Jerman Cheung
East Asia Press Office,Hong Kong
Arup-engineered International Commerce Centre (ICC) and Canton Tower have received the Tien Yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize.
The Tien Yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize is the top honour for civil engineering and construction in China.
This year, a total of 32 projects in 11 categories were granted the accolade, and both ICC and Canton Tower won in the Building Category. Arup project directors Philip Lai and Feng-Jun Lin received the certificates and trophies at the award ceremony held on 9 July.
The only Hong Kong winner this year, ICC is the tallest building in the city and boasts stunning 360° views of Victoria Harbour. Facing the challenging ground conditions, Arup engineers conducted a series of detailed studies and comparison of various foundation types, and finally chose shaft grouted friction barrettes as the foundation system for its satisfactory load carrying capacity and settlement performance. ICC also set new benchmarks for tall building construction in Hong Kong. The main structural skeleton is formed from a high modulus concrete inner core wall. Arup engineered the design of this innovative self-compacting high modulus concrete with special volcanic tuff aggregate.
Canton Tower has a unique architectural form designed by Information Based architecture. The shape is created by a rotation between lower and upper level floor plates, characterised by a twist and narrowing elliptical waist of only about 22m. The design emphasises the outdoor and physical experience for visitors. The waist of the tower contains an open-air skywalk. There are outdoor gardens set within the structure, and a large open-air observation landscape opens up magnificent views over the city of Guangzhou, China. Spatially, the tower appears as a series of mini buildings hung within the superstructure. The roofs of these buildings are used as sky gardens, where visitors can feel weather variations at different heights.