High-rise buildings are great additions to cities with their small footprint, diminutive roof area, and immense facades. As cities begin to build upwards and decongest horizontal growth in urban areas, looking at high-end architecture remains an option as city planners and landowners seek new ways to bring life to buildings without wasting space. In states with new and upcoming cities such as Idaho, Ketchum architects are innovating new ways to bring life to homes, buildings, and landscapes.
The approach towards construction for these buildings is going to take a lot of work and some good planning for everyone who wants to be part of the process. Yes, they can solve several problems for the city. Still, it would be best if you used caution to ensure they will work well and avoid falling over or running into other problems.
Some of the challenges to consider with high-end architecture and making it work for all of your needs includes the following:
Lightweight Structures
One major issue that can happen in some of these structures is that they are designed to be too lightweight. While you don’t want to make them too heavy and cause damage in other places, you must ensure enough weight to support everything and avoid anything falling. Picking out the right materials for all non-structural and structural members during planning can also turn into a challenge.
When you need to create a high-end architecture for business, you should work with a team who knows what they are doing and can pick out suitable materials to help with the structural soundness of your business. These experts can look into materials like composite construction with steel, high-performance concrete, pre-stressed steel, and even lightweight masonry for the partitions and walls to give you a sound and sturdy building for all your needs.
Wind and Earthquake Resistant Design
Depending on where the building is being designed, you may need to worry about the forces of nature and how they will react to your building. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has specific guidelines for building design and incorporating concepts for earthquake damage prevention. Wind and earthquake forces can damage any building, and it can become an even bigger issue for the lateral design of these high-rise buildings. If the building is not designed well, the residents inside could have nausea effects as the building moves, so caution must be taken when designing buildings in earthquake-prone areas.
In buildings with base isolation, the building’s response will get modified so that the ground below can move from these forces of nature without transmitting much, if any, motion to the building above. This is why base isolation is one of the best options for these tall buildings.
Geotechnical Investigations
The foundations of high-rise structures will need special attention. This will help ensure that the building is secure and will not cause problems due to weather or other hazards during the life of the building.
The basic principle of geotechnical investigation is to go as deep into the earth as the height of the building. As you can imagine, this can end up with a large hole in the ground if you plan to make the building really tall, but it also allows for more stability than you can get with less depth. A unique design added to the foundation could also be required, but your team will need to explore this concept for you.
Adding a Basement
Many of these high-rise buildings will want to add some parking services to make life more convenient for those who work or live inside the building. Having these underground can be more efficient, while the homes or offices are put above.
This scenario can provide a challenge as the architect works to create a basement parking area that works for those living there and still stands with the structural integrity of the building as well. Everything from the diaphragm walls, retaining walls, and underground waterproofing pose a challenge for the engineers and designers helping out with the project.
Construction and Fire Safety
Safety in these high-rise buildings needs to be incorporated through structural safety. Workers need to be safe when they get to work on the construction, and there need to be methods for those using the building after construction to get out if there is a fire or other issue.
As you are designing the plan to construct a high-rise building, think about fire and safety issues that can come up. Fire incidents can cause heavy damage, and there are safety issues from materials and other items falling during construction. Having a plan in place to limit accidents can keep the workers safe and ensure that you have limited costs along the way.
Speed of Construction
While many different components must come together to make a beautiful high-rise building, no one wants to wait ten years to get it done. There needs to be a good level of speed in place to help get the building done and ensure that it is up to safety regulations and can do the job. You need to consider this speed challenge when creating a new high-rise building.
New construction technologies are being developed on high-rise structures that help increase the speed at which the team is able to get the work done, and these technologies can help ensure the construction team can get it all done with quality, safety, and economic stability in mind.
Your team will need to spend the time to use technology well to ensure that the work is done as quickly and safely as possible. For a team that is used to handling these high-rise projects, it should be relatively easy to get it all going well, but using the right tools can make this easier.
The Bottom Line
There are a lot of benefits to choosing to build a high-rise building, as it helps with urban sprawl and still allows you to have all of the space that you need within the building. However, you do need to take the time to thoroughly plan out the building and come up with something that will work for everyone. With safety and stability in mind, you can create a fantastic high-rise building for your client to use!
