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Arup specialists from around the world worked alongside architects and contractors to complete the Aspire Tower in time for it to house the flame during the 2006 Asian Games. This gave them just 21 months to design and build the 300m tower.
Amongst other facilities, the tower includes 17 floors of five-star hotel accommodation and a three-floor sports museum. High-speed lifts shuttle guests to the observation deck, bar and revolving restaurant.
The challenging deadline meant that the design of the tower’s substructure, superstructure and building services had to proceed in parallel. In fact, it meant that work on site started before detailed design was complete.
Project Summary
300metre tall tower
21monthsto design and build
17floorsof five-star hotel accommodation
With no columns at ground level, the whole structure cantilevers off the central concrete core. The same technique created a swimming pool, extending 12m out from the building, 80m above ground. Inside the building, environmental systems keep people comfortable even when outside temperatures exceed 40°C.
The size and shape of the building mean that it is affected by the wind. With a 300-seat revolving restaurant on top, it was important to keep things as steady as possible. Following analysis, the solution was to fit 140 tonnes of tuned mass dampers in the tower to ‘soak up’ movement and vibration.
