ctbuh.

org/papers

Title: The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest

Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Peters

Authors: Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Samsung C&T Corporation

Alexey Shakhvorostov, Inforceproject
Mikhail Desyatkin, Inforceproject

Subjects: Architectural/Design
Construction
Structural Engineering

Keywords: Composite
Concrete
Supertall
Wind

Publication Date: 2020

Original Publication: International Journal of High-Rise Buildings Volume 9 Number 3

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 Unpublished conference paper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 Unpublished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 / Ahmad Abdelrazaq; Alexey Shakhvorostov; Mikhail
Desyatkin
International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
International Journal of
September 2020, Vol 9, No 3, 283-300
High-Rise Buildings
https://doi.org/10.21022/IJHRB.2020.9.3.283 www.ctbuh-korea.org/ijhrb/index.php

The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The

Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center,
St. Petersburg. Russia
Ahmad Abdelrazaq1, Vladimir Travush, PhD2, Alexey Shakhvorostov, PhD3 Alexander Timofeevich3,
Mikhail Desyatkin3, and Hyungil Jung4
1
Executive Vice President, Samsung C&T, Republic of Korea
2
Executive GP, Moscow, Russia
3
Partners Inforceproject, Russia
4
Deputy General Manager Samsung C&T, Republic of Korea

Abstract

The Lakhta Center is a Multifunction Complex Development (MFCD) consisting of 1) an 86 story office tower rising 462
m above the ground to provide high-end offices for Gazprom Neft and Gazprom Group affiliates 2) a Multi-Function Building
(MFB) that includes, a scientific/educational center, a sport center, a children’s technopark, a planetarium, a multi-transformable
hall, an exhibition center, shops, restaurants, and other public facilities 3) a Stylobate 4) “The Arch, which forms the main
entrance to the tower, restaurants, and cafes 5) underground parking and 6) a wide range of large public plazas. While each
of the MFCD buildings is technically challenging in its own right, the focus of the paper is to present the development and
integration of the structural and foundation systems of the bowed, tapered, and twisted shape of the tower into the fabric of
the tallest Tower in Europe.

Keywords: Super Tall Tower, Composite Structural system, Composite floor framing design, floating raft on reinforced soil
structure, Composite Outrigger Core wall Connection with externally stiffened floor diaphragm

1. Introduction offices for Gazprom Neft and Gazprom Group affiliates

2) a Multi-Function Building (MFB) that includes, a
The Lakhta Center (LC), situated in the Primorsky scientific/educational center, a sport center, a children’s
district at the outskirts of Saint Petersburg, is developed technopark, a planetarium, a multi-transformable hall, an
and implemented as a business center and a pilot of exhibition center, shops, restaurants, and other public
integrated sustainable development, with the public and facilities 3) a Stylobate 4) “The Arch that forms the main
city’s interest at heart. LC is strategically located to have Tower entrance and houses restaurants and cafes 5)
the connectivity and access to all public infrastructure and underground parking and 6) a wide range of large public
to serve as a catalyst to the development of a 21st-century plazas. While each of the MFCD buildings is geometrically
new landmark and iconic business center that is well and technically challenging in its own right, the focus of
suited to expand and complement the existing historic this paper is to present the development and integration of
and world heritage Central Business District (CBD). This the structural and foundation systems into the architec-
in turn will bring significant economic benefits to the city tural fabric of the tallest building in Russia and Europe.
such as attracting global corporations, adding revenue
and creating new jobs. With careful planning, the new 2. The Complex Geometry of the Tower
CBD has the potential to become one of the most
sustainable and iconic cities in the Northern Hemisphere, The geometry of the Tower was influenced by the
as seen in Figure 1. Swedish town of Niyen and Niyenscans Fortress as
The Lakhta Center is a Multifunction Complex Develop- shown in Figure 2. The exterior geometry of the tower is
ment (MFCD) consisting of: 1) an 86 story office tower sculpted around a central circular core wall with 5 equal
rising 462 m above the ground to provide high-end extrusions/petals that rotate 90 degrees from the base to
the top of the spire and bows/tapers relative to the tower
†
Corresponding author: Ahmad Abdelrazaq geometric center. The overall dimension of the tower is
Tel: +86-21-2145-5190(Direct) approximately 65 m at the base, 67.3 m at level 17, 27.8
E-mail: [email protected] m at level 86, and diminishes at the tower pinnacle at
284 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 1. Rendering of Lakhta Center, city context, and of completed Complex.

