The Availability Buildings of Fascinating ‘TWINS’

 

The Availability Buildings of Fascinating ‘TWINS’

Written by: 

Nur Aleeza binti piei 2021482732 

Nurul Ain Shafiffy binti Mohd Nazib 2021847006

INTRODUCTION

 

Creation economics uses economic theory, concepts, and analytical methods to explore challenges and subjects related to the construction and maintenance of the built environment by enterprises, industries, and projects. Construction economics is also concerned with the construction industry's macroeconomic function and its interactions with related manufacturing, professional services, and materials industries.

Building costs are impacted by a number of factors, some of which are interconnected. Quantity surveyors must be completely aware of the cost implications of changes in shape, size, storey heights, total height, fenestration, and other architectural attributes. This chapter will investigate and evaluate the cost effects of the primary design variables. A multitude of elements will influence the final design of a structure, including user desires, planning and Building Regulations requirements, site factors, and aesthetic criteria. Other cost-influencing factors include contract form, completion period, structural form, level of prefabrication and standardisation, and consideration of maintenance and operational costs.

 

Petronas Twin Tower

1.    Building Background

 

The Petronas Twin Towers, which were built from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1994, were the highest buildings in the world from 1 January 1998 until 31 December 2004. It still holds the record for the world's highest twin structures. It is the headquarters of Petronas, the largest firm in South East Asia and a Fortune 100 state-owned oil company.

Petronas Twin Tower

This enormous structure was created by Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli Construction began in 1991 and was completed seven years later, in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis and the Reformasi movement. Because of the soil conditions atop the tower, the buildings were built on

 

one of the world's deepest foundations. Flack + Kurtz, a division of WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff, was the Building Services Engineer.

The 88-story towers were constructed primarily of reinforced concrete, with a steel-and-glass exterior designed to evoke Islamic elements, a religion practised by the majority of Malaysians. The tower's cross section mimics Rub el Hizb, which reinforces the Islamic element in the tower design.

Design of Petronas Twin Tower

2.    Function

 

Petronas Twin Towers is built to accommodate the headquarters of Petronas, Malaysia's national petroleum company.

3.    Aesthetic

 

The building's design is based on two overlapping rectangles that form an 8-pointed star. Cesar Pelli added eight semi-circles, one at each corner, to maximise space. This geometric shape represents unity, harmony, stability, and logic, all of which are important principles in Islam. The information involved can be summarised as cost on design plays an important role as it is able to influence management on the total cost of the project. Due to the slightly complicated shape of the KLCC tower and its high artistic value, this will further increase the costs involved in construction.

Design Concept of Petronas Twin Tower.

The main entrance lobbies and public use are decorated with mouldings and mirrored glass panels. In addition, the wall panels and screens are also inspired by wood carvings on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The floor designs are based on traditional weaving intricate patterns. The external enclosure is made of stainless steel, aluminium and glass. A system of deep umbrellas modulates the vertical forms and produces a proper three-dimensional facade to the tropics.

Materials of Petronas Twin Tower

The towers have multifaceted stainless-steel panels on their walls, as well as 33,000 and 55,000 glass panels. Glass panels combine special features that allow viewing of both properties, noise reduction, light filtering, and a comfortable indoor environment. To protect visitors from the tropical sun, the glass is covered with stainless steel viewers.

Bahrain World Trade Center

1.    Building Backround

 

Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC) is the Kingdom's famous landmark, providing businesses and organisations with high-end commercial space to help them achieve their goals. The 50-floor sail-shaped twin tower complex, with a soaring height of 240 metres (787 feet), is located near the King Faisal Highway, a major business area in Manama. The towers, which define Bahrain's skyline, are boldly marked as the country's first 'Intelligent building' and are internationally known for their cutting-edge design around the world. BWTC is home to a growing number of local and international enterprises and remains Bahrain's favourite choice for high-end commercial office space, with top-quality and adaptable features.

Bahrain World Trade Center

The Bahrain World Trade Center, designed by Atkins, received many prizes for incorporating renewable energy into its large-scale building design, including the 2009 NOVA Award in Innovation for integrating technology to improve quality and minimise development costs.

