ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B.
ARCH
Hyder Aliyev cultural centre, Azerbaijan
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Background
In 2013, the Heydar Aliyev Center opened to the public in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The cultural center, designed by Zaha
Hadid, has become the primary building for the nation's cultural programs, aspiring instead to express the sensibilities of Azeri
culture and the optimism of a nation that looks to the future.
This report presents a case study of the project. It will include the background information, a synopsis of the architect's mastery of
structural design. Also, some special elements of this building will be discussed in detail. And the structural design of the whole
complex will be reviewed through diagrams and the simplified computer-based structural analysis.
The Heydar Aliyev Center
Since 1991, Azerbaijan has been working on modernizing and developing Baku’s infrastructure and architecture in
order to depart from its legacy of normative Soviet Modernism. The center is named for Heydar Aliyev, the leader of
Soviet-era Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982, and President of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003.
The project is located in the center of the city. And it played an extremely important role in the
development of the city. It breaks from the rigid and often monumental Soviet architecture that is so
prevalent in Baku. More importantly, it is a symbol of democratic philosophy thought. Under the influence of the new
Azerbaijan party and the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan leader’s political and economic reform, the center was
also designed to show the potential of the country’s future cultural development, to encourage people to study the
history, language, culture, national creed and spiritual values of their own country.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
SITE PLAN
West Entrance
Café Entrance Main entrance VIP Entrance
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
LEVEL ONE LEVEL TWO LEVEL THREE
Welcome zone
Auditorium Bar
Cafe Multipurpose hall Library Meeting room
Book store/Gift shop Auditorium Temporary Art Gallery
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
LEVEL FOUR LEVEL FIVE LEVEL SIX
Administration
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Structural Features
Baku, which in old Farsi means ‘where wind beats’, is subject to high wind loads throughout the year, and as the city lies within a seismic
zone, the project’s structural engineers faced a multitude of challenges. The freeform structure of the project derives from the
architectural design concept of modifying a single surface to adopt different functional requirements.
The aim was to create a large column-free space giving visitors the opportunity of experiencing the fluidity of the interior. To
achieve this, vertical elements are absorbed by the envelope and curtain wall system. The Heydar Aliyev Centre consists of 2
structural systems: Space Frame and concrete with a single movement joint (Figure 1 and 3 on the following page).
Figure 1. Structural System - Space Frame Figure 2. Structural System - Overall View Figure 3. Structural System - Concrete Cores
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Building Components and System
Space Frame Concrete
The space Reinforce
frame enables d
the concrete
construction dictates the need to pursue unconventional
architecture, is mainly
of this solutions;
structural free the introduction of curved ‘boot columns’ to used to
form
achievestructure
the inverse peel of the surface from the ground at the construct
while
west, andoffering
the cantilever beams ‘dovetails’ tapering towards the shear
significant
free end, supporting building envelope at the east. The walls as
savings
substructure in enables the incorporation of a flexible relationship the
time
between the rigid structural grid of the space frame and the partition
throughout
free- formed exterior cladding seams which derive from complex to
the
geometry rationalization, architectural aesthetics and usage. separate
construction main
process. The spaces
surface and to
geometry support
driven by the space
the frame. It
also used
to
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM construct SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Special nodes
Due to the
large span of
the space frame,
it is connected to
the reinforced
concrete
structure in
addition to the
support of the
columns and
directly to the
foundation, in
order to maintain
the stability of
the structure
As shown in asthe figure, the space
much
frame willas be subjected to a large
possible. moment. In order to solve this
bending
problem and ensure structural stability,
the
The structural
method engineer
of will thicken the
space grid here, from the other parts
maintaining
of the single layer into multi layer, to
stability is to bending resistance.
provide adequate
extend the steel
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM core beam from
SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Interesting spaces in the structure
The continuous architecture contains three major
programs, including the museum, exhibition halls and
convention center, mainly composed by rigid concrete
structure grid free from external space frame with a
single movement joint. The three spaces are separated
from each other and have their own entry and security
areas. Also they share some common places under the
continuous external skin. In order to make column free
space, the certain wall and envelope serve as vertical
elements.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
The convention center could be used for both convention and music performance with 1200 auditorium seats. This
section of 4 levels embraces 2 multifunctional conference halls, meeting rooms and the media center. The auditorium
is 18 meters height and spans approximately 28 meters supported by concrete shear wall around the space. To reach a
large span, the ceiling is constructed by two-way system and adopt steel space frame. As for the interial surface of
ceiling, it is created by gypsum board supported by cables to meet acoustical and lighting requirements. The first floor
and second floor have a continuous large space and transfer the self-weight to narrow reinforced concrete beams and
columns at the base. Then the loads are transferred to the pile foundation. Different sizes of cross bracing according to
the height of seats are used to resist lateral force and stiffen structure. All information is shown in the figure 4.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
The multifunction hall is near the convention center which is divided into three smaller ones toward north in the
garden. The hall spans about 27 meters with a height of 10.5 meters. The ceiling of hall is constructed by steel open
web trusses which have height of 2.2 meters, which is effective and could be used to resist deflections in a given size.
