 |
| Figure 3.1 Pearl River Tower |
Pearl River
Tower
For the day 3
trip, we mainly visited the new development in Guangzhou. The first destination
was Pearl River Tower. It is our great honor to visit this Pearl River Tower
with the guidance of the architect from Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill (SOM) which is the designer of the Pearl River Tower.
Pearl River Tower
is a 71-story commercial building that incorporated with advanced sustainable
design and engineering technology so as to create one of the most
energy-efficient super high-rise buildings in the world. In order to ensure the
building will operate with 60% less energy than conventional commercial
building, some green feature was added to Pearl River Tower and they are listed
as below:
1) Radiant
Cooling, Under-floor Ventilation Air and High performance glazing
 |
| Figure 3.2 Radiant cooling, under floor ventilation and high performance glazing |
The working principal behind the radiant cooling is
actually by heat transfer. For the case of Pearl River Tower, cold water will
be pumped to circulate in pipes and heat transfer between
And for the under-floor ventilation, it is totally
different from the traditional ventilation strategy in Hong Kong. For the
traditional ventilation strategy, air will be supplied and extracted at ceiling
level. However, the under-floor ventilation in Pearl River Tower supplies
cooled air from floor level and extracted at ceiling level. Afterwards, the cooled air will rise when its
temperature increase (due to heat exchange with other sources). Therefore, a
better circulation of air can be achieved.
 |
| Figure 3.3 Double wall system |
Besides the use of triple glazed glass to
improve the insulation of building, a special design of double wall system was
used. It helps to insulate the internal
area of building and to trap some heat in the double wall. Moreover, the
temperature of return air will be increased as it rises. Therefore, an
“air-curtain” will be formed to dehumidify the outside air.
2) High efficacy
of lighting
 |
| Figure 3.4 Lighting distribution under curved ceiling panel |
In order to have an even distribution of
lighting within the office area, the curved ceiling panel was specially
designed and placed to reflected the lighting. However, we can observed from
the photo, there is some “black spot” between each light fitting. And I think that it can be improved by using LED light strip but the cost will be higher.
3) Solar
technology and Wind technology
 |
| Figure 3.5 Solar Panel |
For the utilization of solar energy, a series of solar panel were used for Pearl River Tower to absorb solar energy. On the other hand, in order to maximize the usage of natural lighting, photo-sensors are used to activate the automatic blind system in case the natural lighting is not enough for the office building.
 |
| Figure 3.6 Wind Turbine |
On the other hand, since solar energy cannot be provided at night, wind technology is also incorporated in the design of Pearl River Tower and the wind turbines was located in mechanical floor to generate electricity. With the detailed calculation and modeling, the shape of Pearl River Tower was specially designed in which there are four large funnel shaped opening in mechanical floors so as to increase the air flow rate as it enter in building.
Here is the final destination of 3-days trip – Canton Tower. Canton Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the world and the height of this tower is approximately 610m. Although this is my final checkpoint of this trip, I did not feel exhausted so that I decided to join the sky-walk to have a closer investigation of structure of the Canton Tower and to have a open view for Guangzhou.
I am fascinated
by the green features of the Pearl River Tower because it is the most
environmental friendly buildings in the world. And I believed this kind of
sustainable building design will be very popular in Hong Kong due to the
popularity of LEED and BEAM.
 |
| Figure 3.8 Public area between Guangzhou Opera House, Library and Museum |
Guangzhou
Opera House, Library and Museum
After
the visit of Pearl River Tower, we visited Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou
Library and Guangzhou Museum. Actually, the
three destinations, Guangzhou Opera House, Library and Museum is really close
to each other. And there is a walkway, as shown in the above photo, to connect
all the places together. However, we think that if the covered walkway is
provided, it is better for us to enjoy the environment.
Guangzhou
Opera House
 |
| Figure 3.7 Guangzhou Opera House |
And
for the Guangzhou Opera House, it is the third biggest opera house in China.
Since the design of the Opera House is very special so that I am interested in
how the structure shall be designed to support this kind of unique and special
building.
First of all, the
Opera House is full of irregular structure with dome and curtain wall.
Therefore, a non-geometric design of the irregular structural joint shall be
adopted in which three-directional skew folded steel plates were used.
Moreover, due to
its unique loading characteristic, the metal framework for the structure of
Opera House required custom-made cast steel joint to reinforced the structure
and all the positioning and joining of each structural element should be using
a construction method (GPS positioning and laser) to ensure the precision.
In addition, in
the internal space, 6 fulcrums are founded at the intersections of the ridges.
