CTBUH

Technical Paper
http://technicalpapers.ctbuh.org

Subject: Building Case Study; Architecture/Design; Structural Engineering; Construction

Paper Title: Case Study: Absolute World Towers, Mississauga

Author(s): Lagendijk, Bas1

Pignetti, Anthony & Vacilotto, Sergio2

1
Aliation(s): MAD Architects
2
Dominus Construction Group

Publication Date: 2012

Original Publication: CTBUH Journal 2012 Issue IV

Paper Type: 1. Book chapter/Part chapter

2. Journal paper
3. Conference proceeding
4. Unpublished conference paper
5. Magazine article
6. Unpublished

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat/Author(s)

CTBUH Journal
International Journal on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

Tall buildings: design, construction and operation | 2012 Issue IV

Inside Canadas Marilyn Towers

Creating an Energy-Producing Skyscraper

Fluid-based Aerodynamic Performance

Ice, Snow and Tall Buildings

Assessing Koreas Technology Potential

Talking Tall with Bjarke Ingels

In Numbers: Canada Rising

Reports: Shanghai Congress & 2012 Awards

Inside
News and Events
02 This Issue
Dennis Poon
CTBUH Trustee
04 CTBUH Latest
Antony Wood
CTBUH Executive Director
05 Debating Tall:
Tall Buildings: A Sustainable
Future for Cities?
06 Global News
Highlights from the CTBUH
global news archive
Case Study
12 Absolute World Towers,
Mississauga
Bas Lagendijk, Anthony
Pignetti & Sergio Vacilotto
Research
18 A Different Approach to the
Aerodynamic Performance
of Tall Buildings
David Menicovich; Jason
Vollen; Michael Amitay; Chris
Letchford; Edward DeMauro;
Ajith Rao & Anna Dyson
24 Increasing Problems of
Falling Ice and Snow on
Modern Tall Buildings
Michael Carter & Roman
Stangl
30 A Proposal to Create an
Energy-Producing Megatall
for Kunming, China
Thomas Kraubitz
36 Assessing Potential
Development in South
Koreas Supertall Building
Technology
Payam Bahrami, David Scott,
Eun-Ho Oh & Young-Ho Lee
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
Features
40 Tall Buildings in Numbers
Canada Rising
42 Talking Tall: Bjarke Ingels has
BIG Plans for Tall Buildings
Bjark Ingels
46 Design Research
CTBUH International Student
Design Competition 2012
CTBUH
48 9th World Congress Shanghai
Report
Kevin Brass
52 CTBUH 2012 Awards Overview
Kevin Brass
55 CTBUH on the Road
CTBUH events around the
world
55 Diary
Upcoming tall building events
56 Reviews
Review of new books in the
CTBUH Library
57 Comments
Feedback on past journal
issues
58 Meet the CTBUH
Javier Quintana de Ua
59 CTBUH Organizational
Structure & Member Listings
The challenges associated with the inherent
inconsistency of air flow may open a new way of
thinking about tall buildings as highly adaptive,
dynamic systems capable of responding to the
opportunities and challenges associated with
spatially and temporally fluctuating resources.
24 Research: Climate and Environment
Increasing Problems of Falling Ice and Snow
on Modern Tall Buildings
Michael Carter Roman Stangl
Authors
Michael Carter, Director/Consultant
Roman Stangl, Director/Project Manager
Northern Microclimate Inc. (NMI)
33 Water Street N.
P.O. Box 277
Cambridge
Ontario N1R 5T8
Canada
t: +1 226 444 0188
f: +1 226 444 0183
e: roman.stangl@northernmicroclimate.com;
mike.carter@northernmicroclimate.com
www.northernmicroclimate.com
Michael Carter
Michael is a director and the lead technical consultant
of Northern Microclimate Inc., an architectural
consulting firm that focuses on the prediction,
evaluation and mitigation of falling ice and snow.
He has contributed to publications with the
National Institute of Building Sciences, Construction
Specifications Canada and the International
Conference on Snow Engineering. Recognized as an
expert in his field, Michael works with architectural
and engineering firms, focusing on his ability to
visualize and interpret the characteristics of a
building design within its local micro-climate.
Roman Stangl
Roman is a director and the lead project manager
of Northern Microclimate Inc. A CTBUH member
with international experience, he has been actively
managing and consulting within the design and
construction field since 2005. Roman has contributed
to publications with the National Institute of Building
Sciences, Construction Specifications Canada and the
International Conference on Snow Engineering.
24 | Climate and Environment
30 Research: Energy
A Proposal to Create an Energy-Producing
Megatall for Kunming, China
Thomas Kraubitz
Author
Thomas Kraubitz, Senior Consultant
Happold Ingenieurbro GmbH (Buro Happold)
Pfalzburger Str. 43-44
10717 Berlin
Germany
t: +49 30 860 906 3146
f: +49 30 860 906 66
e: thomas.kraubitz@burohappold.com
www.burohappold.com
Thomas Kraubitz
Thomas has been working in the field of sustainable
planning and design for over ten years and has
developed a holistic view of buildings and the urban
context. He has worked in different climatic zones in
consulting, project management, urban planning,
urban design and architecture for Stefan Behnisch,
Ken Yeang, and Rem Koolhaas, amongst others. As
a Fulbright Scholar he was a Teaching and Research
Assistant at Harvard University from 20072009.
Since 2012 he is also a studio critic at the Technical
University Berlin.
updraft
A conventional solar
power station
consumes several
hundred hectares of
land, if it is designed to
generate as much
electricity produced by
modern power stations
using conventional
technology
30 | Energy
48 CTBUH Report: CTBUH 9th World Congress Shanghai
World Congress Draws Global Industry
Leaders to Address Key Issues
The CTBUH 9th World Congress closed to rave reviews, after three days of in-depth presentations, lively panel
discussions and networking events.
Traditional dragon dance troupe performance at the opening ceremony. CTBUH
When Shanghai Vice Mayor Shen Jun took the
stage to ocially open the CTBUH 9th World
Congress, he quickly set the tone for the
issues that would dominate the next three
days of discussion and debate. Land
resources are not renewable, Mr. Jun said. We
have no choice but to build high rises to save
land eciently. Tall buildings, he emphasized,
must serve as solutions to Chinas long-
standing urban issues of pollution and
over-crowding. It is an urgent and critical task
to meet these challenges.
(Left to right) Qing Wei Kong, Shanghai Tower; Timothy Johnson, CTBUH Chairman;
Shen Jun, Shanghai Vice Mayor; Antony Wood, CTBUH Executive Director; Guo Qing Li,
Tongji University. CTBUH
48 | CTBUH 9th World Congress Shanghai
Reported incidents of hazardous ice and snow falling from buildings are on
the rise, specifically for recently completed tall buildings. High performance
faades have improved internal thermal performance, but increased the
conditions for forming ice on metal and glass skins. This paper sheds light on
the issues, describing the factors that contribute to icing and hazardous ice
and snow formation, and provides methods to address these issues within the
design process.
Background
Troublesome ice and snow formations on
buildings are in no way a new phenomenon.
Building designers and owners have long
struggled with the various aspects of winter
precipitation. This has led to the development
of standards and codes to address such topics
as wind loads and snow loads during building
design. However, the aspect of falling, sliding
or windblown ice and snow from a building is
a topic that has not been widely
acknowledged, and consequently has
generated little in the way of standards,
guidelines or prescriptive building code
requirements to assist designers. In addressing
concerns, designers have largely relied on
past experience or trial and error methods for
reducing potential risks. The learning process
industry-wide has been slow or non-existent
due to the reluctant nature of various parties
to discuss errors or incidents, for fear of
litigation. Open discussion of the issues will
accelerate the learning process around the
emerging problems created by advancing
faade performance and tall building design.
Modern Towers, New Issues
The faades of some recently completed high
performance buildings are actively promoting
hazardous ice and snow formations under
typical winter conditions, rather than unusual,
severe or infrequent weather conditions. This
realization is unnerving, as modern high
performance buildings often show only
modest or questionable reductions in energy
usage, at times falling short of their prediction
models. Furthermore, building codes and
Chinas fast-growing urban population and need for sustainable energy
sources require alternative development ideas. The Krafthaus, which
combines an energy-producing solar tower with an environmentally-
responsive, 215-story building, is one idea under consideration to address the
issues facing Chinas cities. The building has installed power capacity about 30
MW of electricity. With only a portion used by the building, the bulk of the
energy would be fed into the local grid.
The Concept
Current energy provision systems in China are
heavily based on exhaustible fuels such as
coal, hydrocarbons, and uranium. To fulll
Chinas commitment to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to
50% by 2020, new systems to reduce the
inuence on the environment must be
considered. Cities are turning to tall buildings
to address the need for space in urban
settings, where little new land is available, but
skyscrapers are typically big energy
consumers. They also tend to be inecient,
due to the space needed for vertical
circulation. The higher the building, the more
lifts and vertical infrastructure needed, limiting
the amount of usable oor space.
The Krafthaus can simultaneously address
Chinas need for more space and clean energy
(see Figure 1). The concept combines a
750-meter-tall solar updraft tower some-
times called a solar chimney or simply a solar
tower and a climate responsive tall building.
At the heart of the Krafthaus is a solar thermal
power plant utilizing a combination of a solar
air collector and the central updraft tube to
generate a solar induced convective ow,
which drives pressure staged turbines to
produce electricity.
This solar facility is linked with a multi-
programmatic vertical tower reaching up 215
oors. The tower can oer gardens, shopping,
leisure, entertainment, and cultural facilities, in
addition to oces and apartments a
complete vertical city. The 70-meter-wide
solar tube at the core of the Krafthaus allows
Report by Kevin Brass, CTBUH Public Affairs Manager
Richard Tomasetti of Thornton Tomasetti, Vincent Tseof Parsons Brinckerhoff ; Rafael
Vinly and Tony Long of CB Richard Ellis engaged in the panel discussion. CTBUH
The ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Jin Mao was
packed to capacity for the opening ceremo-
nies. The Congress sold out weeks before the
opening, with 850 registered delegates from
43 countries in attendance, including many of
the top developers, architects, engineers and
building owners from China and around the
world. We purposely brought together a
wide range of expertise and viewpoints,
including the developers that are leading the
tall building boom in Asia, said CTBUH
Executive Director Antony Wood.
Attendees of the sold out Congress listen to the Day 2 plenary session presentations.
CTBUH
standards have shown a trend towards
increasing the performance of roof, wall, and
glass assemblies, as evidenced by comparing
ASHRAE Standard 90.1 between the 2004 and
2010 versions (see Table 1). Further
exacerbating the issue of ice and snow
formations on faades is the addition of
various exterior elements intended to control
solar gain, which ultimately serve as cold
collection surfaces. As a result, reports of
falling ice and snow incidents from high
performance buildings over the last ten years
have shown an increase in the frequency and
severity of hazardous ice and snow formation.
Although formal records of falling ice and
snow incident reports do not yet exist, this
trend has been identied through a record of
media accounts and project experience. New
reports in the last two years have detailed
dozens of falling, sliding or windblown ice and
snow incidents in North America alone,
including such buildings as the Duke Energy
Building in Charlotte and the New York Times
Building in New York.
Many of the events investigated by the
authors have not been found to be caused by
a single inuencing factor, but rather by a list
of factors that tend to have a cumulative
eect. True, there are situations where a single
design feature, such as a window sill/mullion
conguration or a solar shade device, has had
a signicant impact on the formation of
hazardous ice and snow. However, over the
course of numerous building investigations,
which includes multiple cold room laboratory
tests conducted in collaboration with the U.S.
Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering
Laboratory (CRREL), this is found to be the
exception rather than the rule when it comes
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
lifts and infrastructure to be placed inside the
concrete tube. On each oor there is a
horizontal installment area for building
services and technical equipment 150 meters
long which allows an open space and a very
exible oor plan.as well as easy access for
maintenance or replacement without taking
up valuable rentable space.
The Krafthaus form of generating energy is
simple, reliable, accessible, and based on
Figure 1. The Krafthaus, Kunming. Thomas Kraubitz
