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NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

NEWS SITE D E C E M B E^R //I 7 ,‘..i 2 0 0 1 Tall Buildings

RAPID EVACUATION CONCEPTS AIRED ^^all buildings are not dead. That was I ±e message from experts at a con- I ference on the future of the sky­ scraper in London last week. While the post mortem triggered by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center con­ tinues, the debate heats up over how much more security, if any, is needed to enhance high-rise survivability. In a keynote delivered to more than 400 conference attendees three months to the day after the attack, Charles, Prince of Wales, said, “The destruction of the World Trade Center is unlikely to mark the end of tall buildings.” An outspoken adversary of tall buildings, he added, “It r-?V' has now become more important than ever to question how such buildings should be built I suspect that the price of

GROWTH Although Prince Charles questioned the rationale of tall buildings, London’s mayor says it may get 20 more over the next 15 years. Livingstone’s view was supported by architect Norman Foster, of Foster and Partners, London. “The tall building in a finite planet with less and less available space is a lifeline,” he said. § I 4 Foster is among several design profes- Is f sionals investigating the emergency re- sponse of buildings, in the wake of the ____ ! ^pt 11 attacks. A multidisciplinary team,

nI place considerable strain on the rationale effect of Sept 11 will be very, very limit- meeting the new [safety] demands...will “Other than at the margin, the [cost] assembled by the firm, is testing ideas for emergency evacuation on a concep- I of the buildings themselves.” ed,” he predicted. tual 50-story building. Under review are t Speculating that additional security Underscoring the positive future of skybridges to a^acent buildings, rooftop I would add as much as 9% to the con- tall buildings, London Mayor Ken Liv- helipads, additional stairwells and other t struction cost, “this is quite a small bur- ingstone forecasted that 20 new high-rise measures. The study, due for spring S den to put on a building,” said Paul Mor- buildings would be constructed in the completion, is also borrowing from evac- I rell, senior partner of London-based real British capital over the next 15 years, nation procedures from offshore oil rigs, 8 estate consultant Davis Langdon & Ever- One of his first moves after he became aviation and other industries. § est, at the Dec. 9-11 conference. Called mayor in May 2000 was to reverse a poli- A full-scale trial on a 50-story London a Building for the 21st Century, it was cy against high-rise construction to ac- building by Arup Ltd., London, proved o organized by the Council on Tall Build- commodate the fiist-paced growth Lon- that properly protected elevators can “as- I ings and Urban Habitat, Bethlehem, Pa. don was having on brownfield sites. sist rapid evacuation,” said Robert Em- I 10 ENR/DECEMBER 17, 2001

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