All language subtitles for How.Did.They.Build.That.S04E07.Summit.and.Submerge.1080p.FUBO.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-FFG_track3_[eng]

How do you build on top
of a mountain

in conditions so harsh,

construction workers can’t work alone?

Just about anything

you think about being
a challenging construction,

Pikes Peak had.

How do you cut a piece
out of a skyscraper

without it
falling to the ground?

It is critical we ensure
that that does not happen.

And how do you
convert an abandoned dry dock

into a museum without it
being crushed by water pressure?

We emptied it meter by meter.

We were afraid that the walls
might collapse.

Welcome to a world where
anything is possible.

The space where innovation
and creativity collide.

This isn’t just impressive.
It’s revolutionary.

Where the only limit
is human imagination.

This wasn’t just
ambitious, it was audacious.

No one had ever
attempted anything like it.

Unpacking the miracles
and mysteries of construction.

Sometimes buildings
can change the world.

And this is one of them.

How Did They Build That?

With its hurricane winds,
relentless snow,

lightning strikes
and temperatures of -40 degrees.

Pikes Peak was once described
as "not fit for man nor beast."

Most of us would
call that a warning.

Two intrepid architects
called it a challenge.

The Rocky Mountains

are the longest mountain range
in North America,

with dramatic peaks and valleys
that stretch for 3000 miles.

Among them is Pikes Peak
in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

For generations, the Ute people
have called the mountain

Tava Kaavi, "Sun Mountain",
because it is the first peak

to catch the morning light.

It’s so stunning,
that it’s also the inspiration

for the iconic anthem
America the Beautiful.

Americans have been climbing

Pikes Peak
for at least 150 years.

With visitor numbers growing,

in 1891,

the world’s highest cog railway
was built to reach its summit.

A hairpin turn highway
soon followed,

making it one of the world’s
most accessible peaks,

just in time for the explosion
in car travel.

In the 1950s and 1960s,

everybody was going on
vacation at Pikes Peak.

A drive up the highway.
It was a perfect destination.

By 1964,
it had become so popular

that they decided
to build a visitor center.

But with it came
an unforeseen problem.

The year after that
original summit house was built,

it started melting
and sinking into the permafrost.

So for 60 years,
they had to, every year,

sort of jack up the floor
and level the buildings.

Permafrost is ground

that’s been frozen solid
for centuries,

so soil, gravel, and sand
all stuck together by ice.

So it’s like nature’s
ultimate deep freeze.

By 2015,
Colorado Springs’ government

decides that the visitor center
has to be replaced.

But with over 400,000 people
visiting each year,

they want to create something

that can better sustain itself
and support the large crowds.

When we started talking

with what the best
experience was,

it was really to experience
the mountain, the views,

the vistas,
and not the building.

They turned to two
architectural practices,

local firm RTA
and Baltimore’s GWWO

to design a center

that will make the most
of the incredible location.

Everything we did was
to bring the mountain forward

and the architecture,
sort of make it more background.

Knowing it will be there
for years to come,

the team wants
to deliver something

worthy of America’s mountain.

We didn’t want
to screw it up, right?

We had one chance to really
do justice to this story,

uh, to this peak
and do it right.

And so I think there was
a lot of pressure.

Their plan is to create
a super green visitor center,

which will sit
low into the mountain

while offering incredible views
from its panoramic windows.

But building it at 14,000 feet
will be tough.

First, they’ll have to figure
out how to get

beyond the permafrost
and the frozen rock

to build the foundation.

They’ll need to find ways
for the team

to cope with working
at altitude.

Then, despite the location,

the design will need
to be ultra sustainable,

slashing energy and water use,

and its viewing windows
will have

to withstand hurricane force
winds

and high speed projectiles.

Finally, they’ll need
to protect the local plant life

from the thousands of visitors,

all while battling some of the
harshest conditions

on the planet.

Just about anything you think

about being
a challenging construction,

Pikes Peak had.

In June 2018,
the team starts.

And their first challenge

is getting the foundation
in before winter,

when temperatures
can reach 40°F below zero.

What’s more,
they have to make sure

they don’t end up repeating
the mistakes of the past.