Figure 2. Niyenscans Fortress, Tower Geometry (extruded, twisted, tapered, and bowed).
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 285

462 m. The exterior structural skeleton is developed to 1. integrates the exterior structural frame into the
weave into the ever-changing crystalline form of the crystalline architecture fabric
architectural fabric as shown in Figure 2. 2. maximizes the exterior views and minimizes the
The center core wall dimensions are optimized to house number of exterior columns
the vertical transportation systems, stairs, mechanical 3. continuous throughout the building height without
shafts, elevator lobbies, and other technical facilities. The transfers
core wall is 26.1 m in diameter between levels 1 to 58, 4. integrates all vertical elements into the stability and
21.4 m in diameter from level 59-80, and 16 m in diameter lateral resisting system to maximize its resistance to
from level 81 to 88. The exterior composite steel columns wind, seismic, stability, etc. and maximizes the overall
follow the exterior geometry of the tower by twisting at bending stiffness of the building
0.89 per floor, tapering and bowing from level 1 to the tip 5. considers constructability and avoids complex detailing
of the pinnacle as depicted in Figure 2. The structural when designing for construction
steel braced frame provides stability and lateral load 6. provides a robust and redundant structural system in
resistance to the spire. The main steel pipe columns of the case of accidental events of loads.
spire are founded at the exterior composite columns at 7. minimizes effects of differential column shortening
level 83 which then taper to a single central ring (as between center reinforced concrete core wall and the
shown in Figure 2) that supports the single pipe pinnacle exterior columns
at 462 m. 8. resolves biaxial design forces that are generated at
the exterior columns due to change in building
3. Design Description of the Structural geometry (rotation, tapering) without additional cost
System of the Tower and Super-structure or complex detailing
System Selection 9. addresses wind effects and provides for wind
engineering treatment to reduce wind loads and
The crystalline and complex geometry of the tower wind excitation due to the dynamic wind effects.
resulted in significant changes to the floor plate shape and Variation in building geometry at every floor, because
floor area. This resulted in significant structural of floor rotation, tapering, variation at edge conditions,
challenges that required simplifications and innovations and open/meshed/vented façade at the spire (above
in selecting structural systems that: level 88), has resulted in favorable wind responses
that are well within the internationally accepted

Figure 3. Tower superstructure and summary and description of the foundation system.
286 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

criteria thus eliminating the need for auxiliary connected to the composite outriggers through an externally
supplemental damping system stiffened reinforced concrete floor ring plate that transfers
10.addresses potential ice formation/loading at both the the top and bottom outrigger horizontal forces to the
façade and the open meshed façade of the spire reinforced concrete core wall externally. This new and
structure. innovative core wall-outrigger connection is not only
The above consideration has resulted in selecting a very efficient but has significantly improved the con-
robust and redundant Mega Frame system as the primary structability aspects of the tower without the complex
lateral load resisting and stability frame for the tower detailing associated with traditional outrigger structural
superstructure. This comprises of centrally located and systems.
torsionally stiff reinforced concrete (R/C) core wall that is SRCC, used in lieu of solid structural steel columns
connected to ten (10) composite Steel Reinforced Concrete (proposed in the original design) are utilized to not only
Columns (SRCC), at the perimeter of the building, maximize the lateral stiffness of the Mega-frame structure,
through a series of two-story equally spaced composite but also to optimize the design (cost & time benefit),
outrigger trusses at five (5) levels as depicted in Figure 3. improve the constructability of the exterior frame, and to
A series of options were considered to optimize the minimize the differential shortening between the SRCC
overall bending stiffness of the Mega-Frame structure by and R/C core wall and its impact on the composite outrigger
balancing the bending stiffness of the reinforced concrete design and other nonstructural components of the tower.
core wall and the bending stiffness of the equally spaced Figure 3 provides an overall summary of the structural
composite outriggers, to that of the axial stiffness of the and foundation systems selected for the tower.
exterior SRCC (stays). This maximized the use of the
vertical gravity load support structure to increase the 3.1. Floor Framing System at Typical Odd and Even
bending stiffness of the Mega-frame and its resistance to Floors
the lateral loads (wind, seismic, notional) at minimal cost. Surrounding the core wall, the tower geometry is
The center reinforced concrete core wall is rigidly comprised of five (5) similar individual tower forms

Figure 4. Typical floor framing at odd and even plans and Typical floor construction photos.
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 287

Figure 5. Typical outrigger floor framing plan and composite outrigger section and detail.

(“leaves/petals) that rotate, taper, and bow relative to the diameter openings to allow for MEPF (Mechanical,
geometric center of the tower thus resulting in complex Electrical, Plumbing & Fire Protection) system integration.
geometry and significant changes to the floor plate shape Note that variation in the floor framing layout at even and
and floor area at every floor. To simplify the framing odd floors are due to the presence of two-story double-
concept, the framing arrangement for a typical odd and wall system buffer zones, that are used to optimize the
even floor is shown in Figure 4. Composite steel floor tower energy requirements.
framing was selected as the primary structural material Because the SRCC geometry changes for every floor,
not only for its flexibility and speed in construction but biaxial horizontal forces are generated at each of these
also to account for 1) significant changes in building floors in proportion to the additional column loads received
geometry at every floor 2) long spans (up to 17 m) between from every floor. These forces are transferred to the core
the core and exterior columns, and 3) long spans between wall through 1) the composite girder, which is stratagei-
exterior columns. cally located to brace the exterior inclined columns to
The typical floor framing shown in Figure 4 comprises allow for direct force transfer to the core wall, 2) 150 mm
of 60 mm deep deck with 90 mm reinforced concrete composite deck/reinforced concrete slab, and 3) the solid
topping, spanning between the 400 mm composite steel concrete ring slab at the perimeter of the core, as seen in
beams, that frame into 750 mm deep composite steel Figure 4. Extensive studies and detailed 3-dimensional
girders. Composite steel girders are designed with 400 mm finite element analysis was developed to verify the magnitude

