Fifth Tallest Building in the World - Taipei 101

Since starting work on the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles, which is set to become the tallest building in the U.S. west of the Mississippi, we started a series exploring the super tall skyscrapers of the world.  As we proceed along in the series, we now arrived at the fifth tallest building in the world.  The Taipei 101, also known as the Taipei Financial Center, is located in the Hsinyi district, Taipei, Taiwan.

Recently replaced as the tallest building in Asia by the Shanghai Towers that is currently being constructed, the Taipei 101 was opened in 2004 and stands at 1,671 ft. tall.  The building has 101 floors with an indoor observatory deck at that level.  The steel and glass skyscraper was designed by C. Y. Lee & Partners and the structural engineers were Thornton Tomasetti and Evergreen Engineering.  The Project Manager was Turner Construction.  The building was awarded the highest LEED Platinum certification.

According to an article from Wikipedia, the Taipei was constructed to withstand adverse conditions that have been known to occur in the area such as typhoon strength winds or earthquakes.  The ultimate goal was to construct “a structure that could withstand gale winds of 134 mph and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.”  Using very strong reinforced concrete supports and an extremely solid foundation, the Taipei 101 is believed to be one of the most stable buildings ever constructed.  

The multi-use skyscraper has retail shops on the first four levels, a large fitness center on floors 5 and 6, and offices space above that on levels 7- 84.  A variety of fine restaurants can be found on floors 86 to 88 and outdoor observation decks on level 89 and 91. 

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States and is once again involved in doing concrete work for a major landmark project. The new Wilshire Grand Center will reshape the Los Angeles skyline as the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  As a part of the project, Conco successfully poured the largest continuous mat foundation ever done in the U.S. on February 15, 2014.