And the edges are divided into 8 parts in every plane in which the structure
member are connected by welding steel box beam. Moreover, the girders are located at the joint
line of each face while the beams are located along the edges of the triangle
nets.
 |
| Figure 3.8 Ceiling Lighting in Opera House |
The ceiling was
made of Glass fibre reinforced gypsum moulded panel and the ceiling lighting
was designed with 4,000 nos. of LED lighting.
 |
| Figure 3.9 Broken glass in Opera House |
 |
| Figure 3.10 Deformed Ceiling in Opera House |
Besides the
structure of the Guangzhou Opera House, I would like to talk more about the
maintenance problem. This development project is actually a really big scale
project (Total construction cost = RMB 1.38 billion). However, I am
disappointed at how the opera house operates. Referring to below photo, it can
be observed that besides the broken glass, the ceiling is also deformed (maybe
due to water seepage). It is really a pity that a development with wonderful
design operates in this way. Therefore, I hope that the maintenance of the
Opera House can be improved in order to protect this kind of wonderful project.
Guangzhou
Library
 |
| Figure 3.11 Exterior of Guangzhou Library |
 |
| Figure 3.12 Interior of Guangzhou Library |
Afterwards, we
visited Guangzhou Library which is currently the largest library in China. When
I have a first glance at the library from the exterior, I immediately think
that the building is the kind of shopping mall, rather than a library, because
the design is really modern and unique which I never see this in Hong
Kong.
Once I entered
into the library, I was amused by the natural lighting of the library because
the most of the ceiling panel are made of glass so that the sunlight can get
into the building and it also serves as a purpose of energy saving. Moreover,
since the library is designed with an atrium and most of the partition was made
of glass, the visibility of the whole library development is really high which
made the Guangzhou library different with the others.
Guangzhou Museum
 |
| Figure 3.13 General View of Guangzhou Museum |
After the visit
of the Guangzhou library, we visited the Guangzhou Museum. When I walked towards the Guangzhou Museum,
tremendous cantilever was observed and the wall and floor of building are
hanging from the roof. With reference to my research, the structure design of
Guangzhou Museum is a very special design because its giant steel truss
suspension structure system rests on the steel reinforced concrete. Moreover,
since the steel truss are suspended, there is not necessary to have structural
column which enable the Guangzhou Museum to maximize the spatial arrangement. This
kind of suspension structure system is not common in the construction industry
in China.
Canton Tower |
| Figure 3.15 Canton Tower |
 |
| Figure 3.16 Guangzhou View (Photo taken during sky-walk in Canton Tower) |
Here is the final destination of 3-days trip – Canton Tower. Canton Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the world and the height of this tower is approximately 610m. Although this is my final checkpoint of this trip, I did not feel exhausted so that I decided to join the sky-walk to have a closer investigation of structure of the Canton Tower and to have a open view for Guangzhou.
One of the
outstanding features of Canton Tower is the tight waist structure and it is a
really complicated issue during construction because there are other element to
affect the space require for the core, such as the lift system and the building
services provision.
And for the
structure design, Canton Tower is in the form of twisted and tapering tube. According
to my research, the outer steel-frame consist of columns which are all straight
but lean over to one direction which make the tower a dynamic twist. Moreover,
as we observed, the structure consist of lattice structure, the lattice grid
not only serves the purpose of structural element, but also serves for the
aesthetic purpose.
Conclusion
I think it is
worth for me to join this 3-days trip to Macau and Guangzhou because it provide
me a valuable opportunity to visit the places where I cannot access in my daily
life, such as the back of house area, electrical and mechanical plant room of
Venetian in Macau, and to visit the Pearl River Tower with the guidance from
the architect of Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill, which is the architect firm of Pearl River
Tower.
And for the other
places where I can visit them in the future, this course offer me a chance to
have discussion with people with different background, such as the professors
and the student from Department
of Architecture of Pennsylvania State University and I
really learn a lot from them.
All in all, I
would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to this course and thanks for watching my blog!
References:
1) http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/06/pearl-river-tower-most-energy-efficient.html
References:
1) http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/06/pearl-river-tower-most-energy-efficient.html
Date of access
10/08/2014
Date of access 10/08/2014
Date of access 10/08/2014
4) http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4433/operahouse.pdf
Date of access
10/08/2014
5) http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/guangzhou-opera/
Date of access
10/08/2014
6) Boss,
Sam, Jiazhong Fang, and Jiangshun Zhang. "The intersection of design and
culture: The New Guangzhou Library and its relationship to the city."
(2013).
7) http://www.cantoneyes.com/?tag=zhujiang-new-town
Date of access 10/08/2014
8) http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/guangzhou-tv-tower/
8) http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/guangzhou-tv-tower/
Date of access
10/08/2014
Date of access
10/08/2014