Figure 6. Summary of cumulative and floor-by-floor Torsion Force Distribution and principal stresses at typical floor due
to exterior column rotation and inclination.
288 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

of biaxial forces generated at every floor (typical 100- stiffness of the slab diaphragm, and 3) the reinforcement
200 kN at the location of each column) and the mechanism required to anchor the solid stiffened ring plate into the
of dissipating them into the slab and the core wall, as core wall. Extensive sensitivity studies were also per-
shown in Figure 6. The biaxial horizontal forces from the formed to confirm the variability of the bending stiffness
composite columns are transferred to the structural steel of the composite outrigger and its overall impact on the
girder connections and reinforcing bar at the SRCC, lateral stiffness of the tower, which has a direct impact on
which in turn transfers to the slabs through shear studs. drift and dynamic properties.
The separation of the outrigger construction from the
3.2. Typical Floor Framing at Mechanical and Outrigger typical floor framing has significant benefits on con-
Levels struction planning, logistics, and most importantly eliminating
The composite floor framing system at typical mechanical/ the outrigger construction from the critical path by
outrigger levels is more complex and consists of composite allowing the structural steel works normally, thus resulting in
steel framing, spanning between the exterior columns and time and cost benefits.
the core wall as shown in Figure 5. The floor framing
system is arranged to allow for ten (10) composite outriggers 3.3. ReInforced Concrete Core Wall
to pass between the composite structural steel girders, The centrally located circular reinforced concrete core
thus allowing the steel construction to proceed normally wall section is proportioned to provide both high bending
without delay or hindrance to the composite outrigger stiffness and overall torsional rigidity to the tower as
construction. Refer to Figure 10 for a typical outrigger shown in Figure 7. The inner diameter of the core wall is
section and construction photos. The biaxial horizontal approximately 24.5 m in diameter from the raft foundation
forces from the exterior columns and the horizontal top to level 56, 19.8 m in diameter from level 57 to 80, and
and bottom outrigger forces are dissipated to the 15.8 m in diameter from level 81-86. The core wall thickness
reinforced concrete core wall through 300 mm reinforced varies from 2000/1100/800/600/400 mm from foundation
concrete slab, 1200 mm deep com-posite top and bottom to the top corresponding to levels L6/L58/L64/83/86/90
chords of the outrigger and 1200 mm thick reinforced as depicted in Figure 7.
concrete stiffened diaphragm ring plate at the core wall. Note that Figure 7 depicts the changes in the diameter
Detailed 3-dimensional finite element analysis accounting of the center core wall at levels 58, 83 and 87, thus
for all design forces and their combination was developed leading to 1) special detailing for the heavily loaded core
to confirm 1) the mechanism of dissipating the horizontal wall, 2) innovative approach to avoid any impact on the
design force into the core wall 2) the magnitude of vertical transportation system, building services within
cracking in the slab and its potential impact on the overall the core wall, and the overall efficiency of the building

Figure 7. Circular reinforced concrete core wall geometry, sections, and construction photos.
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 289

Figure 8. Typical exterior composite columns, details, and construction photos.

and 3) minimized impact on construction speed due to 3.4. Composite Columns/ Steel Reinforced Concrete
change in the core wall geometry. Columns (SRCC)
Composite Columns (SRCC) are used to 1) improve

Figure 9. Bending moment in R/C core wall due to service wind loads and axial load at exterior composite columns for
all design loads, including wind loads.
290 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

the constructability aspect of the columns to achieve a girder gravity loads and the biaxial lateral loads generated
typical 3-4 working day floor construction cycle 2) due to change in column geometry. Figure 6 provides a
integrate with and follow the architectural form, and 3) summary of the cumulative and floor-by-floor torsional
simplify the composite steel floor framing connection to loads generated from column rotation and inclination.
the SRCC. The SRCC consists of centrally located HL These lateral forces are transferred from the steel-to-steel
920-Histar high strength steel that is encased in high- connection to the floor slabs through a shear stud and
performance concrete (B80). These are designed as concrete finally to the reinforced concrete core through a 150 mm
columns with the highest steel allowed by the Russian solid reinforced concrete ring slab surrounding the core
Standards. Since the Russian Standards do not have wall.
provision for composite column design, the building The SRCC sections are also optimized to minimize the
authorities and experts required special technical documen- differential shortening between the center reinforced
tation and tests to allow their use in building construction. concrete core wall and the SRCC in order to 1) reduce its
Figure 8 depicts a summary of the sectional details of the impact on the outrigger design maintain floor levelness,
composite columns along with construction photos. and 3) minimize the impact of non-structural components.
Following the architectural form, the SRCC are segmented The actual building survey has shown that the differential
into two-story modules, rotated every two floors at odd shortening between the center core wall and SRCC is
floors and detailed to transfer both the composite steel similar to the ones predicted from the 3-dimensional