The sail-shaped towers, inspired by Arabian wind towers (Atkins chief architect Shaun Killa designed them), funnel the sea breeze into the three 29m-diameter wind turbines. Three sky bridges connect the two towers, which support the turbines. They act as aerofoils, funnelling and increasing the velocity of the airflow between them.

The vertical sculpting of the towers also gradually reduces pressure, resulting in a nearly equal regime of wind velocity on each turbine when combined with the rising velocity of the onshore breeze at increasing heights.

Wind Turbine of Bahrain World Trade Center

2.    Function

 

The towers are built on top of a three-story podium that includes boutique retailers, excellent restaurants, a food court, Sheraton hotel space, a business centre, a health club, a spa, and a shopping mall.

3.    Aesthetic

 

The incredibly magnificent structure has come to represent Bahrain. Its cool colours and sleek aesthetics form an ultramodern backdrop against which global enterprises, luxury brands, and five-star hospitality collide.

Even though the design of the building was inspired by traditional Arabian wind towers, the interior and external characteristics are fresh, contemporary, and elegant, representing the high-tech 21st century ethos of the entire development.

Interior design of Bahrain World Trade Center

 

ANALYSIS

 

Shape

Petronas Twin Tower has a shape based on fundamental Islamic geometric shapes of two interlocking squares forming an eight-pointed star. Meanwhile Bahrain World Trade Centre is a sail-shaped building. Both of the building shared similarities in which they are both a twin towers and built for a commercial office. Petronas Twin Tower is a government building consist of 88 floor and 50 floor for Bahrain World Trade Center.

Design Shape of Petronas Twin Tower

Design Shape of Bahrain World Trade Center

Petronas Twin Tower	Bahrain World Trade Center
Total Gross Floor Area: 218,000m2 Wall Length: 452m Wall Height: 4m	16,500m2 182m 4m
Total GFA for both building: 234,500m2
Enclosing Area: wall length x wall height
452m x 4m = 1808m2	182m x 4m = 728m2
The wall/floor Area Ratio
1808/234500 = 0.008	728/234500 = 0.003

 

Based on the table above, Bahrain World Trade Centre has smaller total gross floor area compared to Petronas Twin Tower which is 16,500m2 and 218,000m2 respectively. Furthermore, Bahrain World Trade Center has smaller wall/floor area ratio than Petronas Twin Tower as refer to the table. Hence, Bahrain World Trade Centre is More economic. KLCC Tower is not economical due to greater area of enclosing walls. Total height for KLCC Tower is 451.9m while for Bahrain World Trade Centre is 240m. Therefore, the harder the shape is to design, the higher the cost required. Initial costs such as models and drawings also require high capital before construction can be carried out.

 

 

Size

 

Size of Petronas Twin Tower

Size of Bahrain World Trade Center

Petronas Twin Tower consists of 218,000m2 Total Gross Floor Area with 88 total floors. Each floor area is 2477.273m2. Moreover, the enclosed area for the building is 1808m2 with the ratio of 0.008. While Total Gross Floor Area for 50 floors of  Bahrain World Trade Center is 16,500m2 and each floor area is 330m2. The enclosed area for the building is 728m2 with the ratio of 0.003.

In terms of sizing, the most economic building is Bahrain World trade Center in which the wall/floor ratio (0.003) is smaller than Petronas Twin tower (0.008).

While size is also a major factor involving building costs, The large size of the building requires a high budget or cost for construction. It can be stated that the size of the tower accounts for a significant portion of the cost.

Structural Form

 

The main building is composed of a 16-column outer ring of concrete and a square core that measures 23 by 23 metres. The typical structural steel beams used in the composite floor system have a 457mm can’t and are positioned about 2.8m apart in the centre. The only metal frame was discarded was central nucleus the high cost of importation and the need to reduce vibrations in the tower builders' tops Instead, they used a central concrete structure and metal panels with steel filler for the floors.

