Ephraim Vecina
The Vancouver Sun
The skyscraper construction sector might be entering a new phase of heightened competition, as a Chinese prefab building company has thrown the gauntlet with its latest project.
Erected at a dizzying pace of 3 floors per day, the 57-storey Mini Sky City in Changsha, Hunan province was completed in just 19 days. The earthquake-proof structure houses approximately 800 apartments and office space for 4,000 tenants.
Construction firm Broad Sustainable Building claimed that this success has made them the world’s fastest builder. A popular time-lapse video now circulating in Chinese streaming sites demonstrated the modular method the company used for the glass-and-steel building’s construction.
“With the traditional method they have to build a skyscraper brick by brick, but with our method we just need to assemble the blocks,” company engineer Chen Xiangqian told the Associated Press. “This is definitely the fastest speed in our industry.”
Before starting the construction, the firm fabricated the skyscraper’s 2,736 modules over a period of four and a half months.
Experts noted that industry players should seriously consider and invest in developing modular construction as a safe and reliable building option, although it has its limitations.
“[It] is not perfect, and it does not meet all kinds of personalised demands. People nowadays want more personalised architecture,” Arup Beijing associate director Liu Peng said.
Broad Sustainable Building said that it is aiming to complete its next project—Sky City, projected to be the world’s tallest skyscraper at 220 storeys—in just 90 days, once authorities give their approval.
Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd