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
Asia was the centerpiece of the event, which
was titled, Asia Ascending: the Age of the
Sustainable Skyscraper City, but discussions
inevitably focused on issues aecting cities
and builders around the world. From the
outset, CTBUH Chairman Timothy Johnson, a
design partner at NBBJ, challenged the
audience. Lets nd new ways to make
buildings more sustainable, he said. Lets be
innovative. Lets nd ways to change the way
we think of tall buildings.
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
Opaque Elements
Roof (Insulation entirely above deck)
Wall above grade (mass)
Insulation Min. R-Value
Steel-framed walls
Fenestration
Vertical glazing 0%40% of wall
Table 1. Building Envelope Requirements ASHRAE Standard 90.1 2004 2010 Comparison (Table 5.5-4, Building
Envelope Requirements for Climate Zone 4 - Non-Residential) ASHRAE
to newly completed high performance
buildings.
In the simplest of explanations, the currently
achieved reductions in heat loss from many
buildings interiors are promoting an increase
in potentially dangerous ice and snow
formations. As insulation values, glass
technology, and building systems progress in
the future to conserve energy, the
corresponding further reductions in heat loss
through the faade will only increase the
probability of hazardous ice and snow
formation and release, creating signicant
challenges for building designers, owners and
operators, with further impacts to public
safety. Consequently, investigation and
research into the causes of these issues is
needed and is ongoing. However, at this time
empirical data and/or detailed case studies
have not been developed due to the
reluctance of building owners and designers
to discuss their challenges openly.
The following case examples are based on
interviews with building owners and
Figure 1. Example of snow and ice freezing on vision
glass panel. NMI
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
renewable materials. The principle of the
system was rst described by Isidoro
Cabanyes in 1903 and was revisited in the late
1970s by Michael Simon and Joerg Schlaich.
They successfully demonstrated the concept
in 1982 in a small testing installation in
Manzanares, Spain. Combining the system
with a tall building is, however, a new
approach.
In order to realize the potential of the
Krafthaus linked with a tall building, it is
essential to rst study a commercial solar
updraft tower in operation to gain technical
and nancial input for the project. The solar
tower testing facility in Manzanares provided
valuable information; however it was limited
by its height of only 195 meters and
maximum power output of 50 kW. The
research operation was too small to collect
data on commercial energy production. With
a larger chimney height the pressure
dierences increase the stack eect and a
higher power output is possible.
In 2010, a solar chimney plant started
operation in Jinshawan, Wuhai City, Inner
Mongolia, China. The 200-kilowatt power
generating unit can supply 400,000 kWh of
electricity per year, saving the equivalent of
100 tons of coal and 900 tons of water,
Figure 2. Kunming annual average global radiation overlay. Schlaich Bergermann Solar
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
CTBUH 2012 Student Competition winner Alexis De
Bosscher; Johannes de Jong, KONE; Chris Wilkinson,
Wilkinson Eyre. CTBUH
Attendees openly exchanged ideas and their
experiences, providing a unique opportunity
to go behind the scenes at many of the
worlds biggest and most innovative projects.
We hope by sharing our experience and
insight into the building system we would
make a contribution to sustainable supertall
buildings in the world, said Qing Wei Kong,
Shanghai Tower Chairman, striking a chord
that would resonate throughout the event.
Working Groups
Shanghai provided an opportunity for the
CTBUHs array of working groups to gather
and plot strategy for new and on-going
projects. The sessions which took place the
day before the congress included a
roundtable meeting of CTBUH leaders,
which attracted more than 30 active
representatives from around the world. The
rousing discourse primarily focused on the
edgling city representative program and
the best ways to grow the Councils
initiatives on a grass roots level.
Two of the working groups touted the
release of new technical guides Outrigger
Attendees of the Global Leaders workshop. CTBUH
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
Menicovich et al., page 18.
2004
R-15
R-5.7
2010
Insulation Min. R-Value
R-20
R-9.5
% Change
R-13 R-13 +R-7.5 Cont.
Assembly Max. U Assembly Max. U
U-0.57 U-0.50 14%
operators of recently completed buildings,
combined with reviews of incident and cold
room test reports. The cases reveal interesting
data that initially seemed counter intuitive,
but can be explained when the individual
design details are investigated.
Case Example 1
Building Type: Tall, High Performance
Location: Northeastern United States
In this example (see Figure 1), observations of
ice sheets were reported to form in the center
of vertical vision glass of a recently completed
building, and would subsequently release and
fall to the busy street below. This report was
taken with some skepticism as heat loss
characteristics of a traditional window and
frame relationship call for the exterior skin
temperature of the center of the window to
be the warmest location, since it is the
furthest from the inuence of the frame that
would typically have the advantage of
insulation or a thermally broken prole.
However, in this particular case the large
insulated glass panels oered an improved
thermal performance over traditional glass
and there was no spandrel panel, only a
minimalistic metal frame. Thus, the glass
panels were the main resistive component of
the assembly, promoting ice to form directly
in the center (the coldest location) of vertical
vision glass panels. The key point to this
example is the fact that the prole of the
assembly is producing skin temperatures that
align with exterior temperatures during more
typical winter precipitation events, thereby
promoting an increase in frequency and
severity of icing over more traditional wall
assemblies. To be clear, the relationship
between glass and frame is not the sole
compared with thermal power generation.
The RMB 1.38 billion (US$208 million) project
calls for a full facility covering 277 hectares to
produce a comparable output of 27.5 MW by
2013. But only data from prolonged operation
will allow for a judgement on the perfor-
mance of the power plant and its potential as
real estate property. So far only limited
information on its existence and operation is
available and still has to be veried.
Finding the Ideal Location