Figure 10. Typical composite outrigger plans, Sections, details, and construction photos.
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 291

finite element analysis. This allowed the possibility of posite top and bottom chords that are cast monolithically
connecting the outrigger to the exterior SRCC without with the 300mmm thick reinforced concrete slab to
time delay. maximize the bending stiffness of the outriggers, and 3)
externally stiffened reinforced concrete ring plate diaphragm
3.5 Composite Outrigger to transfer the outrigger horizontal forces to the center
As described above, the Mega-Frame structure of the core wall. This composite outrigger system is a new,
tower, which consists of the center reinforced concrete unique, and innovative concept that is not only structurally
core wall system, is connected to the exterior composite efficient but has significantly improved the overall con-
columns with 4-equally spaced two-story composite structability aspects of the tower by avoiding the detailing
outriggers at the mechanical levels (levels 17-18, 33-34, complexities associated with traditional outrigger construction
49-50, 65-66) and secondary outrigger, at level 80, as methods. Moreover, this outrigger system also helped to
shown in Figures 9 and 10. The core wall is rigidly skip the outrigger construction from the critical path,
connected to the composite steel outrigger system by an which resulted in significant savings in time.
externally stiffened plate diaphragm at the top and bottom A 3-dimensional finite element analysis is developed to
chords of the outriggers. verify the outrigger horizontal design forces that dissipate
This type of outrigger system has reduced the overall into the center core wall through the externally stiffened
bending moment in the core wall, due to wind and lateral reinforced concrete ring plate.
loads, by more than 50%, but increased the exterior
columns wind and lateral loads by approximately 20- 3.6. STructural Steel Spire
30%. The design of the composite columns was mostly The lateral load resting system of the spire is founded
dominated by gravity load requirements and not signi- at level 83 and is comprised of a 5-sided braced frame
ficantly affected by wind or lateral loads, which demon- structure that tapers from +344.4 m (level 83) to +428 m.
strate the efficacy of the Mega-Frame system. To simplify the spire construction, the spire structure is
The composite outriggers are provided to not only divided into: 1) an interior braced frame consisting of 5-
maximize the Mega-Frame stiffness but to also provide steel pipe columns that linearly taper to a single structural
redundancy and alternate load path to the exterior steel ring at +428 m; the structural steel ring also provides
columns. The composite outrigger system is comprised of support to the single pipe pinnacle and 2) the primary
1) structural steel diagonals that carry 100% of the shear, meshed façade framing system which consists of built-up
in addition to the concrete sectional capacity 2) Com- rectangular steel tube sections that follow the architectural

Figure 11. Structural steel spire structural concept and construction photos.
292 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 12. Geotechnical conditions, pile layout, and pile foundation system.

Figure 13. Tower Box Foundation System section and plan, and total material summary.

geometry of the tower. The spire façade framing system Above level 88, the spire façade is an open meshed
is cantilevered from the interior braced frame columns as façade that allows for free wind flow. This reduces the
shown in Figure 11. In addition to providing support for overall wind forces thus improving the dynamic response
the spire façade framing, the interior braced frame also of the tower to wind excitation. Wind tunnel investigation
provides support to the observation floor framing systems of meshed (opened) and fully closed spire faade have
at levels 83, 86, building maintenance system at level 87, been studied and an open meshed façade was selected as
and the telescoping platforms at level 88. the primary spire façade system.
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 293

Figure 14. Summary of Box Foundation soil-structure FEA Model and comparison of predicted vs. actual settlement
[from calibrated pile foundation stiffness from monitoring data].

