Shanghai Center
Recently, the Shanghai Center, a super high-rise tower located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, began its phased trial operation. Over 4,000 workers contributed to its construction, which spanned more than eight years.
According to Gu Jianping, General Manager of Shanghai Center Building Construction Development Co., Ltd., “The Shanghai Center is an international ‘super project’ characterized by high design standards, complex structural processes, comprehensive functional requirements, significant construction challenges, multiple disciplines, a long timeline, hundreds of participating companies, and the convergence of top industry technologies and talents. Leading organizations such as Construction Engineering Group and Tongji Design Institute have been key contributors.”
The construction goal was to achieve excellence and refinement. From the outset, all parties involved collaborated closely to meet these objectives, actively exploring innovative approaches by setting new standards, proposing fresh ideas, and developing new technologies. This effort has turned the Shanghai Center into a pioneering model for engineering construction and project management.
Perfectly capturing the elegant silhouette of the Shanghai Center was a significant challenge. After more than ten months of joint efforts by experts from Shanghai Mechanical Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. and Tongji University, the first custom “sliding bearing” was developed specifically for the project. This innovation overcame the world’s largest and most complex challenge in controlling deformation of flexible suspended curtain walls, solving the persistent problem of “long-term maintenance-free service,” and achieving localization.
An independently developed hydraulic jacking steel platform shortened the construction time of each truss floor in the main building by one month. Additionally, through repeated optimization of the concrete mix and a rigorous construction plan, a world record was set with the continuous pouring of 60,000 cubic meters of concrete for the main building’s large floor within just 63 hours.
To enhance occupant comfort in the upper levels, the Shanghai Center’s tower crown features the world’s first electromagnetic damper system independently developed in China. Compared to traditional mechanical dampers, this system reduces weight from 1,200 tons to 1,000 tons, while offering easier installation, adjustment, and maintenance. It also boasts a longer service life with almost no friction, vibration, or noise, breaking the longstanding foreign monopoly in damper design and construction.
Notably, the Shanghai Center is the first building in China’s construction industry to implement Building Information Modeling (BIM) management throughout its entire lifecycle. During the design phase, BIM’s high-precision calculations and flexible adaptability allowed the realization of the building’s innovative shape. Using BIM’s 3D design capabilities to model the entire structural system enabled efficient drafting and prevented structural conflicts in complex spaces, resolving over 100,000 potential collision points in advance. During fabrication, production, onsite construction, and installation, precise BIM data minimized rework and material waste, achieving “zero rework” in the production of more than 20,000 glass curtain wall panels and enabling their rapid installation.
Thanks to advanced technologies like BIM, the construction technology of the Shanghai Center rivals that of automobile manufacturing, achieving mechanical-level precision. The installation accuracy of the tower crown steel structure reaches 1.5 millimeters. The three sightseeing elevators, connecting the second underground level to the 118th floor, not only set a global speed record of 18 meters per second but also feature shaft guide rails approximately 600 meters tall with verticality controlled within 0 to 1 millimeter. The installation accuracy of the “sliding support” on the external curtain wall also achieves millimeter-level precision, far exceeding conventional civil engineering standards.
In terms of sustainability and environmental protection, the Shanghai Center has made significant advances. It incorporates over 40 green energy-saving and environmental technologies, reducing energy consumption by about 20% compared to similar buildings. It stands as the world’s tallest green building with dual certification from China and the United States, and ranks as the second tallest building worldwide.
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