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The Changsha, China 30 story hotel — built in 15 days — is quite a feat in architectural ingenuity, but it has some construction experts skeptical as to how safe the structure is, and what protocols may have been overlooked.
The entire operation seems like some kind of bet gone wrong, or an architect’s dream to immortalize his name in the Guinness book of world records by building a multi-floor structure in the shortest amount of time. But the Changsha hotel isn’t the first of its kind. Back in 2010, the Ark Hotel construction time-lapse video made the rounds on social networks; it’s a 15 story hotel, built in 6 days. Meaning the Changsha hotel isn’t an isolated incident—it’s technique being used across China.
These construction workers are using a more advanced prefabricated method. Normally, western experts say, that these methods can shave building times by a third to half. Changsha hotel managed to cut one-half to two-thirds off the normal schedule, and Broad Sustainable Building, the Chinese company behind the hotel, says it cuts no corners. Supposedly, it’s not only safer and cheaper, but it’s also environmentally friendly, which all sounds a little too good to be true.
Granted, China does have a few things Westerners don’t when it comes to prefabrication: manpower and factories. Everything that can be done before piecing the building together is done in factories, and China isn’t lacking in people to populate those factories. The 13 by 50 foot slabs seen in the video, with all the fixings loaded on top (wires, lights, pipes), make the entire process plausible. It seems like most of the finer work is already done—all the on-site workers have to worry about is stacking everything properly and installing plumbing and electrical components.
But the bold claims don’t stop here; the Broad Sustainable Building Company says its structures are “earthquake resistant” up to a 9.0 magnitude. Due to its lightweight steel construction and diagonal bracing, either way I’m hoping no one residing in those towers will ever have to find out if those claims on the brochure are true.
But companies worldwide may be considering taking this technique up as their own standard, as the Broad Sustainable Building Company is looking to sell its construction technology with firms in Brazil, Mexico, and India. It even hopes to establish business partnerships in the United States. Would you trust a structure that was built in two-weeks time?
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