The open-meshed spire façade presented itself with small area. This is not sufficient to effectively transfer
many challenges including but not limited to managing loads of the heavily loaded core wall and to manage the
ice accumulation and removal and arresting the potential differential settlement between the core wall and exterior
for ice falling. Several measures were taken to overcome columns of the tower. So, a stiff reinforced concrete box
these challenges, including capturing the falling ice by foundation, consisting of the entire subgrade structure, is
providing ice catching frames. Several testing programs, utilized to transfer the tower in direct bearing to evenly
desktop studies, mockups, and in-situ testing were completed distribute the tower loads to the pile-reinforced-soil-mass
to confirm the expected performance of the system. and to control the total and differential settlement between
The spire was erected traditionally using pre-assembled the core and the columns. The average bearing pressure at
block methods using the free-standing Tower cranes. The the bottom of the box foundation is expected to be at
pinnacle's structural steel frame, façade, lightning protection, approximately 900 kPa. This pressure is significantly
and other monitoring devices were pre-assembled and reduced to approximately 200 kPa at 60 m below the base
erected to the final position using the free-standing tower of the box foundation.
cranes under severe weather conditions. Figure 11 depicts The reinforced concrete box foundation system consists
the structural design concept of the spire and photos of of 3.6 m bottom raft plate (bottom flange) and 2 m top
the spire during construction under severe winter con- plate (top flange), that are connected by ten (10) 16.6 m
ditions. The spire was erected to 462 m safely in December deep high performance reinforced concrete (B80) radial
2018. fin-web walls. The 16.6 m deep web walls, spanning from
the center core wall to the edge of the bottom raft plate,
4. Tower Foundation System: create a highly stiff and efficient two-way reinforced
concrete box foundation system that allows for uniform
The Tower is founded on 264-2000 mm diameter rein- distribution of the tower load to the piles-soil block mass.
forced concrete bored piles that extend to 65 m under the Figure 12 depicts the Tower Box Foundation System,
core footprint and 55 m elsewhere, as shown in Figure load transfer concept and a summary of the structural
12. These piles are used to reinforce the soil rigid mass material used for the box foundation.
block under the box foundation and re-distribute the A 3-dimensional Finite Element Analysis Model (FEAM)
670000 megatonne load evenly to the effective pile- of the soil-structure interaction and a detailed Con-
reinforced-soil-mass under the box foundation area. The struction Sequence Analysis model was carried out to
28 m diameter core wall receives approximately 70% of predict the foundation settlement and the actual load
the vertical gravity load of the tower over a relatively distribution to the piles. The soil-structure interaction
294 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 15. Overall arrangement of weather protection shelter and concrete pump arrangement.

analysis models included geotechnical parameters recom- systems behavior. Figure 14 depicts the foundation
mended by the geotechnical engineer, static pile stiffness settlement from the calibrated soil-structure FEAM con-
of 15500 T/m, and the stiffening effects of the super- struction sequence analysis model. Note that the overall
structure and box foundation. The predicted foundation settlement is uniform across the box foundation and
settlement from these parameters is expected to be in the significantly lower than those predicted in the base
range of 120 mm at the center of the raft and 100 mm at design. This successfully demonstrates the expected
the edge of the raft. behavior from the box foundation system.
An extensive Geo-monitoring program consisting of
more than 2600 devices was provided to monitor the 4.1. Construction planning for the Box Foundation
overall behavior of the pile-reinforced-soil-mass block The Box Foundation System was placed in three stages.
and it included 1) 336 strain gauges along the length of First, the 3.6 m bottom raft plate (20300 m3) was cast in
the pile 2) 40 soil pore measure transducers (in measuring a single pour, followed by the fin walls and middle 400
wells) 3) 95 vertical mass displacement transducers (in m thick slab, and finally the 2 m thick top slab plate.
measuring wells) 4) 10 pressure cell transducers at the Detailed construction sequence analysis, with heat of
bottom of the lower slab plate (raft) foundation 5) 2136 hydration analysis (accounting for concrete temperature
Box Foundation force transducers, and 6) an independent rise, curing, and cooling) and restraining effects of
optical foundation settlement survey program that monitors boundary elements (D-wall, core wall, and fin walls), was
the total foundation settlement at both the top of the lower performed to verify the behavior of the Box Foundation
slab plate and the box foundation. System and to confirm that the construction method and
The actually observed foundation settlement was sequence would not result in thermal, shrinkage, or
significantly lower than those predicted from the soil- restraining cracks. Detailed planning and extensive testing
structure interaction model shown in Figure 14. Therefore, programs were put in place for the construction of Box
the actual pile stiffness of the 55 m and 65 m long piles Foundation, especially for the 3.6 m bottom slab/raft.
was calibrated to reflect the actually measured settlement High performance/self-compacting concrete was used for
obtained from both the optical survey and geotechnical the bottom slab and was cast continuously within 50
monitoring programs and was estimated to be approxi- hours in cold weather conditions.
mately 35 t/mm and 40 t/mm respectively. During construction of the bottom slab plate, the entire
Construction sequence FEAM for the tower with raft area was sealed, fully protected against the weather
calibrated pile spring stiffness was developed to verify its (rain/snow) and cast under controlled temperature con-
impact on the overall tower superstructure and foundation ditions. Figure 15 depicts the overall arrangement of the
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 295

Figure 16. Lakha Center Tower location on the Finland Sea, Wind directionality rose, and wind tunnel testing setup at
RWDI.

