MARK LEUNG DESIGN 

This project aims at providing an alternative suggestion for tall buildings, providing space for users walking through different stories and embraced by greenies.The second aim is the lightness. Minimising self-weight results minimising structural loading, forming a positive feedback loop. Lightness is also the structural dream and the requirements of a green building.The conventional approach, the tube-in-tube structure, cutting the activities highway confined by the central core and facade system, the rigid framing also limit the middle spatial fluidity.
 
To seek for alternatives, the natural highrise is studied, that is, the bamboo. It gets the structural merit meets the requirement. It is light, developable, tall and with shallow foundation, the transportation cores, which names vascular bundles, is arranged according to the transportation needs only. These are achieved by the integrated thick shell hyperbolic mega-frame system, every interval is locked up by nodes, which serves similarly as the outrigger trusses, the central void is formed which further enhances the lightness. The fibrous molecular structure provides elasticity for the whole system. The main challenge of obtaining this structural logic is the opacity. Light needs to pass through. The nanotube structure inspired the study in plane geometry. Hexagon packing obtains the highest efficiency in packing while triangle provides rigidity. Following the thick shell structure approach, the double layered hexagonal shell is laterally connected by triangulated lateral supports.

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Elasticity is achieved by the modular design, suspended floor and the PTFE air cushion installation. The suspended floor not just reduce the structural member size, but also provide free slab opening opportunities and transforming the live loads as dampers.

 The PTFE air cushion just gets 1 percent of weight compared with double glazing facade but serves similar thermal and optic performance.The structural behaviour of the system is investigated and applied to a conventional commercial tower function, exploring the spatial potential provided.