Structural Details of Taipei 101

Project ProfileConstruction Dates

Began 1998Finished 2004

Height 508 m2Floors

Main Tower 101Podium 6Basement 5

Floor Area 412,500 m2

Project DetailsStructural Types

High-riseTuned mass damperPole

Architectural StylePagoda Style

MaterialsGlassSteel

HeightsHeights Value Source/Comments

Spire 1667 ft

Roof 1470 ft Architect Plans

Top Floor 1437 ft Architect Plans

Floor 91 1282 ft Architect Plans

Floor 89 1254 ft Architect Plans

Floor 86 1213 ft Architect Plans

Floor 12 207 ft

Floor 6 124 ft

Ground Level 0 ft

Sea Level -4 ft

Floor b5 -103 ft

Analysis and DesignWind DesignSeismic Design

Wind DesignSkyscrapers must be flexible in strong winds

yet remain rigid enough to prevent large sideways movement (lateral drift).

Flexibility prevents structural damage while resistance ensures comfort for the occupants and protection of glass, curtain walls and other features.

Thirty-six columns support Taipei 101, including eight "mega-columns" packed with 10,000 psi (69 MPa) concrete.

Every eight floors, outrigger trusses connect the columns in the building's core to those on the exterior.

These features combine with the solidity of its foundation to make Taipei 101 one of the most stable buildings ever constructed. 

The foundation is reinforced by 380 piles driven 80 m (262 ft) into the ground, extending as far as 30 m (98 ft) into the bedrock.

Each pile is 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter and can bear a load of 1,000–1,320 tonnes (1,100–1,460.

Seismic DesignTaipei 101 includes a 728-ton sphere locked

in a net of thick steel cables hung way up toward the top of the building. 

This secret, Piranesian moment of inner geometry effectively acts as a pendulum or counterweight – a damper – for the motions of earthquakes.

As earthquake waves pass up through the structure, the ball remains all but stationary; its inertia helps to counteract the movements of the building around it, thus “dampening” the earthquake.

ConclusionTaipei 101 is a structure that can withstand

gale winds of 60 m/s (197 ft/s, 216 km/h or 134 mph) and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.