Move over Burj Khalifa. Sky City, the world’s tallest building will very soon be built in Changsha, in China’s southeastern Hunan province. And by “very soon” we really mean very, very soon. Construction is expected to start in January and by March 2013 the 220-story, 2,749 ft building is expected to be completed – beating Burj Khalifa by 32 ft.
So, if you want to visit Dubai and see the world’s tallest building you just have a few more months left.
The 220-story tower is expected to have a school, a hospital, 17 helipads, and will be home to 31,400 people – including luxury and low-income communities. The building will be earthquake proof – withstanding tremors of up to 9.0 on the Richter scale.
Zhang Yue, the Chairman of Broad Sustainable Building Corp., which is taking on the challenge of building the world’s tallest structure decided to diversify from his traditional air-conditioner manufacturing business after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan which killed almost 70,000 people. He developed a sturdy modular style prefabricated structure which can easily be put together. It uses less steel and concrete which makes it earthquake resilient.
The 90 days deadline set by the company is not just a pipe dream. The 15-story Ark Hotel in China was built by the company in just 6 days. Another 30-story skyscraper was built in 15 days. The company’s credentials are there but will they be able to build the world’s tallest building in 90 days. Only time will tell.
Perhaps not content with plans to construct the world’s tallest building, the company already has its sights on an even more audacious project – a two-kilometre high skyscraper with 636 floors. No time lines have been set for this yet but it would not be surprising if they set themselves an equally aggressive deadline. Watch this space for this unfolding story.
