scholarly journals Driving factors and obstacles in adopting structural steel in Hong Kong: Case studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Albert P.C. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Structural Steel ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Tall Buildings ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Framed Structures ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Long Span ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Early Return

The construction applications of structural steel mainly include super high-rise buildings and long-span structures. The advantages offered by structural steel to the construction sector and building environment have long been recognised, as evidenced by the increasing market share of structural steelwork in many marketplaces, but not in Hong Kong. The annual import quantity of fabricated steel structures in Hong Kong is 0.2 - 0.3 million tons, which indicates a low demand for structural steelwork in the local construction industry. This study aims to identify the major barriers and potential driving factors to the use of structural steel in Hong Kong. Interviews were conducted with a private developer, three main contractors, and two steel specialist contractors. These industry professionals offered four construction applications that addressed the major problems and driving factors for using steel-framed structures. The four cases included a Chinese opera centre, a swimming pool, a 24-story hotel, and a commercial building. These case studies reveal that steel-framed structures are adopted only for projects that have technical requirements. Otherwise, reinforced concrete structures are used because steel-framed structures are cost-efficient for super high-rise and long-span structures but not for normal types of buildings. The fast construction of structural steelwork can result in an early return on investment, which may outweigh the high construction cost. This advantage will be particularly significant for retail building projects with high land prices in Hong Kong. This study offers strategies for facilitating the fast construction of structural steelwork. If these strategies are implemented to resolve problems, then the application of steel-framed structures to many tall buildings in Hong Kong can be feasible.

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF LIFE SAFETY TECHNICAL FACILITIES FROM FIRE ON APARTEMENT

MODUL ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Yemima Sahmura Vividia ◽  
Bangun IR Harsritanto
Keyword(s):  
Fire Protection ◽  
Tall Buildings ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Life Safety ◽  
Fire Hazards ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
The Face ◽  
The City

Vertical occupancy, especially apartments, began to live the face of the city. Not without reason, housing needs continue to increase sharply as the availability of vacant land is increasingly limited. Occupying an apartment becomes a trend and lifestyle for young people. The reason boils down to productivity. The construction of apartments is usually built close to various activity centers, both business, commercial, education, health to entertainment. The improvement of building construction is not supported by the availability of land that is increasingly limited, especially in the city of Jarakta, making the construction of high-rise buildings anticipate this. The construction of multi-story buildings also increases the risk of fire. In 2018, according to him, there were at least 1,078 recorded disaster events throughout 2018. Head of the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Management Agency, Subedjo, said that out of a total of 897 buildings or tall buildings in Jakarta, 280 tall buildings had not yet accomplished the fire protection system (Dinas, 2018).Therefore, this research needs to be done to evaluate the lifesaving facilities and infrastructure in the building. The application of fire safety in buildings can be evaluated regarding to NFPA 101 (2013). Based on NFPA 101A: Guide on Alternative Approaches for Life Safety (2013), there are 12 elements of safety and Regulation of the Minister of Public Works No. 26 / PRT / M / 2008 concerning Technical Requirements of Fire Protection Systems in Building Buildings. The building that became the object of research is one of the buildings in the area of Jakarta mentioned building X and building Y. The variables that are the focus of the research are fire stairs, fire doors, and access roads. Based on the results of the study, the level of reliability of the means of saving lives against fire hazards in building X is equal to 58% and in building Y is 65%.

scholarly journals ARCHITECTURAL-BUILDING AERODYNAMICS

Vestnik MGSU ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 602-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Igorevna Poddaeva ◽  
Ilya Vladimirovich Dunichkin
Keyword(s):  
Structural Steel ◽  
Dynamic Loads ◽  
Optimal Method ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Long Span ◽  
Building Aerodynamics ◽  
Long Span Bridge ◽  
Separate Branch ◽  
Urban Conditions

This article gives a brief historical digression about the formation of architectural and building aerodynamics as a separate branch of the construction science. The main methods and approaches to the solution of problems of architectural and building aerodynamics are listed; the classification of problems of aerodynamics of structural steel according to the studied objects is given; main peculiarities of the research in selected areas are briefly indicated. The aim of the work is to systematize existing approaches to assessing wind impact on structural steel taking into account some modern international requirements, as well as to choose the optimal method for solving this problem in relation to various structural steel. It is established that, currently, the study about wind impact is especially important for high-rise buildings, structures, and structural steel nonresistant to dynamic loads (long span bridge conduits, gins polarized, thin-shell tubes, etc.), as well as for residential estates with restrained urban conditions. It is necessary to carry-out these aerodynamic studies at the designing stage for the above objects because it is directly related to the issues of reliability and safety.

Open space office: A review of the literature and Hong Kong case studies

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Lawrence W.C. Lai ◽  
K.W. Chau ◽  
Stephen N.G. Davies ◽  
Locinda Kwan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Harvard Business Review ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Actual Design ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Office Layouts ◽  
Sociological Studies

BACKGROUND: Open plan or open space office has become increasingly popular but those who promote the concept selfdom refer to health studies or workers’ perceptions of a change in office layout towards an open space arrangement. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on open plan or open space office layouts in terms of facilities management (FM) with users’ perception in mind and to obtain opinions of users of open space offices of for a better appreciation of the FM issues. METHODS: A literature search of research papers from 2007 in journals using the keywords “open plan office” and “open space office” plus “health”, first in the titles then in the text, was carried out. Thirty-two of those papers, accessible by the authors’ institutions, were consulted together with 5 other works in the Harvard Business Review. The review consulted but excluded papers and reports published or sponsored by commercial firms that were in favour of open space layouts. Case studies were conducted by face to face meetings in confidence with workers in the middle managements of twelve Hong Kong organisations known as friends to two of the authors. Problems as seen by staff are reported and discussed. RESULTS: The literature review reveals that apart from writing that promotes the use of an open plan office layout, a host of scientific works point to the problems of perceived dissatisfaction with such a layout, the nature of the dissatisfaction tending to depend on the actual design. Most workers interviewed disliked the new style open plan layouts, which points to the necessity of consulting workers when such changes are contemplated, as well as monitoring the results of the change once it is in place whether against workers’ wishes or with their support. There is a need for a number of facility arrangements in making a change to open plan that ensures that worker needs for proper lighting, privacy, and indoor health will be met. CONCLUSIONS: If the aim of a change to an open plan arrangement is to promote collegial communications in office, the study sheds light on the extent to which such arrangements may not in practice be suitable for achieving the aim. It follows that further, more specifically sociological studies of workers’ job satisfaction and emotional health in open plan office settings would be worth doing.

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