A conventional solar updraft power station
consumes several hundred hectares of land, if
it is designed to generate as much electricity
produced by modern power stations using
conventional technology, such as fossil fuels
or nuclear energy. Until recently, most
discussions of Krafthaus have focused on hot
areas where large amounts of very low-value
land is available, such as deserts. But the
limited number of consumers and high
infrastructure and transport costs in those
periods have made it economically
impractical.
One of the most important aspects for
planning and running a solar power plant is
global radiation. At rst it may seem that areas
Jinshawan,
Wuhai
Kunming
Timothy Johnson issues research seed funding check
to winner Dr. Kristen Day, New York University with Li
Hongyu from sponsor AECOM. CTBUH
Shanghai Towers aspirations go far beyond its
height. The developers want to make it the
most sustainable building in the world, with
green areas and a design that makes it a
comfortable and ecient part of Shanghais
changing landscape.
Sustainability and the need to create ecient
and well-organized projects that integrate
and enhance the urban environment were
Design for High Rises Buildings released by
the CTBUH Outrigger Working Group, and
Natural Ventilation in High-Rise Office
Buildings, a product of the CTBUH
Sustainability Working Group (see
advertorial on page 51.) The other working
groups Building Information Modeling;
Fire & Life Safety; Research, Academic &
Postgraduate; Seismic Design and Wind
Engineering focused discussions on
developing research projects and the best
ways to share the latest information in their
respective elds.
33%
67%
cause, but likely a tipping point for this
particular example. Other inuencing factors
could include: the move to more ecient
with under oor displacement ventilation
systems, the heat loss characteristics of the
58%
whole faade as a system, and external factors
such as elevation, building geometry and
orientation to prevailing weather. Overall, this
example reveals that as improvements in
building performance are made, and exterior
skin temperatures are reduced or at a
minimum modied, there is opportunity for
hazardous ice and snow formations to occur
in dierent manners and amounts.
Case Example 2
Building Type: Tall, High Performance
Location: Midwest United States
The second example (see Figure 2) also deals
with the relationship between glass and
frame. However in this case the focus is on ice
and snow formations that accumulate on
window sills or mullion caps at the base of
vision panels. In this example, signicant ice
formations were consistently forming at the
edge of mullion caps and falling. Historically,
sills or mullion caps of a relatively small
dimension were not prone to hazardous ice
formations, as heat loss through the curtain
wall system would create sucient melting to
avoid signicant ice formations. However,
High performance
faades have improved
internal thermal
performance, but
increased the
conditions for forming
ice on metal and glass
skins
Climate and Environment | 25
with a high air temperature are most suitable
but radiation weakening components of the
atmosphere - such as clouds, aerosols and
water vapour need to be considered as well
for the right location for a solar updraft tower.
Only by evaluating Meteotest/Meteonorm
satellite data, which includes the solar
weakening components that reduce the W/
m heat gain on surface, an informed decision
for the most eective location be made. Very
important is also a high possible temperature
dierence between day and night to allow a
steady operation of the updraft tower that
can safe heat during the day in water packs
and releases it at night.
In China, the Yunnan Province oers many ele-
ments necessary for the solar updraft tower
with up to 220240 W/m2 of Annual Average
Global Radiation. The site of the chimney
plant in Jinshawan, Wuhai City, has a value of
just 180220 W/m2 and a much smaller
population (400,000 people), which means
higher infrastructure costs due to the distance
to consumers.
After overlaying solar radiation maps and the
study of population maps (see Figure 2), the
City of Kunming, Yunnan Province, was
identied as an ideal site for this concept and
preliminary discussions have taken place on
the concept with local planning authorities.
Solar radiation already plays a large role in
Kunming, with 60 to 70% of its warm water
provided by solar-thermal energy. The
population of Kunming prefecture stood at
6.4 million in 2010 and it is expected to grow
to become the largest metropolis of the
region. The strong economy of the Great
Kunming Area (GKA) largely depends on
tourism and agriculture, with limited space
due to its hills and mountains. The city, often
called Spring City, has also received attention
for its proximity to the emerging business
opportunities with Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, especially
Vietnam. The specic climatic conditions
allow several harvests a year and its
picturesque setting makes it a national and
international tourist destination. At the same
time the most suitable areas for development
are the prime farmlands on the lakeshore
oering valuable views for new housing
Energy | 31
purposely
Skyscrapers We
brought
together a wide range
of expertise and
viewpoints, including
the developers that are
leading the tall
building boom in
Asia.
consistent themes. Speakers focused on the
complexities of developing large projects,
from energy costs and project management
to the political inuence on iconic projects.
We need to work together to nd a balance
between iconic design and sustainability, said
Mehdi Jalayerian, executive vice president of
Environmental Systems Design, during a
rousing panel discussion on the opportunities
and barriers to sustainability. They clash at
some point.
Delegates shared information and designs for
the latest projects, as well as the challenges
projects are facing around the world. Over
and over again, speakers emphasized that tall
buildings are still a young typology and the
industry is still wrestling with the issues of
creating ecient projects that address the
needs of fast-growing cities.
This is a huge challenge for us. It is still not a
mature business model in China, said Zhaohui
Jia, general manager of the Greenland Group,
one of the largest developers of tall buildings
in China. We are still trying to explore this
business model.
Tall buildings still play a unique role in cities, a
point brought home by the plenary session
featuring the owners/developers behind the
past, present and future worlds tallest
building.
CTBUH 9th World Congress Shanghai | 49
Inside | 3
Case Study: Absolute World Towers, Mississauga