We knew from
the previous structure

that we couldn’t
build on permafrost.

It would, it would melt.

Our foundations had
to sit on bedrock.

That turns out
to be easier said than done.

Once you got through about
seven to 15 feet of permafrost,

there was frozen rock
below that.

So all that material
is too hard,

too difficult
for normal excavation.

Normally you just dig
a hole right?

At 14,000ft,
with everything frozen solid,

you need to do something
a little more dramatic.

Fire in the hole!

They would drill holes,

and then place explosives down
in the holes,

blast an area, and then they
had to immediately

remove that material or it
would refreeze.

They blast 35,000
cubic yards of rock,

and in October 2018,
they have a hole

deep enough for the building
to sit into the mountainside.

Now they can start the physical
work of laying the foundation.

No simple task at this altitude,

where oxygen levels are
40% lower than at sea level.

That reduced availability
of oxygen takes its toll.

It’s such a tough environment,

that at the start, the team
can only work six hours a day,

and even then some struggle
with the job.

The lack of oxygen

can trigger altitude sickness,
and that causes nausea,

dizziness, even death,
if not treated.

Even the fittest person
is at risk.

It was really a roll of
the dice on a day to day basis.

Just about every week,

we had to bring somebody down
to a lower elevation

that was suffering
from altitude sickness.

So we created a buddy system

for all of
our employees up there.

So nobody was working alone.

It’s slow work,
but by November 2018,

the team has finished the first
stage of the foundation.

It’s too tough
to construct anything

on the mountaintop until spring,

but that doesn’t mean
the work stops.

We wanted a structural system

that would allow
as much work to be done

down in Colorado Springs
as possible

and precast concrete
really fit the bill.

They were actually the thickest

precast concrete panels

that this company
had ever fabricated,

and it
was because of the insulation.

As spring arrives,
the 432 19-inch thick panels,

which will cope
with temperatures ranging

from 64 degrees to
40 below zero, have been made.

But getting them to the site
will be far from easy.

The 23-mile roadway
from Colorado Springs

to the top of Pikes Peak is full

of hairpin curves
and climbs over 7000 feet up.

In Colorado, the team building

the visitor center
at the top of Pikes Peak

must transport 432

enormous concrete panels up
the 14,000-foot-tall mountain.

It was challenging logistics...
156 turns on the highway.

If we couldn’t get
around the hairpins,

then we couldn’t do it;
the hairpins are real tight.

It was just making
sure we had the right trailers,

the right equipment
to negotiate the curves.

The trailers can only
be 40 feet long,

and are usually only able

to carry one concrete panel
at a time.

We couldn’t stack pieces high

to keep the center
of gravity low,

because the trailers twist

so bad on the curves, you’d end
up turning the trailer over.

It was definitely a challenge.

You know, it was
one day at a time.

Once the panels reach
the summit, the next challenge

is overcoming the weather
to get them into place.

The big panels
definitely had wind issues.

When the wind was blowing,

we would really be cautious
as to what we were picking.

If winds reach 30 miles
an hour, nothing can be lifted.

But this isn’t the only thing
they have to worry about.

Mountain tops are
lightning magnets,

as high as you can get,
closer to the storm clouds,

and the perfect strike zone
for nature’s electric fury.

The construction team
and their equipment

are the highest objects
for miles around.

We are sheltering
from lightning strikes, wrap up!

Copy. We’re wrapping up.
Thank you.

They had lightning
strike detectors,

and once those would go off,
we’d have to stop work.

We had targeted around
15 pieces a day.

There were days that we were...
six, seven pieces a day.

The tough conditions
don’t just slow construction.

They also threaten
the building itself.

You could have
temperature swings from -40

to 50 degrees
within a 24 hour period.

And that kind

of thermal expansion creates
a lot of movement.

If the temperatures
inside aren’t stable,

the building will twist, crack,
and collapse under the stress.

They need
an engineering solution.

We’ve got a couple feet
of insulation,

and then we have about
three feet of crushed stone

that sits
on top of the insulation...

Here, all that crushed stone
helps the structure

stay at a constant temperature.

It keeps the building
from tearing itself apart.

In October of 2019,
the concrete panels are in...

and the steel frame
is taking shape.

