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1.
Two IFC ‘safest building on planet’
1. Two IFC ‘safest building on planet’
Niall
Fraser, Sunday Morning Post 7 December 2003
The structural engineer behind New York's ill-fated twin towers
says Hong Kong's Two IFC tower could be the safest building in the
world.
In
a week that saw the huge Central structure celebrate its "soft
opening", Leslie Robertson, who was also chief structural engineer
on the 88-storey block - Hong Kong's tallest building- also hit
out at critics who said the September 11 attacks should make people
shy away from skyscrapers.
"This
is extremely short-sighted thinking," Mr Robertson said from
the US. "I believe in tall buildings, and Hong Kong is the
home of the tall building. There is no way you can feasibly design
a building to withstand the impact of a 737, never mind a 747 jumbo
or bigger, it's just not practical.
"Life
is a risk and you cannot base engineering decisions on severe catastrophic
events, like an airliner hitting them or an atomic device going
off. The biggest realistic risk in any building is fire, and I believe
the Two IFC [Two International Finance Centre] building has extremely
good measures both structurally and in terms of regulations and
evacuation. It can also withstand huge windloads. I would say if
not the safest, it is one of the safest buildings on the planet."
Mr.
Robertson was dining with friends in Hong Kong when the terrorists’
planes ploughed into the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001.
He packed his bags immediately and headed back to New York.
“You
can always replace a building but you can’t replace people.
When the towers were hit and came down, people were the only thing
on my mind,” said Mr Robertson, who is also working on the
World Financial Centre tower in the Pudong area of Shanghai.
David
Dumigan, head of projects for the 4.7 million sq ft IFC development
– whose proponents bill it as a ‘city within a city’
– said US$10million had been spent on “security and
control” systems.
When
completed next year, it will include the two towers, an 800,000
sq ft shopping mall and a six-star hotel.
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