Shapely Pair of Towers Challenges the Status Quo

Dubbed the Marilyn Monroe towers, the CTBUH 2012 Best Tall Building
Americas award-winning project is the result of a unique public-private
partnership and an international design competition, which chose a new
Chinese firm doing its first work in North America. The innovative design,
however, created an array of issues for the builders.

Bas Lagendijk Anthony Pignetti
Sergio Vacilotto
Authors
Bas Lagendijk, Strategy Executive
MAD Architects
3rd Fl. West Tower
7 Banqiao Nanxiang, Beixinqiao
Beijing 100007, China
t: +86 10 6402 6632, f: +86 10 6402 3940
e: press@i-mad.com, www.i-mad.com
Anthony Pignetti, Vice President of Construction
Sergio Vacilotto, Director of Site Operations
Dominus Construction Group
7777 Keele Street, Suite 216
Concord, Ontario L4K 1Y7, Canada
t: +1 905 669 2200, f: +1 905 669 8867
info@dominus.ca, www.dominus.ca
Bas Lagendijk
Bas Lagendijk deals with communication in
Architecture at MAD. As a strategic thinker he informs
on the potential of Architecture and communicates
between clients, collaborators, governments,
constructors and the general public.
Educated in Interior Architecture, Information Tech-
nology and Graphic Design, he previously worked at
OMA, where he was involved in many contemporary
issues ranging from buildings to large scale sustain-
ability issues such as Zeekracht, Roadmap 2050, West
Kowloon Cultural District and the Venice Biennale.
Like other suburbs in North America, the
Toronto satellite community of Mississauga is
quickly developing into an interdependent,
urbanized area. Canadas sixth largest and
fastest-growing major city, Mississauga has a
diverse economy and multicultural character,
as well as a new-found status as an important
city center in the Greater Toronto area (GTA).
However, its rapid development into an
urbanized center has been at the expense of a
unique cityscape character.
The redevelopment of a major downtown
intersection was seen as an opportunity to
redefine Mississaugas urban landscape
through an innovative public-private
partnership and internationally recognized
architectural design. The project had to add
something naturalistic and human to contrast
with the existing backdrop of listless boxy
buildings.
The winning design obeys many of the rules
of the typical North-American high-rise: a
central core, a straightforward and economic
structure and a glass faade. However, the
outcome is fundamentally different in the
perception of the people. By the time of
completion the result was recognized by the
public and news accounts as an inspiring
place to live, something more than a place
that strives for simple efficiency. The buildings
hope to provide residents with an emotional
connection to their hometown and neigh-
bors, and a local landmark to define the city.
A Risky Development Plan
The developers of the site, Fernbrook Homes
and Cityzen Development Group, were
determined to tackle the lack of a unique
character when they set out to redevelop the
intersection in Mississaugas downtown core.
It was determined that the best use for this
important property would be a residential
development. The entire project includes a
master-planned community of five towers
with more than 158,000 square meters, 1,850
residential units, a three-story 3,252-square
meter recreation area, and retail facilities.