Their next challenge?

Finding the right glass
to go in it.

They can see gusts
that exceed 200 miles an hour.

Pieces of rock up to three
quarter inch diameter

will blow around at those
high wind speeds,

which will
impact crack the glass.

Tough conditions require
tough glass.

We ended up settling

on a tempered window system
that’s got a laminate

in the glass,
so that if something actually

hits windows, it stays
in place and doesn’t fall out.

With such extreme conditions,

they still can’t take the risk
that the windows

could smash into pieces.

The only way to be

sure is to carry out
the toughest of tests.

We actually shot a two by four
through them.

It’s a success.

Those windows are very special.

They can withstand hurricane
force winds.

With the building
wrapped in protective glass,

the team faces a very
different challenge.

The Living Building Challenge

is the most rigorous
eco-certification.

It pushes new buildings to work

in harmony
with the natural environment,

go energy positive,
and slash water waste.

I mean, it’s next
level sustainability.

Difficult in a city.

And a building
on top of a mountain?

It seems nearly impossible.

We had a really big engineering
problem with our water usage.

Each year, the old center had to
truck 530,000 gallons of water

up the mountain

and send 670,000 gallons
of wastewater back down--

not exactly
environmentally friendly.

Eco-challenge
number one is getting

those figures down
as low as they possibly can.

We’ve reduced the water usage

by using low flow fixtures,

we use vacuum flush toilets
like you have on an airplane.

And in the future, they’re
ready to go even further.

Fresh water is then
only used for cooking

and for drinking water
and washing your hands.

But then all of that water
is treated

and then reused a second
time to flush the toilets.

As the build nears completion,

the eco-measures continue.

The super insulation
and underfloor heating

slash the building’s
energy demands,

while the timber and stone
used to finish

inside and out are
locally sourced

to reduce the carbon footprint.

The last job is to protect
America’s mountain itself.

It takes hundreds of years

to really establish this
high alpine vegetation,

and it
was being radically diminished

by sheer numbers
of people walking.

At the top of Pikes Peak,
Colorado,

the team must
find a way to prevent thousands

of visitors from damaging
the local plants.

The solution:
control where they walk.

Living Building Challenge really

encouraged us to concentrate
the foot traffic on improved

pathways and then restore
the high alpine tundra.

When we elevated those walkways,

they’re put on very
simple little posts or piles.

So the amount of surface area
that we’ve impacted

on the mountaintop
is greatly reduced.

It also provides the
ultimate Rocky Mountain view.

In June 2021, just three years
after breaking ground,

the incredible $60 million US

Pikes Peak Visitor Center
opens to the public.

This project’s the
premier project of my career.

There’s not too many people

that design buildings
at 14,000 feet,

so this one was special.

I’m just super proud
to have been part

of such
a transformational project.

The elevated walkways
and huge, tough windows...

offer breathtaking,

uninterrupted views
of the Rocky Mountain range.

It’s really incredible when
you stand, you go in the lobby.

You really are, you know...
360 degrees, you have views out.

You can just see
for hundreds of miles.

You can see where the plains
meet the mountains,

and it’s incredible.

This building is
also pretty clever,

cutting energy use by 45%,

and they’ve slashed their water
use by 350,000 gallons a year.

It will be one

of the most sustainable
buildings in the entire world.

And we did it at 14,000 feet.

There’s something unique
about that mountain.

And to be able to say
that we were part of this,

I think, is a huge achievement.

And I’m hoping
that anyone that visits finds

that same
inspiration that we did.

A must-see invisible museum?

Sounds like a contradiction,
but not in Denmark,

because after 80 years,

anchored inside the castle
,

the Danish Maritime Museum
had to move,

and it found the perfect spot
to build

in a new home just
a few ship-lengths away.

But attached was one
very tricky condition:

it must not block
views of the castle.

To paraphrase the great
English playwright,

"To be seen and yet not
to be seen,

that was the question."

And here, folks,
is the incredible answer.

Helsingor in Denmark is famous
for its historic

and dramatic Kronborg Capital.

Positioned right on the narrow
Oresund Strait between

Denmark and Sweden,

the castle once
commanded the sea.