weather protection shelter and the concrete pump arrange- set and strength development to 1) 0 Mpa within 24 hours
ment using stationary pumping to ensure the continuous 2) 15 Mpa in 3days 3) at least 7 Mpa at 7 days, and
pouring of concrete. Managing the temperature of 65 Mpa at 28 days.
concrete from the batch plant to site required that 1) the Moreover, managing the concrete cooling and curing
initial concrete temperature at deposit was kept within the was equally important in order to prevent any potential
range of 5-15oC, 2) the maximum temperature, due to for thermal cracking. This was controlled by limiting 1)
heat of hydration, was kept within 70oC at all locations, the concrete cooling rate to within 2-3oC per day 2) the
and 3) the maximum differential temperature between maximum differential temperature between any two
any two points was kept within 20oC. points to 20oC and 3) the temperature difference between
In addition to logistical issues of timely delivering the top concrete surface and the outside air temperature
concrete to the site, the raft was cast in a single pour and within 20oC. The top surface of the raft was troweled and
thus required careful planning to control concrete setting sprayed with aqua-dispersive film and finally covered
and hardening time to prevent any potential of forming with insulting and thermal blankets to control the surface
cold joints. This required managing the initial concrete temperature. Real-time temperatures were measured

Figure 17. Static and dynamic wind load distribution along the building height, base design forces, and predicted Strouhl
number for typical floor geometry.
296 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

across the lower raft plate and at three different levels of collected at local weather stations and predicting the wind
the raft thickness as follows profile 2) force balance studies on rigid models to determine
the static and dynamic wind effects, which included
▶level 1: at 100 mm from the bottom of the lower slab closed and open spire schemes [base design forces,
▶level 2: at the center of the raft, acceleration, velocities, wind aerodynamic coefficients,
▶level 3: at 100 mm from the top surface etc.] 3) pedestrian wind studies to determine the maximum
velocities at base of the tower and its impact on
5. Wind Engineering Management pedestrian wind safety and comfort and the development
of mitigation plans as deemed required 4) façade wind
Wind Engineering is one of the primary concerns in the pressure studies to determine maximum design pressure
planning and design of tall buildings as it has a major envelope 5) stack effects within the building envelope 6)
impact on the overall tower design efficiency, wind loads, ice accumulation along the building height, and 7)
and human comfort and perception to motion due to detailed ice accumulation and mitigation plans for the
dynamic wind excitation. The architectural design concept open/meshed façade spire scheme.
of the tower lent itself to mitigate the dynamic wind The maximum wind design forces obtained from
effects by the virtue of the architectural design form, RWDI wind tunnel testing and studies were peer-
which is twisted, tapered and bowed. These systematic reviewed and confirmed by the wind engineering experts
and continuous geometrical changes resulted in dimen- in Russia and the design forces were modified (increased)
sional variation to the floor plan and edge conditions on to reflect the Russian standards and requirements. Figure
every floor. In addition, the open/vented/meshed/ façade 17 depicts the static and dynamic wind load distribution
at the spire allowed for free wind flow. These wind along the building height. Note that due to the tower
engineering treatments resulted in 1) disorganizing the geometry, the maximum wind distribution along the
vortex shedding formation along the building height 2) height is not at the top of the tower thus reducing the
reducing overall dynamic wind forces, and 3) limiting the overall base design forces.
acceleration of the tower within the international standards The 3-dimensional Finite Element Analysis Model
for office buildings thus eliminating the need for auxiliary (FEAM) yielded pile foundation flexibilities (both static
damping. and dynamic), flexibility of the outrigger floor slabs, and
Several wind tunnel testing regimes and programs at of the box foundation system. This FEAM model
RWDI, along with wind engineering desktop studies were indicated that the total displacement of the tower under
performed to verify the expected favorable wind engineering maximum design wind load (static and dynamic) was
treatment of the tower. This includes: 1) meteorological well within the H/500 drift limit and the three funda-
and climate analysis that involved characterizing the mental modes of vibrations (translational and rotational)
statistics of extreme winds based on historical records were 8.65 sec, 8.46 sec, and 2.5 sec respectively.

Figure 18. Survey and Structural Health Monitoring Program Concept.

 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 297

Figure 19. Construction Sequence Analysis and predicted foundation settlement and building lateral movement under
gravity loads, including long term effects.

6. Seismic Engineering Management tower superstructure and its foundation systems. The
monitoring program concepts shown in Figure 18 were
Lakhta Center is located in very low Seismic according developed in collaboration with the key stakeholders
to the Russian Codes and standards. Since the tower has including Samsung C&T, Gorproekt, Infrosproekt, NIIOSP,
long period, it is prudent to review effects of far and SODIS LAB. The survey and the Real-Time
earthquake, with long period contents, impact on the Structural Health Monitoring Programs (RT-SHMP) included
tower. Site specific seismic hazard anlaysis that takes into the following:
account the regional tectonic environment, historic ▶An extensive survey monitoring program to measure

seismicity of the region, effect of near and rare and far the foundation settlement, column shortening, and
earthquake was reviewed. However, because of the tower lateral building movement during construction.
long periods and low energy seismic forces, the lateral ▶Installation of strain gauges to measure the total strain

load resisting system of the tower is controlled by wind at the main structural and foundation elements, including
forces. bored piles, box foundation elements (lower slab, upper
slab, fin walls, etc.), reinforced concrete core wall,
7. Survey and Structural Health Monitoring exterior and interior steel-reinforced concrete columns
program: (SRCC), composite outrigger components (top/bottom
chords, outrigger steel truss, reinforced concrete wall
An extensive survey and real-time structural health panels, etc.), and spire vertical steel frame.
monitoring programs were developed for the Lakhta ▶Installation of temporary/permanent real-time monitoring