Anthony Pignetti & Sergio Vacilotto

Dominus Construction Group is a full service
construction firm in the Greater Toronto Area. Draw-
ing on the extensive industry expertise of senior
management team members, Anthony Pignetti and
Sergio Vacilotto, Dominus has distinguished itself
within the industry as a new brand of builder focused
on innovation and unique forms of partnership.
Dominus has earned a reputation for delivering
projects unprecedented in engineering and technical
complexity such as L-Tower, constructed atop of
Torontos renowned Sony Centre for the Performing
Arts, in addition to the Absolute World Towers
CTBUH 2012 Best Tall Building for the Americas.

12 | Absolute World Towers, Mississauga CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV

In a break from industry tradition, Fernbrook
and Cityzen sponsored an international
competition to find an iconic design that
would realize their vision. This was the first
such design competition that the GTA had
seen in more than 40 years and the Mayor
and City embraced the opportunity with
great enthusiasm.
Due to the prominence of the location, the
City had a special interest in the
redevelopment initiative. They were an active
partner in shaping and realizing the
development vision. In a unique spirit of
partnership, the City was invited to participate
on the judging panel for the project. The City
and its residents were part of the decision-
making process and helped identify the
winning proposal. The City also worked
closely with the developer throughout the
construction process to manage many of the
unique challenges associated with
implementing the unprecedented features of
the successful design. The public sense of
ownership that defined this undertaking from
its inception helped bring the project to
realization.
The response to the competition far exceeded
expectations. More than 600 expressions of
interest were registered and 92 submissions
received, producing an array of unique and
inspiring architectural designs from a global
pool of talent.
The winning design from Ma Yansong of MAD
Architects clearly captured the publics
Figure 1. The Towers created a new skyline for the City. Tom Arban
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
imagination. The design helped create a
strong partnership between the City and the
developers, the architects, the contractor and
the engineers. MADs design stood out for its
ability to offer a sharp contrast to the existing
landscape of traditional rectangular buildings
that had come to define Mississauga (see
Figure 1), addressing one of the primary goals
of the City and the developer.
A Distinct Shape
Winning the competition generated
enormous public interest internationally, but
was particularly noteworthy in China, where
MAD became the first Chinese architecture
office to build a significant high-rise project
abroad. Suddenly a young architect from
mainland China was given an international
platform to showcase new ideas and design
philosophy. This also offered Chinese
developers a new appreciation for the
potential of their domestic talent.
Fondly dubbed the Marilyn by local residents
in homage to the curvaceous appeal of
Marilyn Monroe, the Absolute World Towers
parallel the twisting fluidity of natural lines
found in life (see Figure 2). The flowing form
offers an organic punctuation in the
landscape and challenges the prevalence of
commonplace development in the area.
The architects ambition to provide each
resident a unique experience of the city
resulted in two towers that have continuous
The towers flowing
form offers an organic
punctuation in the
landscape and
challenges the
prevalence of
commonplace
development in the
area.
balconies which widen individual viewing
angles and promote community at the micro
scale of a single floor. At the macro level, the
cadence of the floors rising into the sky echo
the modular rhythms of the human
experience, while suggesting the movement
of an adoring figure. Critics have praised the
designs ability to create a structure that
constantly seems to change, depending on
the vantage point. The design illustrates that
the human spirit feels more connected to a
building that offers privacy while still
promoting human interaction.
The design brief presented for the
competition calling for a single tower was
Figure 2. Absolute World Towers, Mississauga. Tom
Arban
Absolute World Towers, Mississauga | 13
 Ground Level, -10 Level 24, 42 Level 40, 159
Figure 3. Typical floor plans of the Absolute World 56. MAD

Figure 3). By maximizing the viewing

potentials both inside and outside the
buildings, the design created a medium for
social interaction throughout the balconies
and connected the city dwellers with
naturalistic design principles.

Building an Idea

Many observers questioned whether the MAD

design could actually be built. The unique
features of this type of rotating structure had
never before been subjected to Ontario
building code requirements and there was no
precedent for the construction challenges.

From the outset, local architectural and

Figure 4. The towers rotation difference. PERI
straightforward, with restrictions limited only
to the amount and size of units. This allowed
the competing designers full expression and
flexibility.
Eschewing the tradition of accentuated
verticality in high-rises, MADs design for the
Absolute World Towers chose not to
emphasize vertical lines. Instead, the design
features smooth, unbroken balconies that
wrap each floor of the building. In addition, at
each successive level, the floor plate rotates in
a range of one to eight degrees affording
panoramas of the Mississauga skyline (see
engineering firms were engaged to refine the
design and ensure it would meet all local
Figure 5. Typical structural configuration. MAD
standards without compromising the initial
design intent. While the lead time for most
projects was normally three to four months
before excavation was scheduled to
commence, in the case of Absolute World, the
preparatory period was extended to 12
months. This type of extensive pre-planning
ensured the project was kept on schedule by
anticipating potential issues.
While consultants always play a major role in
the construction of any project, in this case
their role was even more significant. The
rotating design meant that every floor was
unique. Meeting these challenges required
extensive collaboration among all the
construction disciplines throughout the
process.
In addition, there was some initial concern
that the unique layouts would limit the ability
to market and sell residential units in the
tower. However, the interest generated by the
competition and the publics participation in
the final selection helped the developers
easily sell out the apartments in a few days.
The developer had taken a significant gamble
in committing to deliver a design developed
out of a competition, but the results provided
evidence that design does matter in the