Ships that were passing
through had to pay a toll

to the king.

So for hundreds of years,
Kronborg has been situated

in a very important
maritime position

in Danish history.

Since 1923,
it had been home

to the Danish Maritime Museum.

Then, at the start
of the new millennium,

the castle receives amazing
news that isn’t so great

for the museum.

Kronborg was selected
UNESCO World Heritage

and they wanted
to renovate the castle.

So they wanted us
to move as well.

A very fitting location is
found right at the foot

of the castle.

They saw this old dry
dock that was the remnant

of an old industrial heritage
and was also part of a tradition

of shipbuilding that suited
the Maritime Museum very well.

The dry dock, where
large ships had been repaired,

was part of one of Denmark’s
largest shipyard wharfs.

But when the industry

went into decline
in the 1980s, it closed.

It feels like the perfect
location, but there’s a hitch.

Danish heritage regulations

stipulate it can’t block views
of the castle.

The museum couldn’t be more than
one meter above the surface.

Um, that was a restriction

that made it clear
that we have to go

down and to make the museum
underneath the surface.

In 2006, the museum
asked architects across Denmark

to come up with a design

that will fit the new museum
inside the dilapidated dry dock.

The winner?

Copenhagen’s recently
established Bjarke Ingels Group,

are the only ones who think
completely outside the docks.

They wanted
something spectacular.

They wanted to attract
a new audience.

So the question
in our heads was,

"How can you make
an invisible icon?"

We thought,

"What if we preserve the dock
as a 1 to 1 artifact,

an artifact so big that you
could never put it in a museum?"

And then we put the museum
around the dock.

So we dig
a rectangular room underground,

allowing the dock
to remain as a courtyard.

It was a radical solution
and everyone loved it.

This bold design will
create an extraordinary museum,

with the old dry dock
as the central exhibit.

77,000 square feet of galleries
and offices,

all below ground level, will
be wrapped around the outside.

But to build it, they have
to drain the dock while keeping

the groundwater from causing it
to cave in...

and to stop the water pressure

underneath from making
the dock float.

Only then can the museum form

around the outside
of the old dry dock.

Finally, they’ll need to design
bridges to bring people

into the museum that won’t
obscure the dock from view.

It’s a big project

for the young architecture
practice to take on.

I think it was
like a leap of faith.

I was four years

out of architecture school,
and suddenly was leading

this pretty complex
engineering project.

In September 2010,
they’re ready to start work

turning the dry dock
into a museum.

The name dry dock
is a little confusing.

It’s built at sea level so you
can float a ship in,

close the gate behind it,
and then temporarily

pump out the water, allowing
work below the ship’s waterline.

The dock in Helsingor has been

abandoned for 25 years
and has fallen into disrepair.

It was just left full of water,

and the steel gate that enabled
it to be emptied of water

was taken away.

Before they can drain the dock,

they face a major challenge.

All the construction
were below surface,

and it was also
below the water level.

Surrounded by sea,

the natural groundwater level

here is high and is
pushing against the dock walls.

The water inside the dock
balances out those forces.

So there’s a danger that the old
walls won’t be strong enough

to hold back the groundwater
when they drain the dock.

And that’s not the only problem.

If the dock walls give way,

seawater will surge in, dragging
tons of sandy soil with it.

That sudden shift

could destabilize the ground
beneath the town,

putting Kronborg Castle,

just a few meters away,
at serious risk of collapse.

They need to find a way
to hold the sea back.

We ended up to do a slurry wall,
which is kind of a way

to dig a very deep wall, um...

that you normally use
for when you do metros.

You dig a trench
around your site

and as you remove the soil,
you replace it with slurry.

It’s powdered clay
that forms a stiff gel,

and when mixed with cement,
creates a waterproof barrier.

In order to reach solid rock,

the walls need to be
sunk to an incredible 130 feet.

I’m not sure they
excavated any slurry walls

that deep in Denmark, so it
was like a first try for me.

It takes them six months just

to get the barrier in place.

They can now pump the water out,

carefully,
to protect the fragile dock.

We were afraid that the walls
might collapse,

so we emptied it meter by meter,

making sure that the walls
didn’t suddenly collapse.