Structural Design of Petronas Twin Tower

Next, for the outward structure a foundation with a diameter of 46 metres is created by each tower by 16 massively reinforced concrete cylinder columns that extend outward from a surrounding ring. Due to the complexity of the perimeter, a secondary frame had to be used since the pillars' highly durable concrete was not too thick and allowed for more slender towers. 2.4-meter-diameter columns taper higher before being finally connected to one another by reinforced concrete arched beams. There are 8 to 10 metres between each column, which is filled with a mega-frame made of steel and reinforced concrete. Influences the slender towers show only a small portion of the columns, with the 16 perimeter columns and the structural core bearing the lateral loads.

Load of Bahrain World Trade Center

The Bahrain World Trade Center's structure is principally made up of a primary and secondary concrete core. Reinforced vertical concrete columns and raking columns that follow the tapered edges of the towers frame the floor plates. The columns are arranged in a grid pattern of 26 feet, and the floor plates have a standard storey height of 12 feet. The raking columns triangulate both cores, giving a strong underpinning for the towers. The secondary core ends before reaching the tallest office due to the tapering design of the towers. The primary core extends to the tallest office floor's height but then terminates. The panoramic core continues higher into the towers, where it supports the duplex offices and viewing gallery.

To help minimise weight, lattice steelwork is employed to structure the top clad part. Because of the tapering shape of the towers, the centres of gravity, mass, and stiffness alter on each level, going towards the panoramic lifts as height increases. This may result in dead load sway, although the likelihood is very low due to the stiffening framework supplied by the raking columns and the concentration of piles beneath the main core to reduce base rotation.

Structure of Bahrain World Trade Center

Alike the Petronas Twin Tower, Bahrain World Trade Center used metal frame structure. The steel and concrete superstructure of the Bahrain World Trade Center makes extensive use of glass in all occupied spaces, as well as public spaces and skywalks between towers. Solar heat gain in the interior spaces is reduced by the low-emissivity glass. A buffer divides the inner space from the exterior of the building, reducing heat buildup. The interior of the structure is cooled by chilled water, and reflecting pools offer evaporative cooling at ground level. The low-leakage windows in the structure are operational.

Referring on those two buildings, Bahrain World Trade Center is more economic compared to the Petronas Twin Tower. This is due to the extensive use of glass curtin wall and metal panel for Petronas Twin Towers which consist more number of floors than Bahrain World Trade Center. The cost is also affected whenever comes to the maintenance of the cuirtain wall itself.

Storey Height

 

With the height of 452  metres consists of 88 floors, each floor of Petronas Twin Tower is approximately 5m. Meanwhile Bahrain World Trade Centre is approximately having 4.8m for each floor height. This is clear that Petronas Twin tower has higher building cost due to greater floor height compared to the Bahrain World Trade Center.

Height of Petronas Twin Tower

Height of Bahrain World Trade Center

Variations in storey height can alter the building's cost without increasing its overall floor area. This is mostly due to the influence on parts with vertical components, such as staircases, service runs, and waste pipes, the volume of the building in terms of A/C installation, ceiling void, and foundation deformation. As a result, it is apparent that as the number of storeys increases, so do the costs of building and upkeep.

 

Total Height

 

Petronas Twin Tower has a total of 88 floors while Bahrain World Trade Center has a total of 50 floors. It obviously shows that Petronas Twin tower has 38 foors more than Bahrain World Trade Center. Therefore, total height of both building are evaluated based on the details of floor numbers and height.

Petronas Twin Tower	Bahrain World Trade Center
Area of Floor : 5m	Area of Floor : 4.8
Total height : 5m x 88 floors = 440m	Total height :4.8m x 50 floors = 240m

Table of Total height

Based on the data above, total height of Petronas Twin Tower is greater with 440m compared to the total height of Bahrain World Trade Center which is 240m. Hence, the total height of Petronas Twin Tower will affect more cost especially in aspect of maintenance and services.

Floor height also greatly influences building costs. For example, higher roofing costs due to the need for elevators; lifting building materials to the upper floors also requires larger machinery; and all of these require maximum costs and expenses during construction. A building's maintenance costs increase not only when the construction has been completed but also when a detailed schedule needs to be kept during the construction work to maintain the quality of the building. Therefore, a specialist for each job, such as an engineer, technician, and so on, is required. In addition, the provision of protective equipment such as fire protection, fire extinguishers, and others also requires high costs to ensure the building is in a safe condition.