14 | Absolute World Towers, Mississauga CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV

marketplace and a unique design can sell at a
premium.
Given the initial response, the developer
requested that the architect produce a design
for a second tower. Ma Yansong was adamant
that a second tower should be
complimentary, but not a duplicate of the first
tower. The second buildings design used the
same technique of rotating floor plates, but
featured different angles to create a different,
but related form (see Figure 4).
The first and tallest tower starts to twist from
below and increases its rotation initially by 1
degree to a maximum of 8 degrees rotation
per floor for a total cumulative floor plate
rotation of 209 degrees. The buildings vertical
middle section, or its hip, represents the
maximum eight degree rotation. For the
second tower, the rotation was 4 degrees for
every floor for a total cumulative floor plate
rotation of 200 degrees.
While the two towers look similar, they are
very different. In addition to different angle
rotations, the buildings also have different
faade treatments. While the first tower is
more transparent, the second tower is more
opaque. This distinguishes the two towers
and allows them to seem to interact with
each other.
The addition of a second building actually
strengthened the original concept. As the
architect observed, a single tower could have
been viewed as a sculptural piece, but the
addition of a second tower transformed the
development into a true urban space.
Summer Sun
Cool Breeze
Wonderful Views
Figure 6. Typical balcony configuration. MAD
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
An Economy of Structure would still accommodate the unique design
features. The rotating floor plates also caused
The torsional form of the towers is additional vertical thermal transfer issues. As
underpinned with a surprisingly simple and the floor plates rotated, the window lines did
inexpensive structural solution. The two not align as in traditional building structures
residential towers are supported by a grid of and this created another set of transfer issues.
concrete load-bearing walls. The bearing walls
extend and contract in response to the A number of potential solutions were
sectional fluctuation created by the rotation considered but dismissed for being
of the floors (see Figure 5), while the balconies excessively costly or risking construction
consist of cantilevered concrete slabs. In order delays. The team was also not prepared to
to ensure the elegant edge profiles are as thin consider a solution that would compromise
as possible, there is a thermal break in the the balcony feature for any of the suites.
slabs at the exterior glazing, so that the
insulation need not wrap the entirety of the The solution was eventually found in an
balconies. Meanwhile, the dynamically fluid innovative two-pronged approach: thermal
shaping of the towers, naturally aerodynamic, breaks were utilized to minimize the
adeptly handles wind loading and ensures horizontal thermal transfer, and an internal
comfort throughout all the balconies. In bulkhead, along with an external insulated
addition to providing every resident with a soffit, was utilized to minimize the vertical
livable exterior place to enjoy views of thermal transfer. The thermal breaks were
Mississauga, the balconies also naturally formed in such a way that it allowed for
shade the interior from the higher angle sections in the slab up to 50 millimeters in
summer sun while soaking in the lower angle width and varying lengths up to 1,200
winter sun, reducing air conditioning costs millimeters. The void that resulted from this
(see Figure 6). approach was later finished with fire stopping,
smoke seal and waterproofing.
For the construction team, Absolute Worlds
creative architectural design resulted in a In implementing these solutions, The
number of construction challenges and construction company, Dominus, developed a
opportunities for innovation. The design new and innovative proprietary process. Not
presented complex issues involving thermal
transfer, forming and concrete usage.
Innovative construction solutions and
engineering design were required to realize
the vision and achieve results within budget
and on schedule.
A key feature of the buildings design is the
presence of continuous wrapping balconies
on every floor (see Figure 7). The balconies are
also an integrated part of the curved and
rotating design of the overall structure. This
Winter Sun
groundbreaking design presented unique
challenges relating to the transfer of cold and
heat, both horizontally and vertically. While
balconies can create thermal challenges in
traditionally shaped structures, in the
Absolute World the curved and rotating
design of the building compounded the
challenges.
The horizontal thermal transfer concerns
Figure 7. The continuous wrapping balconies with
required a break in the concrete slabs that rotating floor plates. Tom Arban
Absolute World Towers, Mississauga | 15
 The solution was
eventually found in an
innovative two-
pronged approach:
thermal breaks were
utilized to minimize
the horizontal thermal
transfer and an internal
bulkhead, along with
an external insulated
soffit, was utilized to
minimize the vertical
thermal transfer.
only were transfer issues minimized to within
acceptable levels, but the integrity of the
original design was protected.
The unique design properties of the building
also required an innovative concrete forming
method. Traditional fly tables were not
appropriate for this construction because they
would have resulted in large unsupported
panels when the rotation of the floor plate
was more than two degrees. The formwork
partner, Premform, needed to develop a new
Figure 10. SKYDECK slab formwork. PERI
16 | Absolute World Towers, Mississauga
Figure 8. Rail climbing system (RCS) on Absolute World
56. PERI
forming method that would allow for
configuration changes, while maintaining
structural integrity. This had to be
accomplished without compromising safety.
PERI had never before designed a system that
was required to climb and also move in
relation to a varying rotation.
Premforms solution teamed two main
features an EFCO climbing elevator
formwork system and a modified Peris
SKYDECK drop head system with a modified
