Construction
The four buildings are connected by expansion joints in the aboveground section, but have a common foundation plate. The three higher segments with a height of 51.08 m (167.6 ft) consist of 16 aboveground floors. The fourth segment has a height of about 25.8 m (85 ft) and has 8 stories. All the segments have a common underground level extending beyond the outline of the aboveground structure.
Maisonettes are designed for the last 16 floors in each of the higher segments (the second levels are mezzanines).
At the garage level, the building has a length of 95.56 m (316.8 ft). The width is 54 m (177.2 ft) in the curved part and 28.40 m (93.2 ft) in other parts. At ground level the dimensions of the left segment are 43.6 m × 52 m (143 × 171 ft) and 42.4 m × 21 m (139.5 × 68.9 ft) in the right segment. The height of the underground garages varies (in the top levels of the ceilings) from 3.76 m (12.3 ft) to 4.61 m (15.1 ft). The height of the commercial area varies from 2.98 m (9.8 ft) to 3.83 m (12.6 ft).
The foundation plate has a thickness of 100 cm (39.37 in) in the residential area and 80 cm (31.5 in) in the courtyard (with local thickening in the column areas and passageways). The exterior garage walls are reinforced concrete with a thickness of 25 cm (9.84 in).
The underground floor located at the garage level is designed entirely as a monolithic slab with a slab-column system, with deep beams used as columns. Reinforced concrete walls were introduced at the entrance area of the garages and work as stiffeners in the vehicle traffic area – staircases and lift cores. In addition, they separate the technical facilities. The internal reinforced concrete walls have generally a thickness of 25 cm (9.84 in), no less than 20 cm (7.87 in). The thickness of the lift core walls is 15 cm (5.9 in).
The aboveground floors are designed as a combined slab-wall system. On the ground floor, the system is complemented by columns. All floor slabs are designed as monolithic reinforced concrete slabs.
On the ground floor level, there are slabs designed with a thickness of 22 cm (8.66 in) in the commercial part and 30 cm (11.8 in) over parts of the garage. The latter extends beyond the outer walls of the aboveground structure. The floor slabs have a thickness of 22 cm (8.66 in) and are designed as continuous, cross-reinforced slabs.
The structural system for the residential part is a slab-wall system. Wherever possible, the load-bearing walls on the last 5 floors of every segment are designed as masonry walls made from silicate blocks.
The individual dwellings are separated by non-load-bearing masonry walls made from silicate blocks. The balcony and loggia slabs on the residential floors are 18 cm (7 in) thick. The stairway walls are made of reinforced concrete with a thickness of 20 cm (7.87 in) to 25 cm (9.84 in). The flights of stairs that run through all floors are designed as two flights. The thickness is 18 cm (7 in) for the landings and stairs.
Each segment of the structure is rigid because of the combination of the reinforced concrete walls that separate dwellings and the reinforced concrete walls of the vehicle traffic areas of the parking garage.
Structural Engineering | MGM Konstrukcje Inżynierskie s.c. Kraków, Poland www.mgm-ki.pl |