There are three meeting rooms with a concrete rigid system above the hall, which transfer gravity loads to the
concrete floor slab that is approximately 0.8 meter and trusses by columns and shear wall. Then the hall transfers
loads to slab, beams and columns at the basement which has a grid and patterns system through shear walls in the
east, west and south.
The museum occupies 9 floors with exhibition halls, administrative office, restaurant and a cafeteria. It consists of a
permanent gallery and a temporary exhibition gallery. In the temporary gallery, a double-height space lobby is in the
entrance with curve ceiling in the above. It has a very thin slab of 8-13mm thickness which covers the ceiling so
they would have a very light self-weight transferring to the foundation. The ceiling is made by steel trusses of nearly
1.5 meters height that support its self-weight as well, serving as a cantilever of 25 meters and transferring loads to
the element B –the tilt shear wall with a wide of 1.4 meter. Then the loads are carried by 3.1 meters thick mat
foundation and 1.1 meter thick piles underground. The element C is a cantilever floor that spans approximately 20.4
meters supported by the tilt shear wall. In order to reach the large span, the structure could be two-way concrete
waffle slab with a height of nearly 2.2 meters. As for the basement, it is a grids patterns constructed by the concrete
flat slab and columns.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
In the permanent collection gallery, the space is
divided by element B, the tilt shear wall. Element D
spans nearly 9.8 meters while element E spans 8.2
meters measuring 1.2 meter depth. This beam in turn
supports both dead loads and live loads from roof and
the floor of exhibition and then transfer forces to the
mat foundation.
The library is 8 stories seated in the north of site with
a continuous exterial building skin in the façade. The
AHU room is a large space that sits on a 1.2 meter mat
foundation spanning 21.6 meters with a height of 9
meters. The 120-mm-thick reinforced concrete slab is
supported by shear wall in four directions. The beam
in turn supports the reinforced concrete slab every 3.5
meters by 0.8 meter depth. For the AHU room embeds
in the finer grid, heavy girders are needed to carry
more loads transferred from top elements like
concrete columns, beams, slabs and trusses of the
ceiling.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Wind load
Calculating wind load using the Generic formula: F=A*P*Cd
F is the wind load, A is the area exposed to wind direction, P is the pressure, Cd is a factor
The surface area of inner skin is 22,000 square meters, we estimate one sixths is exposed to the wind’s
direction, so A equals to 3666.7 square meters. P equals to 0.00256 multiplies the quadratic of V, which
stands for local wind speed, and the number is 14mph. So we get P is 2.44 kilogram per square meters.
For a flat area, Cd is 1.4.
So we can calculate F is 3.72KN
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Gravity
• For gravity, The construction has been used 121,000 cube meters of reinforced concrete, 194,000tn
formwork and 19,000tn mold steel. The density of reinforced concrete is 2400 kilogram per cube meters, so
we can use 2400 to multiply 121,000 to get the weight of reinforced concrete, and the number is 290,400,
000 kilogram.
• Since 1tn=907.2kg, and we already know it uses 194,000tn formwork and 19,000tn mold steel, we can
convert it to kilogram. The weight of formwork is 175,996,800kg, while the weight of mold steel is
17,236,800kg.
• Adding these three number together, we can get the total weight is 483,633,600kg, or 4739609.28KN
• The total floor area is 101,801 square meters, so we use 4739609.28 divided by 101,801 to get 46.56 kN
per
square meters.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS 10th SEMESTER | B. ARCH
Summary
The design of the Heydar Aliyev Center establishes a continuous, fluid relationship between its surrounding
plaza and the building’s interior. This was achieved by using an ingenious and elegant structure system, which
has two collaborating systems: a concrete structure combined with a space frame system. Because vertical
structural elements are absorbed by the envelope and curtain wall system, the large-scale column-free spaces
can allow the visitor to experience the fluidity of the interior.
Another important issue is the building’s skin. To make the surface so continuous that it appears
homogenous,
a broad range of different functions, construction logics and technical systems were brought together and
integrated into the building’s envelope. It makes the building appear homogenous since different parts were
covered and connected.
From this case, by analyzing the structural system and its relation with the exterior skin, we have seen how
the
structure design can better help the design concept come true.
CASE STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM SALAHUDDIN MOHAMMAD KHALID