rail climbing system (RCS) (see Figures 8 and
9). The climbing elevator formwork system
contributed to project efficiency and allowed
for faster turnaround on the main central core
of the building, avoiding schedule delays. The
Figure 11. Heavy structural reinforcement at tower base. Dominus
Figure 9. Trapezoidal RCS panels on Absolute World
50 are installed on an inclined angle of 21 26.
The mobile hydraulic system moves RCS panels
independent of crane. PERI
modified SKYDECK provided the ability to
form the constantly changing floor plate by
allowing panels to be carried out immediately
after the slab concrete reached the required
strength (see Figure 10). This revolving process
permitted panels to be used immediately for
the next cycle and created efficiencies.
Since the SKYDECK system is not traditionally
used above grade, a specialized enclosure
system was required around the formwork to
ensure safety. A modified RCS system worked
in conjunction with the SKYDECK system. The
enclosure simplified the heating requirements
for the concrete slabs during winter pours as
it enclosed two floors below the deck
currently under construction. The result was
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
greater efficiency and fewer lost days due to
weather constraints.
Through these innovations, the construction
team was able to achieve a cycle time from
floor to floor that could match those of
traditional systems for conventional building
designs.
Concrete Considerations
The last major innovation in the construction
of this building related to the use of the
concrete. Although the building was unique
in its design, it was still required to meet all
structural requirements for a residential
condominium, creating another set of
challenges.
First, the traditional concentric loading of
columns was not appropriate for the unique
design of the building. The structural
engineer, Sigmund Soudack and Associates,
was presented with the challenge of finding
an alternative that utilized sufficient rebar and
concrete while still allowing for livable spaces.
The final structural design included heavy
reinforcement at the bottom of the tower (see
Figure 11) using 35M bars. However, this
design did not allow for use of traditional
methods to consolidate the concrete. The
final concrete specification called for 70 Mpa
columns, walls and beams; and 50 Mpa slabs.
While this addressed some of the structural
concerns, the concrete was still required to
meet functionality considerations and ensure
formability and final finish of the flooring. This
represented the second major challenge. The
concrete supplier, Innocon, had to identify a
product that could meet the need for high
volume, accurate consistency,
accommodation of a tight construction
schedule, reliability in a full cycle of seasons,
and functional workability on floor slabs. The
concrete supplier recommended the use of
self-consolidating concrete. This product was
capable of meeting all the requirements for
the columns and walls and could be used in a
special mix for the slabs. The product also
offered the added benefit of increased
CTBUH Journal | 2012 Issue IV
efficiency by requiring fewer workers and
minimizing the risk of worker crowding. The
construction schedule spanned over a full
cycle of seasons and special methods were
utilized to ensure sufficient heating in the
winter and cooling in the summer to allow
the concrete to properly cure.
For the columns and walls the self-
consolidating concrete performed
exceptionally well. The specified mix designs
called for an ultimate strength of 70 MPa in 90
days. Testing demonstrated that these levels
were achieved in only 28 days. The concrete
performed at rates much higher than
expected. The products performance
required the concrete finishers to adapt to an
accelerated schedule because the concrete
reached a finished state more rapidly than
traditionally expected.
Dominus opted for the use of concrete
pumps to alleviate unnecessary crane usage
and hoisted concrete with the traditional
bucket method. For the columns, builders
prefabricated many of the column supports in
a staging area and then hoisted them into
place. These techniques contributed to speed
and efficiency in the construction cycle.
A New Urbanism
The end result of the process created a new
form of urbanism based on partnership and
innovation. All aspects of the Absolute World
Towers project challenged the boundaries of
conventional industry norms and practices.
The initial design competition allowed
dynamic new ideas and design philosophies
to come forward. The engagement of the City
contributed to shaping and realizing the
developments vision, consistent with the
Citys own aspirations. The resulting
architectural design broke free from
conventional thinking and introduced a
natural form back into the citys (sub)urban
experience, made possible by a series of
design and construction innovations. The
result is a distinct type of urbanism and a
curvy new shape for future cities.
Absolute World Towers Project Data
Location: Hurontario St. & Burnhamthorpe Rd.
Building Function: Residential
Absolute World 56
Height to Architectural Top: 176 m
Stories: 56
Total Area: 45,000 m2
Total Cumulative Floor Plate Rotation: 209,
min. 1 to a max. of 8 rotation per floor
Absolute World 50
Height to Architectural Top: 158 m
Stories: 50
Total Area: 40,000 m2
Total Cumulative Floor Plate Rotation: 200
(consistent 4 rotation per floor)
Owners/Developers:
Fernbrook Homes & Cityzen Development
Group
Design Architect: MAD
Architect of Record: Burka Architects
Structural Engineer:
Sigmund Soudack & Associates Ltd.
MEP Engineer: ECE Group Ltd.; Stantec
Concrete Engineer: Coffey Geotechnics
Contractor: Dominus Construction Group
Forming Contractor: Premform
Material Suppliers: Innocon; Gilbert Steel Ltd.
Landscape Architect: NAK Design
Interior Designer: ESQAPE Design
Note: More detailed information on Absolute
World Towers as the CTBUH Best Tall Building
Americas 2012 can be found in Best Tall
Buildings 2012, which can be purchased online
at CTBUH Webshop: https://store.ctbuh.org
THEY SAID
The Absolute Towers
stretch the limits of paired
sculptural form to create a
marker on the skyline for a
regional center.
Richard Cook, CTBUH 2012 Awards Chair /
Cook+Fox Architects.
Absolute World Towers, Mississauga | 17