Short/long build times

PeterG · #1 Posted **Nov 13, 2007, 7:28 PM**

I was just wondering how long some buildings you know of took to be built.
The obviously short build time is the Empire State Building, which went up in 1 year in 45 days, which as far as I know is the record considering its height (?)
Another impressive construction was 30 St Mary Axe (AKA The Gherkin, AKA Swiss RE Building) in London. It took 1 year 8 months to topping out, which, when you take into account it's design, is pretty good going.

Anyone know any others?

byrdman · #2 Posted **Nov 13, 2007, 10:22 PM**

Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta only took 12 months and its 1'000 Ft tall

ChiSoxRox · #3 Posted **Nov 14, 2007, 12:01 AM**

For long build times, you could argue that the Ryungyong Hotel will take forever to complete

To be more serious, the World Trade Center I think took about seven years (excavation began in 1966 and the South tower was completed in 1973). However, I might be off on the numbers.

LivingIn622 · #4 Posted **Nov 14, 2007, 3:16 AM**

I am pretty sure that the Ren Cen in Detroit took 6 years to build.

Alpha · #5 Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 8:50 PM**

Building Cologne Cathedral required 648 years.

PeterG · #6 Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 10:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpha

Building Cologne Cathedral required 648 years.

That's impressive.

Also worthy of mention is Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which has been under construction since 1882, and still has 19 years to go.
It'll look weird without all the cranes around it, which have been there so long they've become part of the building.

M II A II R II K · #7 Posted **Apr 5, 2008, 3:51 PM**

I wonder how long the pyramids took, maybe a fairly short period of time given their size.

Coldrsx · #8 Posted **Apr 5, 2008, 7:00 PM**

generally speaking for a concrete high-rise condo you average 1month per floor or so.

ex. a 24 storey tower would be about 2 yrs to go from ground breaking to substantial completion.

aic4ever · #9 Posted **Apr 7, 2008, 7:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

generally speaking for a concrete high-rise condo you average 1month per floor or so.

ex. a 24 storey tower would be about 2 yrs to go from ground breaking to substantial completion.

Wow...this seems like a very long time to me. Rule of thumb that I have always heard, if the building is concrete, is a floor a week as far as doing the structure. One ought to be able to rough in mechanical, electrical, plumbing and stud framing following the building up, and when the floors each end up enclosed, the gyspum board and other subsequent finishes can begin to go in on those floors that should now be fairly climate controlled.

The most recent high rise I worked on a budget for had 22 stories, included a very limited site, and a facadectomy as well, building had a basement, and we figured a maximum of 18 months, a month and a half of which was disassembling the existing facade to get it out of the way for demolition to take place.

Is the month per floor something that you have worked with a lot? As a Developer? Architect? Contractor?

Just curiosity on my part as this is longer than I have heard before.

Alpha · #10 Posted **Apr 7, 2008, 8:16 PM**

Building Cologne Cathedral took 632 years, building Ulm Münster took 513 years.

Interestingly it took only 30 days to build the 629 metres tall KVLY-TV mast in Fargo, North Dakota, but 2 years to built the 646 metres tall Konstantynow radio mast in Konstantynow, Poland.

Coldrsx · #11 Posted **Apr 7, 2008, 9:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aic4ever

Wow...this seems like a very long time to me. Rule of thumb that I have always heard, if the building is concrete, is a floor a week as far as doing the structure. One ought to be able to rough in mechanical, electrical, plumbing and stud framing following the building up, and when the floors each end up enclosed, the gyspum board and other subsequent finishes can begin to go in on those floors that should now be fairly climate controlled.

The most recent high rise I worked on a budget for had 22 stories, included a very limited site, and a facadectomy as well, building had a basement, and we figured a maximum of 18 months, a month and a half of which was disassembling the existing facade to get it out of the way for demolition to take place.

Is the month per floor something that you have worked with a lot? As a Developer? Architect? Contractor?

Just curiosity on my part as this is longer than I have heard before.

When i mean a month a floor it is for a rule of thumb for the number of months to fully complete.

1 week a floor for concrete is correct...sometimes 2 in certain parts of the world, but 1month factors in everything else after it is poured as well.

i am a consultant to developers and was a project manager on high-rise condos.