Center Tower to verify the behavior of the tower structural programs to measure the lateral displacement and
system during construction and under permanent building accele-ration of the building during construction and
conditions. This included verification of the assumptions to verify predicted building displacement and dynamic
and design parameters made during the design of the characteristics (frequencies, damping, etc.). This
298 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Figure 20. Construction progress phots: Lakhta Center is a beacon looking over the Gulf of Finland and has the
appearance of a ship sailing into the seas.

system included bi-directional anemometers, tiltmeters, calibrated foundation stiffness has shown that the predicted
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and settlement is within the actually measured settlement.
weather stations to measure wind speed, wind direction, Figure 19 depicts the predicted foundation settlement and
humidity, and temperature. Figure 18 depicts the the lateral displacement of the tower under own gravity
location of the RT-SHMP devices (IoT) along the loads in x and y directions. Construction sequence analysis
building height. The installation of these devices with model also indicates that the differential shortening
a central command center resulted in 1) development between the core wall and the composite columns were
of a full-scale real-time aeroelastic model of the within the predicted movement and the building lateral
tower, allowing for real-time assessment of dynamic displacement (including creep and long term effects)
behavior of the building under wind, seismic excitation were also in line with those predicted.
(if any), and unexpected external lateral loads 2) The authors will continue to process significant
direct assessment of the strain/stress in the structural information and data collected relative to the overall
members of the spire including fatigue assessment 3) building behavior and will share this in due course.
wind load distribution at the top of the tower, and 4) Significant advances in RT-SHMP is continuously being
real-time information about the building movement developed using technologies such as IoT, AI, and new
(from GNSS) and dynamic characteristics (from devices. The collection of these big data along with the
biaxial accelerometers) to allow the building facility development of predictive models of the actual perfor-
management team to make management decisions mance of the tower in real-time is now feasible and can
about any issues that may arise during the lifetime of be made readily available to building owners..
the tower. In addition, the tri-axial accelerometers at
the base of the tower allow capturing site-specific 8. Conclusion
time history records of any earthquake that may occur
in the region (near or far) and its potential impact on The Lakhta center with its impressive architecture is
the tower. designed as a simple, organic, asymmetrical, singular
During construction, a predictive 3-dimensional finite iconic landmark, that continuously and elegantly spirals
element analysis model was developed to simulate the counter-clockwise to 462 m to become the tallest building
actual construction sequence of the tower that included in Europe and the second tallest twisted supertall tower in
foundation flexibility (static and dynamic stiffness), the world. The tower is composed of five (5) individual
actual material properties, and construction sequence of “Leaves/Petals that twist and taper as they rise, thus
the tower according to the physical work performed by all resulting in a tower that rotates 90 degrees from the base
the trades at the project site. to the tip of the pinnacle.
Correlation between the predicted model and the actual The complex geometry of the tower resulted in signi-
survey has shown that the foundation settlement trends ficant changes to the floor plate shape and floor area,
where much smaller than predicted thus requiring which in turn resulted in significant structural challenges
calibration of the pile-reinforced-soil-mass block modulus that required the development of innovative structural
and a re-analysis of the construction sequence to confirm engineering solutions that: 1) integrates the structural
the actual tower behavior. A comparison between the system with the architecture fabric 2) is continuous
 The Structural Engineering Design And Construction Of The Tallest Building In Europe Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg. Russia 299