They have to slowly pump
out 17 million gallons of water.

Only now will they find out
if the slurry walls

will keep the sea at bay.

When you see that the water
table is lowering

and on the back side,
it’s still stable,

that’s where you can say,
"Okay, we did a good job."

That was a good feeling.

With the dock drained,
there’s another problem.

Before, the water inside wasn’t
just holding back the sea.

It was also pushing down
against pressure from below.

When you emptied the dock,

it not only looks like a ship,
it literally becomes a ship...

because the water pressure
around it wants to push it up.

When the dock is empty,
the ground water

beneath it creates
a pressure much greater

than the dock’s weight.

It’s the same as when you
push a beach ball underwater.

Unless you weigh it down,
it’s going to pop right back up.

Right now,
it’s being held in place

by the old concrete
skirt that provides

the downward force needed
to keep it in place.

All the soil out there
is the ballast

that keeps the dock down.

The problem is...

they’re going to remove
82,000 square feet

of that ballast
to create the museum.

If we removed the soil
and emptied it,

it would pop four meters
out of the ground.

must find a way to stop the old
dry dock from floating up

on the groundwater
now that it’s empty.

What we had to do was to drive
earth anchors into the ground.

But there’s a problem.

The limestone under
the dock is very, very soft.

It was completely unexplored.

Nobody had been crazy enough

to try and anchor anything
into this type of limestone.

Only... only we.

The idea?

They will have to sink anchors
over 100 feet into the ground.

We drilled down.

We fill in a cement and water
grout and put in the anchor,

and then it’s left to harden.

And when the cement
has cured up,

you can...
you can tension the anchors.

The plan is that these
will hold the dry dock down.

Keeping the structure
down was a big challenge,

which we solved with a lot
of earth anchors.

And he means a lot.

It takes a staggering
461 anchors

to pin everything into place.

Now they can finally dig around
the dock to create the museum.

But doing so could disturb
the old dock walls.

The knowledge of the quality
of the concrete was zero,

so we had to make sure it
would not collapse.

We had to add that reinforcement

by drilling several hundred
reinforcement bars

inclined into the old structure.

In January 2012,

construction begins on
the underground museum spaces

that are going to wrap
around the dock.

It will take 20,000 tons
of concrete, steel, and glass,

and the team turned
its attention to the bridges

that will sit inside the dock
to get visitors in and out.

We very quickly realized
the only thing

that would be
visible were the bridges,

but also that they stood
the risk of actually blocking

the experience of the length
of the dry dock.

The worry?

If the bridges are too solid,

visitors won’t be
able to see the dock

they have carefully preserved.

We wanted them to be
as transparent as possible.

And then we came to the idea of,

"What if there
was no structure?"

What if it was actually
two paper thin bridges,

one at the top,
one at the bottom,

with only glass in between?

They turn to China,

a world leader
in steel production.

But the sections of bridge
are so complex,

production falls months
behind schedule.

Finally, after a 13,000-mile
journey by sea,

the steel pieces arrive
in Helsingor in August 2012.

Now the team has to hope they
got the measurements right.

Lifting off 100 tons of
20-meter-long,

eight-meters-wide steel pieces

and then seeing
whether they fit,

was definitely one of the most
thrilling days of,

uh, of my architectural life.

In just one week,
the sections are put into place.

But there’s another
engineering challenge.

People walking on
the double decker bridges

will create vibrations
that cause each bridge

to move differently.

Too much movement will smash
the glass walkways.

The team turns
to a clever maritime solution.

We hung up in the middle
of the span,

a couple of anchor chains
that then, you could say,

held the lower bridge
from the upper bridge.

The anchor chains are
basically stabilizing it.

Chains help absorb
the vibrations

from people walking.

They also forced the two bridges
to move together,

making sure that the height

between them remains
almost constant,

which protects the glass panels.

And with them,
the transformation is complete.

The first surprise after
we put in the steel bridges

was how much these planes
that are just

a little bit sloped,
how sculptural the space became.

After three years
of construction,

on October 5th, 2013,

the incredible Danish Maritime
Museum is open to the public,

turning a forgotten dry dock
into the star of the show.

I love that you can look
inside the dry dock

and see as it originally was.

