore less steel is used.
4. Structural efficacy: The triangular shape framework together with the bracings carry
most of the load effectively, so the use of steel is reduced by 30% compared to
conventional column and beam systems (Designing Buildings, 2020).
5. Minimise maintenance costs: Compared to the rolled sheet of steel, the tubular truss
system could minimise the costs on coatings and maintenance as the surface area is
30-40% lesser.
6. Less chance of corrosion: Thanks to the smooth outer surface, the possibilities of
accumulating dirt and moisture is low, hence the chance of being damaged is
relatively negligible.
7. Quick installation: As the truss system is prefabricated in the factory, hence the
construction time could be minimised when it comes to tall buildings construction
(Designing Buildings, 2020).

Disadvantages:

1. Large space for storage and transportation: As the truss systems are prefabricated, it
may incur extra costs on space storage and transporting for erection.

14
Example in Hong Kong:

- Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong) (1 Garden Road in Central)

- 72- storeys, 367.4-metre office building

Figure 12: Typical Floor plan on 25/F Figure 13: Elevation Plan
(Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, n.d.) (Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, n.d.)

How the Example Illustrate the Structure:

- From Figure 12, it demonstrates that the load of the building is mainly supported by
the 5 steel columns with the centre column located at the centre to withstand
gravitational load and prevent overturning moment.
- From Figure 13, the bracings are interconnected from the corner of the corner column
as result in an “X” shape on its facade.
- The Transverse truss increases the moment arm and effective depth of building by
connecting the cantilever to the adjacent columns, hence the turning moment is
reduced.

15
7. Conclusion

All in all, after undergoing a thorough consideration in the features, advantages and
disadvantages, supporting force and relevant examples in Hong Kong of each category of tall
buildings in Hong Kong, recommendations on each category are listed below.

Category Recommended Vertical Major Reasons

Structural System

30 storeys Shear Wall System - Shear wall system is permanent compare to

infill wall

- Hong Kong is prone to typhoon, shear wall

has high resistance to lateral forces

50 storeys Wall Frame System - The combination of shear and frame wall
systems could better resist lateral deflection
with high planning flexibility

- The wall frame structure has relatively

advantages such as more cost-effective,
greater lateral stiffness over the shear wall
system when it comes to 40-60 storeys high.

60 storeys Tube-in-tube System - Less storey shear, storey displacement,

storey drift when compared to other tubular
systems

- Lateral stiffness is enhanced

- Higher flexibility in designing the floor

plan, so more saleable area is provided

70 storeys Trussed Tube System - The interconnecting truss systems provide

rigid and strong structure to withstand
considerable lateral load

- The triangular shape formwork and system

of truss could serve as extremely good
structural support, hence saving building
materials and enhancing the
cost-effectiveness

- The outrigger system also demonstrates the

construction of cantilever and belt truss to
support the structure, showing the
significance of truss systems in high-rises.

Table 2: A Table showing the recommendations on each category of tall buildings

16
Figure 14: An overview showing the recommendations on each category of tall buildings

17
References

Anne Nichlos. (2008). Arch 631 Applied Architectural Structures. Retrieved March 10, 2023,
from http://faculty-legacy.arch.tamu.edu/anichols/index_files/courses/arch631/

Buildings Department. (2019). Code of Practice on Wind Effects in Hong Kong.

https://www.bd.gov.hk/doc/en/resources/codes-and-references/code-and-design-manuals/Win
dEffects2019e.pdf

Designing Buildings. (2020). Tube Structural System. Tube structural system - Designing
Buildings. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Tube_structural_system

Farag, R. (2015). Reliability assessment of wall-frame

structures.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447915000155

Goud, R. (2019). Performance of Tube in Tube Structures: A Review.

https://ijamtes.org/gallery/178-feb2019.pdf

Hesson, R. (2023). Trussed tube - resisting system. Northern Architecture. Retrieved March
10, 2023, from https://www.northernarchitecture.us/resisting-system/trussed-tube.html

Hopewell Real Estate Agency Limited. (n.d.) Floor Plan. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from
https://www.hopewellcentre.com/cht/hc_floor_plan.htm

Lavanya, T. (2017). DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF TUBE-IN-TUBE TALL BUILDINGS.

https://www.irjet.net/archives/V4/i4/IRJET-V4I4593.pdf

Lynn Engineering. (2021). Shear walls: What are they and how do they work?. Retrieved
March 10, 2023, from https://lynn-engineering.com/shear-walls/

Mak, J.Y.W. (2018). Design and Construction of High-rise Residential Buildings in Hong
Kong using Prefabrication and Mechanization.
https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cnerc-steel/images/publications/Design_and_Construction_of_Hig
h-rise_Residential_Buildings_in_Hong_Kong_using_Prefabrication_and_Mechanization.pdf

Mehmet Halis Gunel. (2007). A proposal for the classification of structural systems of Tall
Buildings. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222798245_A_Proposal_for_the_Classification_of_
Structural_Systems_of_Tall_Buildings

Nollet, M. (1991). Behaviour of wall-frame structures.

https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/g732d9705.pdf

18
Obinna, U. (2021). Shear Wall-Frame Interaction in High-Rise Buildings.
https://structville.com/2020/11/shear-wall-frame-interaction-in-high-rise-buildings.html

Patil, U. (2018). Tube structures and its type with comparison.

https://www.slideshare.net/UdayramPatil/tube-structures-and-its-type-with-comparison

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. (n.d.). Bank of China Tower. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
Retrieved March 10, 2023, from https://www.pcf-p.com/projects/bank-of-china-tower/

Rasikan, A., & Rajendran, M. G. (2013). Wind Behavior of Buildings with and without
Shear Wall. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=2c70e2d79c583
66f98616f780ad700a481f4f3c0

Ricacorp Properties. (n.d.). Ricadata - Tower South (A2) Chelsea Court. Retrieved March 10,
2023, from
https://www.ricacorp.com/ricadata/eptest.aspx?type=1&code=AEPPWWPXPK&info=fp&co
de2=&page=0

R. Resmi & S. Yamini Roja . (2016). A review on performance of shear wall - researchgate.
Retrieved March 10, 2023, from
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yamini-Selvaraju/publication/301324383_A_REVIEW_
ON_PERFORMANCE_OF_SHEAR_WALL/links/5711b4b908ae4ef74524b669/A-REVIEW
-ON-PERFORMANCE-OF-SHEAR-WALL.pdf

The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. (2015). Ductility design of reinforced concrete
shear walls with the consideration of axial compression ratio. Retrieved March 10, 2023,
from
https://www.hkie.org.hk/hkietransactions/upload/2019-01-15/Ductility_design_of_reinforced
_concrete_shear_walls_with_the_consideration_of_axial_compression_ratio.pdf

Wikimedia. (2018). Photo of Chelsea Court.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chelsea_Court

19
Name Division of labour

Lau Tin Nam Structure for 30 storeys

Conclusion
Comparison of Different Vertical Structural
Subsystems

Ng Wai Yin Structure for 70 storeys

Conclusion
Comparison of Different Vertical Structural
Subsystems

Shum King Heng Structure for 60 storeys

Introduction
Conclusion
Comparison of Different Vertical Structural
Subsystems

Wan Ho Yat Bruno Structure for 50 storeys

Conclusion
Comparison of Different Vertical Structural
Subsystems

20