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Tower block of unusual design in UK
Square on plan with splayed corners, each floor of a 23-storey office block being erected at Croy- don, Surrey, UK, is set at an angle of 45 degrees in the horizontal plane to the floors directly above and below, creating an octagonal appearance. The perimeter is supported at first-floor level by eight columns, and a spiral ramp leads to a basement and sub-basement.
The 76.2 m. (250 ft.) high building, on an island site and incorporating a piazza underground car park, is due for completion by mid-1970. It will have a total floor area of 25,269 sq. m (272,000 sq. ft.). Construction will comprise a reinforced concrete frame and central core with lightweight floor slabs. Externally the tower will be clad in mosaic facing and anodised aluminium windows.
The reinforced concrete basement is situated within a diaphragm wall approximately 18.29 m (60 ft.) deep. Reinforced concrete raft foundations for the building are constructed integrally with the
lower portion of the spiral ramp.
R. Seifert and Partners are the architects for the building, which is being erected for Livius Invest- ment Ltd. at a cost of £2 million. Ove Arup and Partners are the consulting engineers and Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd., the contractors.
Steel, concrete and plastics in Czech tower
An unusual TV tower constructed on the Jested mountain in Czechoslovakia serves also as a hotel and restaurant for tourists and combines both rein- forced concrete and steel construction.
The conical structure is 90 metres high and has a 40-metre diameter base. Its core is formed by two reinforced concrete concentric tubes. The internal one, 42.5 metres high, is of 5 metres diameter and the external one, 23.7 metres high, is 13 metres in diameter. This core forms a stay on to which is an- chored the base structure, the hotel and restaurant, as well as the steel tower itself.
The hotel section has three floors and is formed by 16 radial trusses. The ceilings are formed by latticing framework and corrugated sheet on which a plate is concreted. Lower ceilings are suspended from the girders. The whole structure of the hotel part is suspended from the iron-concrete core so that the terrace commands a fine view unobstruct- ed by any columns.
External circumferential walls consist of sec- tions made of metallized synthetic material. Above the hotel are the service rooms of the TV equip- ment and the space reserved for parabolic direc- tional aerials. Along its whole height of 12 metres this space is enclosed by transparent sections made of plastics and reinforced by laminated tie bars.
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Croydon office tower
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Jested TV tower
Far East BUILDER, June 1969
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