With several successful lightning-fast builds in the last few months (see here), China is ramping up its prefab-enabled building process – in a big way.
Hunan-based Broad Sustainable Building has a plan to overtake the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in a mere 90 days with its 838-meter, 220-story Sky City tower planned to break ground in November of this year. As if the height wasn’t impressive enough, the firm plans to complete the project in a mere three months, with opening day planned for January, 2013.
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The Burj Khalifa took over five years to complete, at a cost of over $1.5 billion. How, then, can BSB possibly build a vertically-superior structure for a mere $628 million and in a fraction of the timeline? The answer lies in the firm’s unique building process, which incorporates heavy pre-fabrication. Over 95 percent of the Sky City tower will be completed before any ground is broken at the site, meaning assembly of the structure can be achieved in a short time-frame.
In an ironic twist, China’s upcoming super-tower has a Dubai-based architect, and will provide occupants with over one million square meters of usable space, connected by over 100 elevators.
The project is still awaiting government approval, but if the tower gets the nod China will nab the title for world’s tallest structure in a matter of months.