throughout the building height 3) accommodates the significantly lower than those predicted during the
secondary design forces due to building twist and taper design stage. This required a re-analysis of soil-
without additional cost or time impact 4) maximizes the structure FEAM to confirm the actual building behavior
exterior views by minimalizing the number of exterior and verification of the com-pensation program.
columns and avoiding exterior diagonals to maintain the 6. Construction Sequence Analysis indicated that adjusting
aesthetics and the vision of the architectural design 5) the pile spring stiffness to reflect the actual settle-
utilizes all vertical elements to resist lateral loads (wind, ment has resulted in the close prediction of the
seismic, lateral stability) and maximizes overall building observed structural behavior.
bendingstiffness 6) is redundant 7) minimizes the effects 7. Development of state-of-the-art real-time structural
of differential column shortening, and 8) considers con- health monitoring and survey programs to have a
structability and avoids complex detailing. better under-standing of the overall building behavior
Extensive wind tunnel studies were performed by under both gravity and lateral loads.
RWDI and the variation in building shape (twist, bending, 8. Optimizing the structural design of the tower has
variation at edge conditions, vented spire, etc.) resulted in significantly reduced the embodied energy in the
a favorable wind response that is within internationally tower and contributed to energy savings and sustai-
accepted drift, velocity, acceleration, and human perception nability. Lakhta Center has already achieved Platinum
limits, thus eliminating the need for a supplementary Leed Certification.
damper. The Lakhta Center Complex construction is now com-
The development of the structural and foundation pleted, commissioned and has become the tallest building
systems of the Lakhta Center resulted in the following in the Northern Hemisphere, Europe, and Russia. It is
innovations to optimize the design and construction strategically located to provide connectivity and access to
planning of the tower: public infrastructure and to serve as a catalyst to the
1. The lateral load resisting system of the tower development of a 21st-century landmark/iconic business
consists of a centrally located reinforced concrete core center. It is also well suited to complement and expand
wall, 26 m in diameter, that is linked with 10 exterior the existing historic and world heritage CBD to a new
composite steel-reinforced concrete columns through business district that will attract major corporations and
10 two-story, equally spaced, composite outriggers at bring significant economic benefits to St Petersburg.
4 levels and one-story outrigger at level 83. Non- Lakhta Center will not only serve as a showcase for the
traditional composite outrigger structural system has utilization of future technological advances in materials,
been introduced to simplify the design and con- design, and construction but also as a catalyst for the
struction of the tower without the complex con- continuous development of future technologies.
tinuity through the core.
2. Development of a new composite outrigger system Acknowledgments
that allows the large outrigger chord forces to
transfer to the core wall through an external stiffened The authors would like to first thank Gazprom and the
diaphragm ring slab, which avoids the complexity of developer Joint Stock Company Gazpromneft Eastern
the traditional outrigger system that disrupts the European Projects, for giving us the opportunity to
design and construction planning of the core wall. participate in this Iconic Project and for providing all the
This results in significant savings in time and cost. support needed to complete the design and construction
3. Utilization of composite steel floor framing for long of the project. Speical thanks goes to Ms. Elena A.
spans (up to 17 m) to allow for direct biaxial Ilyukhina, Ph.D.,General Director, Joint Stock Company
horizontal load transfers, caused by the change in “Multifunctional Complex Lakhta Center; Mr. Alexnader
geometry of the exterior composite columns, to Bobkov, Project Executive, Sergey Nikiforov, Chief Engineer,
central core wall through floor slab and reinforced Elena Morozova, Project Director, Sergey I. Lakhman,
concrete solid ring slab around the core without the Ph.D., Managign Director of Gorporject & General Director
complex detailing. of City Design Institute for Residential and Public
4. Utilization of multi-story stiff box foundation to Buildings; Vladimir I. Travush, Full Member of the Russian
evenly distribute tower loads to pile-reinforced soil Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences,
mass. Soil-structure interaction analysis and actual Professor, Dr.Sc., Vice-President of the Russian Academy
foundation settle-ment have demonstrated the efficacy of Architecture and Construction Sciences; Vice-Director
of the box foun-dation system in evenly transferring of City Design Institute for Residential and Public
the tower loads to the pile foundation and in Buildings. Also special thanks goes to all the experts and
minimizing the differential settle-ment between the consultance who have contributed to the project success.
core wall and the exterior columns. Owner & Developer: Gazprom : A Joint Stock Company
5. Foundation survey monitoring programs have Gazpromneft Eastern European Projects
demon-strated that the foundation settlement is Architects (Concept): RMJM in collaboration with
300 Ahmad Abdelrazaq et al. | International Journal of High-Rise Buildings

Gorproekt Harry G. Poulos, 2011. Foundation Design of the

General Designer (Design Execution): Samsung C&T 151 Story Incheon Tower in a Reclamation Area. Geotechnical
Corporation Engineering Journal of the SEAGS & AGSSEA Vol 42
Architect & Engineers of Record: Gorproekt No.2 June 2011.
Structural Engineer: Samsung C&T Corporation in Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Moonsook-Jeong, Soogon-Lee, Taeyoung-
collaboration with Gorproekt & Inforceproject Kim, Optimizing the Structural and Foundation Systems
of the 151 Story Inchon Tower: The Development of New
Construction Manager: Samsung C&T Corporation
Generation of Tall Building System, 2nd R.N. Raikar
General Contractor: Renaissance Construction Company,
International Conference and Banthia- Basheer Inter-
Russia national Symposium Paper on Advances in Science and
Tower Façade: Gardner Technology of Concrete, 18-19 December 2015, Mumbai,
Vertical Transporation: Schindler India.
Wind Tunnel Testing & Spire Icing Studies: RWDI, Choi, H., Ho, G., Joseph, L. & Mathias, N. (2012) Outrigger
Guleph, Onatrio, Canada Design for High-Rise Buildings: An output of the
CTBUH Outrigger Working Group. Council on Tall
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Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Frances Badelow, SungHo-Kim and