As planning for the next generation of skyscrapers gets underway, what can we expect from the high-rises of the future? We know that many of these buildings under construction are currently far greener and taller than any to date, with one set to comfortably become the tallest in the world. However, along with these impressive structures comes a recurring curse that follows the super towers’ construction.

The smallest of the new skyscrapers will be the Baoneng Shenyang Global Financial Center in South Korea which will become the ninth tallest in the world. Costing around $1.5 billion, it will feature 114 floors, 34 of which will be offices, a five star hotel and an exclusive club at the top of the tower.

Puncturing the 2,000ft marker will be Rama IX Super Tower of Bangkok in Thailand, which will be the sixth tallest tower in the world. With a cost of $620 million to build, it will have 125 floors which include office space, a shopping centre, a six star hotel and restaurants. The skyscraper will partially be powered with solar panels and will use clad insulated glass.

The third new skyscraper will be Merdeka PNB 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which will become the fourth tallest tower in the world once built, whilst the Wuhan Greenland Center in China will be the fourth tallest. Thornton Tomasetti provided the structural engineering services to the latter, which will feature an energy generating ventilation system that captures exhaust air to use to heat the building and a greywater recovery system that takes used water from the hotel to use in the skyscraper’s evaporative cooling system.

Last but not least will be the highly anticipated Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, to which Thornton Tomasetti is also providing structural engineering services. The future tallest building will be constructed in a Jeddah Economic City amounting to $20 billion. The skyscraper will feature a rotating sky terrace and has been constructed so the facades align from northwest to northeast, reducing the overall solar load.

The curse? History has shown that after a major skyscraper is built, the stock market crashes. The Asian financial crisis followed the completion of the Petronas towers, the Taipei tower’s construction was followed by the dot-com bubble, and the financial crisis of 2007-2009 broke as the Burj Khalifa was being built. Hopefully another financial crisis is not on its way.

Read the full article here.

New Land Enterprises, Korb + Associates Architects and Thornton Tomasetti have unveiled the design for the tallest timber building in the Western Hemisphere. Dubbed Ascent, construction is scheduled to start in the fall of 2019 and the 21-story mixed-use development will stand at 238 feet tall and comprise 410,000 square feet in downtown Milwaukee.

With the use of mass timber on the rise, it is expected to perform better than traditional building materials when it comes to earthquakes, fire and wind conditions. When combined, laminated timber beams, columns and slabs in mass timber structures have the potential to be one of the greatest man-made storehouses of CO2 by saving enough energy to power 1,000 households per year or absorbing as much carbon dioxide as produced by 2,100 cars.

John Peronto, a principal at Thornton Tomasetti told how the modern use of mass timber’s modular construction offers a competitive and sustainable alternative to typical materials used in high-rise buildings such as steel and concrete.

Find out more about the structure and materials used in the full article.

A team of 10 Thornton Tomasetti engineers from six offices recently travelled to Boca de Lura in Panama as part of the TT Gives Back initiative. By partnering with Bridges to Prosperity, the team was able to help provide a crucial passage over the Lura River for area residents.

Designed to encourage, improve and increase volunteerism opportunities for employees whilst at the same time build leadership skills and increase Thornton Tomasetti’s social impact, the programme supports at least one service project per year and collaborates with an international community service organisation. This time, it partnered with Bridges to Prosperity for a project in Panama.

For about half the year, the Lura River floods and is dangerous to cross. By building a suspended pedestrian bridge, a community comprised of over 1,170 women, children and subsistence farmers who raise cattle, grow rice, corn, plantain and yucca will always be able to access the local hospital and health centre, schools and the local market on the other side, regardless of the state of the river.

Read the full article here.