I think this is industrial
reality and I love it.

23 feet underground,

77,000 square feet
of museum space

wraps around the outside
of the dry dock

and a triumph of engineering.

It has this play with

the old industrial dry dock,
and then this modern facilities.

And I think they kind
of talk to each other.

It’s like an adventure.

You’re coming on board a ship

that’s built around an old
dry dock underground.

Denmark has a new iconic
building, and without an inch

of the museum spoiling views
of the castle,

thanks to an extraordinary
design vision.

In many ways,
the way that the building

is very no compromise
is maybe also

a testament to being
young and actually believing

that you can you can
fight for things

and make them happen.

And then the magic happens,
and it actually does come true.

These days, it’s not unusual
to see a building with a garden

growing on its roof
or along a balcony,

or even climbing up its walls,

but literally cutting a building
in half

and planting a massive garden
in the middle,

leaving 17 floors of skyscraper
to delicately balance on top?

Now that’s something you don’t
see every day

unless you’re
on Robinson Road in Singapore.

The city state of Singapore

is the second most densely
populated country in the world,

strategically situated
at the heart of Southeast Asia.

In the 19th century,

the small island became
a busy trading hub

and a magnet for big business.

By the 1960s, it was
becoming a financial powerhouse,

leading to a boom in building.

Skyscrapers were fast replacing
all of the forest vegetation,

and the city was at risk
of becoming a concrete jungle.

When Singapore became
an independent country in 1965,

its first prime minister decided
something had to be done.

It started
with the founding father,

the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew,

with the vision of a garden
in the city.

And in 2014,

a tough new planning law
guarantees the public

access to greenery.

It mandates all of the new
development to replace all

of the green area that is
affected by the construction

into the development site.

It leads to some

of the most incredible green
spaces in the world.

Development continues and
building space becomes scarce.

What’s left often comes

with big problems,
like 18 Robinson Road

in the business district.

It is a very unique site,
being formed by the amalgamation

of three plots of land, and it’s
actually a triangular shape

surrounded by a lot
of existing high rise towers.

It’s difficult to build
on, and finding space

for any greenery is
an even bigger challenge.

That pushed us
beyond the boundaries.

We can’t rely anymore
on the ground.

We have to put
something somewhere.

Then, in 2013, developers
bring in Kohn Pedersen Fox,

the architects responsible
for New York’s Hudson Yards...

and the towering One Vanderbilt,

who see an opportunity
as well as a challenge.

We really allowed
that requirement

to be formative
in our thinking about the site.

So we came up with
a hybrid solution.

It took those office floors

and pushed them as high
as they could go.

And then with space left over,

we created intermediate
rooftop sky terraces

that made the building much
more interesting.

The idea they come up
with for this tiny,

triangular plot in downtown
Singapore is extraordinary,

but complicated to build.

Their first problem is creating
a foundation and a basement

in the soft marine clay soil
without causing the busy subway

that’s just 16 feet
away to cave in.

Then they need to squeeze
in parking

for a hundred cars where
there’s no room for a ramp.

Next, a 600-foot-tall tower can
start to rise from the ground.

But with a chunk
carved out for the green space

at the seventh floor,
they’ll need to figure out how

to keep the 20 floors of office
above from falling over.

It’ll be a major test
of the team’s ingenuity.

To try and make a building such
as this work in such a very,

very tight site is... is...
is very challenging.

In September 2013,

work starts to clear the small

triangular site on the edge
of the business district,

but they immediately face
a huge problem.

The dig site is only 16 feet
away from Singapore’s

busiest subway line, the MRT.

Any excavation works that you
do next to such a critical

infrastructure carries
a huge risk of tunnel movement.

Singapore’s soil makes
that risk even greater.

Marine clay is typically
a type of very soft clay

where you cannot even put
machines seated on it.

It’s like butter.

When the soil is almost liquid,

any digging could cause
the ground around it to fall in,

and that in turn could cause
a subway tunnel to collapse.

It is extremely critical

we ensure that
that does not happen.

for the 18 Robinson
Road skyscraper

has to overcome
the problem of soft,

unstable soil, which
could threaten both the tower

and the subway that runs
within feet of its site.

