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Sky Tower Structural Description
General information
Type	Communications, Observation, Tourism, Restaurant, Casino
Location	Auckland City, New Zealand
Construction started	1994
Completed	1997
Opening	3 March 1997
Cost	US$50 million or NZ$76 million
Height
Antenna spire	328 m (1,076.1 ft)
Technical details
Floor area	5,500 m2 (59,202 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	6
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Craig Craig Moller Ltd.
Developer	Harrah's Entertainment
Structural engineer	Beca Group

Introduction

It is not unusual to see countries compete to build the tallest tower, or tallest structures in the world; there seems to be much pride in owning the world’s tallest structure. Many towers have claimed the title, but not for long, as new, taller towers replace them. The Sky Tower stands proudly in the Central City Auckland. It is not only the tallest structure in its country, New Zealand, but also in the Southern Hemisphere. Constructed using minimal materials, while considering every aspect of design and serving as a symbol of pride for New Zealand, Sky Tower is most definitely an example of structural art.

Structural Description

The Sky Tower is located in Auckland City, New Zealand and serves many purposes including as a telecommunications center, observation tower and contains many restaurants. Its construction began in 1994 and ended in 1997. The height of the tower exceeds that of Sydney Tower, which previously had the title of "the tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere," with its height of 309m. The Sky Tower is 328m tall, including the antenna shaft. Various materials were used in construction of the Sky Tower, including glass, steel, aluminum and concrete, and most of its load comes from the weight of the structure. The Tower was designed by Craig Craig Moller architects and received a New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award.

Qualification as Structural Art (The 3 E's and S's)

Scientific

Numerous considerations were made during the construction of Sky Tower in order to make it efficient. The Tower is constructed of reinforced, high-performance concrete. The construction of the Tower used 15000 cubic meters of concrete, 2000 tons of reinforcing steel and 660 tons of structural steel, including 170 tons in the mast. Its foundations go underground 15 meters and were designed to spread the force load. Furthermore, it is designed to remain standing in many natural disasters: it can withstand storms with over 200mph winds and extreme events of earthquakes within 20km of the tower. This was an especially important consideration because New Zealand is prone to earthquakes, and as the tower is very prone to high speed wind. Also, during construction, special attention was paid to the vertical straightness of the tower. Constant verification was needed to ensure that the tower stood perfectly straight.
The efficiency of the structure is much more apparent when compared to the Macau Tower. On a visit to Auckland, a Macau casino billionaire was so impressed by the Sky Tower that he commissioned a similar one to be built in Macau. Hence the two towers were designed by the same company and share many similar features in both functionality and structure. The Macau Tower is 338m tall, which is 10 meters taller than the Sky Tower. However total construction cost almost as twice as much: $130 million, as compared to Sky Tower’s $65 million. The Macau Tower also used almost twice the amount of concrete, which also contributes to the argument that the Sky Tower is efficiently built with minimal material for the maximum strength.

Social

Sky Tower is economical as well, and has multiple functionalities and amenities. It serves as one of the main tourist attractions in New Zealand. The tower is part of the SKYCITY Auckland casino complex, attracting approximately half a million visitors each year. The main observation level does an excellent job in educating the visitors of its city with the latest technology. As well as the glass floors and coin-operated binoculars, which are common in many observatory towers. The Sky Tower offers live-camera touch screen computers to provide information in fun and unique ways. A revolving restaurant, which turns 360 degrees once every hour, is located in the upper portion of the tower. Sky Tower also features a unique ‘Sky Jump,’ a 192-meter jump from the observation deck and climbs into the antenna mast portion are also possible for tour groups, as is a walk around the exterior. The tower also has broadcasting and telecommunications facilities. It is the host to the largest FM combiner in the world, and there are 58 wireless microwave links located externally.

Symbolic

Every New Zealander is proud of the Sky Tower, which stands elegantly in the center of the largest city of the country. The Sky Tower serves as a symbol for Auckland, and even New Zealand as a whole. Sky Tower sympathizes with its fellow New Zealanders, and joins in the celebrations and memorials with its floodlights. The Sky Tower features prominently on the Auckland skyline at night due to its extensive illumination and SKYCITY uses its lighting to promote various causes using a number of colors or mix of colors. The tower lights up pink during breast cancer awareness month, and lights up red & green on Christmas. Also, it makes New Zealanders proud by beating the Sydney Tower of Australia - the neighboring country and a rival, by surpassing its height.

Conclusion

The Sky Tower, located in the hub of Auckland, is an example of structural art and is the pride and the symbol of New Zealand. It is efficient, in terms of both construction cost and usage. It achieved as much as the Macau Tower, with half the construction cost and stands taller than its neighboring Sydney Tower, winning the honorable title of the ‘tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere.’ It also attracts millions of visitors and represents the country with elegance.