Chinese Builders Construct 30-Story Hotel — In 15 Days

[Nicoleta01]

Builders in China completed a 170,000 square foot, 30-story prefabricated hotel in just 15 days, ending on New Year’s Eve – and posted a time-lapse video (above) to show off their impressive feat, the Huffington Post reports.

Construction workers bolted together the new hotel, in Dongting Lake in Hunan province, from pre-made modules put together in a factory and then placed them on steel structures at the construction site, according to the International Business Times. It can reportedly withstand an 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

“It completely changes the way buildings are constructed and, I believe, is about to change the entire industry,” architect Lloyd Alter wrote on the blog Treehugger.

The Chinese company behind the speedy process, Broad Sustainable Building Corporation, has some former success with building quickly. Once the world’s largest producer of air conditioning equipment, it previously built the 15-story Ark Hotel in Changsha, China, in just six days.

The implications of the latest project seemingly go beyond simply adding to the Dongting skyline in a speedy fashion. “Construction is just about the only industry that has not been exported,” Alter explained. “But now the Broad Sustainable Building Corporation has designed a system that will let them build anywhere, to construction tolerances of +/- 0.2 mm.”

Which likely means American hotels will soon be added to the growing list of things that come with a “made in China” stamp.

Source

Youtube video

I think this is really cool! It should be set to the Phineas and Ferb building construction music IMO. =P

 

[Caitlin]

It's pretty simple to put the pieces together. What they don't say is how long it took to create the parts used in each of the prefabricated structures. If this were built through conventional building techniques (which to be fair, are horribly outdated), this would have been a much longer project. Doesn't help that they had drone crews working 24/7, that shit wouldn't fly in America.

 

[Nicoleta01]

It's pretty simple to put the pieces together. What they don't say is how long it took to create the parts used in each of the prefabricated structures. If this were built through conventional building techniques (which to be fair, are horribly outdated), this would have been a much longer project. Doesn't help that they had drone crews working 24/7, that shit wouldn't fly in America.

Simple is a relative term. =P Few construction companies take advantage of simple pre-made parts when building. It's not mentioned in the Time's article, but others have mentioned that they worked until 10 p.m. each night. Then picked up again in the morning.

 

[Ghetsis-Dennis]

If a building was finished in 15 days, I expect that it won't last long.

 

[Lord Clowncrete]

If a building was finished in 15 days, I expect that it won't last long.

On what basis are you saying that? an article here (and one in my local newspaper as well) says that it can infact survive an earthquake of richter scale 9.

 

[Ghetsis-Dennis]

On what basis are you saying that? an article here (and one in my local newspaper as well) says that it can infact survive an earthquake of richter scale 9.

If a tall building was rushed, it'll most likely crumble into dust if you're not careful on putting too much weight on the accessories inside. It's called bad construction.

 

[Lord Clowncrete]

If a tall building was rushed, it'll most likely crumble into dust if you're not careful on putting too much weight on the accessories inside. It's called bad construction.

uh, these guys are not playing legos, you know? We are talking about trained civil engineers who know what they are doing. Give them some credit for their achievement.9.9

 

[Nicoleta01]

If a tall building was rushed, it'll most likely crumble into dust if you're not careful on putting too much weight on the accessories inside. It's called bad construction.

Prefabricated parts are a common industry move to save time and money. It's widely used by car, computer, and airline companies. The construction industry has done little to embrace it. The building wasn't rushed really, the order was made, the parts were made and shipped and then put together. If anything the building is more sound as the parts come to specifications easily due to the manufacturing process.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Hmm... interesting. Not to sound like a hippie tree-hugger, but I'm just worried this will lead to rapid urbanization.

 

[Feenie]

I know that it has been established that it can withstand an earthquake, but I still wouldn't trust it. I don't really think I could trust them just saying "Oh, it'll be fine!".....

 

[DerMißingno]

I know that it has been established that it can withstand an earthquake, but I still wouldn't trust it. I don't really think I could trust them just saying "Oh, it'll be fine!".....

I'm pretty sure they've at least done a little bit of math to back up their claim, rather then just saying "Oh, it'll be fine."

 

[Feenie]

True, true.

 

[Archaic]

After previous examples of Chinese "engineering", I think healthy skepticism about their claims is well warranted. Let us not forget the "Leaning Tower of Zhejiang", or the buildings which completely ripped free from their inadequate foundations.

Putting up maybe the frame alone could have been believable, but suggesting that within only 15 days they did this fully to spec, with all fittings, wiring, concrete (which wouldn't even have fully cured within the time period!), actually getting the foundations properly done, etc.....yeah, they're either bullshitting on the time or it's just unsafe.

 

[Master Mew]

suggesting that within only 15 days they did this fully to spec, with all fittings, wiring, concrete (which wouldn't even have fully cured within the time period!)

Ah, yes... the concrete is a good point.

 

[DerMißingno]

After previous examples of Chinese "engineering", I think healthy skepticism about their claims is well warranted. Let us not forget the "Leaning Tower of Zhejiang", or the buildings which completely ripped free from their inadequate foundations.

Putting up maybe the frame alone could have been believable, but suggesting that within only 15 days they did this fully to spec, with all fittings, wiring, concrete (which wouldn't even have fully cured within the time period!), actually getting the foundations properly done, etc.....yeah, they're either bullshitting on the time or it's just unsafe.

The Chinese have also had a very large number of engineering successes. Why should we jump to the conclusion that this will be a failure just because it didn't take very long?

 

[Rainami]

I've heard stories about the Chinese building stuff this quickly in the past. Pretty impressive.

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

You see? Playing with Legos has its benefits.

 

[Caitlin]

The Chinese have also had a very large number of engineering successes. Why should we jump to the conclusion that this will be a failure just because it didn't take very long?

Because it's China and we're all xenophobic racists.

In terms of structural integrity, the math on such a building is probably correct. While I'm not too experience with pre-fab construction (only worked with it twice), just the process behind what goes into building each part that is used in the final product makes it much safer in terms of structure. However, the Chinese do like to cut lots of corners and safety is a foreign concept to their construction companies, so who knows how badly they've screwed up. Even the pre-fab parts could be done incorrectly.

Personally I'm going to remain cynical, but fascinated. Cynical in that I don't believe it'll stand the test of time and fascinated in that I really need to push myself harder, since they (seem to) get work done in 1/10th of the time I do.

 

[Dorothy]

Damn, that's roughly two stories a day.

 

[Regiruler]

The Chinese have also had a very large number of engineering successes. Why should we jump to the conclusion that this will be a failure just because it didn't take very long?

Because it's China and we're all xenophobic racists.

In terms of structural integrity, the math on such a building is probably correct. While I'm not too experience with pre-fab construction (only worked with it twice), just the process behind what goes into building each part that is used in the final product makes it much safer in terms of structure. However, the Chinese do like to cut lots of corners and safety is a foreign concept to their construction companies, so who knows how badly they've screwed up. Even the pre-fab parts could be done incorrectly.

Personally I'm going to remain cynical, but fascinated. Cynical in that I don't believe it'll stand the test of time and fascinated in that I really need to push myself harder, since they (seem to) get work done in 1/10th of the time I do.

Well if it was pre-constructed, then I have no doubt that, if the pre-constructed parts were made correctly, that the building will stand the test of time. The concern is that it's not likely they were made properly and/or time was taken to examine the pieces.