To do that, they need
to build a soil retaining wall.

As you go down, step by step,
you excavate and you cast,

you excavate, you cast.

With this sort
of top down construction,

the movement attributed

to the soil around it
is highly minimized.

Straight retaining walls

to hold back the soil
surrounding the site

will require
large struts to support them,

and that will eat into the size
of the tower they can build,

making the project
less financially viable.

Then the engineers get an idea:

using circular retaining walls.

We were able to inscribe
three circles.

Circles have two advantages.

They are strong because they

distribute any pressure evenly
across their circumference,

but their shape is also
the most efficient use of space.

We have a 30 meter
diameter, a 20 meter,

and a 10 meter
to form a snowman shape

to deal with
the compression lateral force

that comes into the site.

With the snowman
foundation in place,

in late 2016,

the main structure of the
building starts to take shape.

The bottom of the tower
is several stories

of retail space,

and that is done with pretty
standard construction.

But when it comes to building
the office space above that,

that’s when things get really
structurally challenging.

Normally, tall
buildings have a concrete core

at the center.

This acts as a spine to help
hold the building upright.

But with a slice
hacked out of the building,

where do you put
this center core?

We have to think out of the box

to see how to carry
this 21-story office tower

at the top.

It forces the team to come
up with an innovative solution.

The core is offset.

It’s a little bit
of like a ballerina solution,

where the building
is really coming down

almost on a point, rather
than sort of broadly spread.

The problem is that
creates enormous downward forces

on one side that could twist
the building.

It’s too much for the core
to cope with on its own.

A traditional solution

would have had the columns
at the perimeter,

and those columns would have run
straight to the ground.

In our case,
we weren’t able to do that

because of the
location of the subway line.

We had to angle the columns
in section...

to get them away
from the subway.

We came up with the idea
of just having two mega columns,

which run from the top
to the building,

all the way
down to the basement.

They are called Mega
because it is actually made of

composite steel
of a 1.8 meter diameter,

which is taller than myself.

You are using a combination
of both steel and concrete

to create that structure
that not only have the strength,

but also have that rigidity,
that sort of stiffness

to control the deflection
of the building.

With the support in place,

the 21-story office building
can now climb above the sloping

garden terrace, finished
with a metal and glass exterior.

Those metal panels give it
a presence,

like sunlight shimmering
off the surface of a lake.

At the start of 2018,
the tower is almost complete.

But back down at ground level,

they still have
one final hurdle.

City regulations state they
need space to park 100 cars.

Traditional car parking
is just impossible to the site.

We found that a parking ramp

took up almost
all of the footprint.

The solution is technology

developed 9500 miles
away in the U.S.

It’s like a robotic
car parking system.

To be the first in Southeast
East Asia has also a risk.

We are not very sure whether
the system will work.

It’s ingenious!

You drive your car
into a huge lift

and leave it
parked on a platform.

The platform is laser guided
through the parking garage

using a series
of navigational markers.

That is where the beauty
of engineering starts to shine.

Cars are shuttled automatically

to a vacant parking spot
somewhere

in the enormous basement.

You shut your car off
and let the robot do the job.

It reduces CO2 emissions,

which, in addition to all the
plants that make up the gardens,

contributes to the building’s
sustainability.

I think all of us,
especially engineers,

has a duty to build, to design,
in a lean and optimized manner.

In January 2019,

the astonishing
260,000-square-foot

18 Robinson is unveiled,

an iconic building that rises
from its tight site

to redefine what
a skyscraper can be.

It’s a beautiful sculpture.

It’s like this crystalline
architecture.

The building is entirely
responsive to its environment.

I just find it really
refined and quite unique.

The top 20 stories

seem to teeter precariously
into space,

creating room below for
a magnificent garden in the sky

that puts nature at the heart
of Singapore’s urban sprawl.

When you just want to disconnect
from this busyness of life,

you go to the sky garden.

You have a seat,
take a deep breath.

Then it’s just over.

You have very nice
space to live.

For a very small plot,

it has a big impact
on the surroundings.

This building is
an exemplar of how you can take

a very, very tight
city center site

and make a building
work properly.

♪ MTV ♪