Office building in Mexico City

Torre Mayor by Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC BY-SA.

John Hopkins University – United States

Building use

Office building

Country/Region

Mexico

Overview

A special foundation, dampers, and composite columns were adopted to design a tall building in a zone of high seismicity, addressing the new requirements following the 1985 earthquake, with height, versatility, and structural integrity.

Basic information (construction date, number of stories, gross floor area, adopted design code, engineer(s), Contractor(s), etc.)

Construction date: 2003
Number of stories: 55
Gross floor area: 77,000m2
Adopted design code: Mexico City Building Code (MCBC)
Engineer(s): WSP
Contractor(s): ICA

Issue and/or innovation

Mexico City has been struck with several notorious seismic events, including the one in 1985, which influenced the country’s building codes. Torre Mayor began construction in 1999, and as such was subject to new seismic regulations. The innovation in this building can be found in its foundation, in its damper usage to bear seismic loads, and in the composite columns. The building combines concrete, steel and 98 seismic dampers. 250 foundation piles were required. The construction involved placing concrete in steel-encased columns with tight clearances, requiring special techniques. High-slump concrete was used for its flowability in the constrained 4.50 m height. Windowed formworks were employed for monitoring, and thorough vibration was applied to ensure proper distribution, compaction, and structural integrity of the concrete.

Reason for composite solution

To design a tall building in a zone of high seismicity, addressing the new requirements following the 1985 earthquake, with height, versatility, and structural integrity

Specific solution/technical details

The structure includes 250 foundation piles 60 meters deep and 98 seismic dampers. Advanced analysis was used to design an innovative system to absorb seismic energy.
For lateral stability, the tube structure is connected to the composite core.

Impact or effectiveness

The building has underwent several seismic events without any noticeable damage. In 2010, a 7.6 Richer quake struck Mexico City, and it was reported that it was not even felt by the people inside of the building (WSP, 2003)

References / Technical Papers Content

Coratella, W. (2013). Torre mayor. Mundo Ejecutivo.
https://archello.com/project/torre-mayor

Related Products

Office building in California

Concrete core and a frame with 3 levels of buckle-resistance bracing for seismic design were adopted to provide safety against earthquake in a seismically active zone, as well as fire and other structural hazards.

Office building in Pennsylvania

One-of-a-kind damper was adopted to withstand the height and wind horizontal loads while enabling the asymmetrical design of the building.

Office building in Texas

A unique system of beams linked to a core shear wall, and exterior bundled columns were adopted to support the height of the building (it was the tallest composite building in the world when it was completed in 1980) and address various structural challenges, such as the natural tendency of the tube perimeter frame to warp.