Developer reaffirms plan to finish world's tallest building in 90 days
The world's tallest skyscraper supposedly remains on track to debut in China early next year, but the details surrounding its progress seem quite strange.
A 220-story Sky City tower in the Chinese city of Changsha could take the crown as the world's tallest skyscraper next March with an astounding height of 2,749 feet, edging out the mega Burj Khalifa that currently stands 2,722 feet over Dubai.
What makes the 11-million-square-foot Sky City so astonishing isn't its height or its appearance but rather the three-month construction plan to create the building that kicks off at the end of the year. Broad Group -- the company responsible for assembling the skyscraper -- plans to achieve these insane building speeds by using 95 percent prefabricated modular pieces that are sort of similar to a giant Lego set to construct the building.
As progress ramps up on Sky City next January, workers "will go on as planned with the completion of five stories a day," said a Broad Group executive who spoke about the matter with Construction Week magazine.
Over the last few days, rumors swirling in the Chinese media said that construction on the super tower could actually take up to 210 days, but Broad Group executives denied the claim. The developer insists Sky City remains on track for the 90-day goal and noted that foundation work should start at the end of this month after the Chinese government approves the project.
To create the building, Sky City requires about 220,462 tons of steel and a construction cost of $1,500 per square meter, which seems like a bargain compared with the $15,000 per square meter cost of the Burj Khalifa. Sky City is designed to withstand 9.0-magnitude earthquakes and house 31,400 people in a mixture of luxury and low-income dwellings. Additionally, designers plan to implement multiple school systems in the skyscraper, as well as offices, retail shops, restaurants, and hospitals.
Earlier this year, Broad Group revealed a 30-story building that only took 15 days to complete by using the same modular construction method as Sky City.