Fenestration

 

Fenestration in architecture refers to the openings in a building's envelope, most notably windows, doors, skylights, and curtain walls. Fenestration is defined as anything that facilitates passage from outside to within. Fenestration is typically regarded as an aesthetic aspect, but it also has an impact on the building's performance. A strategically placed window, for example, can significantly boost natural lighting, reduce the need of indoor lighting fixtures, and therefore save electricity. They can also be utilised to reduce the workload on space heating systems by passive solar heating.

Fenestration of Petronas Twin Tower

Petronas Twin Tower and Bahrain World Trade Center used fixed types of window consisting of 55, 000 glass panels and glass doors.

Fenestration of Bahrain World Trade Center

To boost insulation, a double-paned window used in Bahrain World Trade Center has two facing glass panels in a frame separated by a tiny area filled with non-toxic gas.

Both of the building has natural lighting attributed to the buildings due to the use of glass panels for fenestration. The Petronas Twin Towers, the Jewel of Kuala Lumpur, is notable for its 'Iconic Innovation,' an outstanding feature that goes beyond a distinctive world-class design to include a very powerful yet sustainable property management strategy. Meanwhile for Bahrain World Trade Center is paving the path for sustainable architecture with its award-winning state-of-the-art design and designation as Bahrain's first 'intelligent building.' It is also the world's first skyscraper to include wind turbines into its design, which helps to minimise the towers' overall power use.

Hence, between both of the building, Bahrain World Trade Center used least cost of electricity consumption due to the implementing the wind turbines and also the used of glass panel in term of fenestration.

 

 

Design Concept

 

Design Concept of Petronas Twin Tower

The towers mix traditional Islamic art elements with cutting-edge technology to celebrate Malaysia's Muslim heritage. Represent a shift in the design of Kuala Lumpur skyscrapers toward a more classic international style. In its plant, Pelli employed an Islamic geometric pattern by interlacing two squares of gradually diminishing size at the top, which is based on a traditional motif in Islamic culture, a star of 12 peaks with a circle at each intersection. The plant was transformed to an eight-pointed star at the request of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Islamic symbolism.

Design Concept of Bahrain World Trade Center

The Bahrain World Trade Center towers concept design was influenced by traditional Arabian "Wind Towers" in that the shape of the buildings harness the unhindered onshore breeze from the Gulf, providing a renewable source of energy for the project. The two structures that comprise the complex are inspired by the design of sails on ships that utilise wind energy to surf, just as the WTC employs wind energy to power the activities that take place within it. The project also wants to demonstrate to the world that governments in the United Arab Emirates, who are well-known for their oil production, have begun to invest in renewable energy.

In comparison for both building, Bahrain World Trade Center building design  is much simpler compared to the Petronas Twin Tower which is more complicated. Therefore, the design of Petronas Twin Tower could affect more cost due to the irregular building shape and concept.

 

CONCLUSION

 

All design variables involved greatly affect the large costs of the collection and arrangement of the building. If the costs used are low in material use as well as maintenance, design conditions may change from time to time based on the lifespan of the building. To be a tower as it is now requiring high capital and cost to ensure stability, strength, and a cohesive design are built.

REFERENCES

 

Bahrain World Trade Center. (2017). WikiArquitectura. https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/Bahrain-World-Trade-Center/

Built Expressions Bangalore :: Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC). (n.d.). Www.builtconstructions.in. Retrieved July 2, 2022, from http://www.builtconstructions.in/OnlineMagazine/Bangalore/Pages/Bahrain-World-Trade-Centre-(BWTC)-341.aspx

Drawings & Diagrams. (2014, April 10). Bahrain World Trade Center. https://bahrainwtc.wordpress.com/drawings-diagrams-3/

Menara Berkembar Petronas: Sejauh Mana Anda Tahu Mengenai Kembar Gergasi Ini: Seni Bina. (n.d.). Menara Berkembar Petronas. Retrieved July 2, 2022, from https://thegianttwins.blogspot.com/p/seni-bina.html

Petronas Towers - Data, Photos & Plans. (n.d.). WikiArquitectura. https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/petronas-towers/

Seeley, I. H. (1983). Cost Implications of Design Variables. Building Economics, 18–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17173-6_2