100+ Education: "The process of erecting our buildings can be compared to assembling a Lego set"
Juliette Jiang, Senior Vice President of BROAD Group, participated in the educational cluster at the 100+ forum. She gave an open lecture on the construction of environmentally sustainable buildings and spoke about the experience of high-speed construction of high-rise buildings using the example of the J57 Mini Sky City skyscraper, built in China in 19 days.
- When you hear, read and even watch videos on the Internet that your company built a 57-storey building in 19 days, one main question arises - how?
- It's very simple. In fact, all the building materials and blocks are 90 percent prepared in advance, and the process of erecting the building itself on the construction site can be compared to assembling a Lego set. We complete the assembly of the entire house from ready-made blocks in 19 days. But there are also preparatory stages, the most important, of course, is laying the foundation, it takes about 4 months. We hire subcontractors to carry out these works, and our company starts construction from ground level, doing everything very quickly. The building is rented without interior decoration, but in 19 days we do the exterior decoration, we carry out all the networks, including plumbing, air conditioning, ventilation, etc.
- Do your buildings comply with the standards that exist in the countries where construction is underway?
- We approach the design of our buildings with the same care as they design airplanes. And any deviations that are allowed in our building are minimal. During the construction of the 57-storey building, the tolerances were no more than 4 mm, although according to standards in China, deviations in overall dimensions relative to the project are allowed up to 40 mm.
- A distinctive feature of your buildings is their high earthquake resistance. At the expense of what?
- Our company has its own secrets. Since 2009, we have already built 40 such houses using our own know-how and technology. I can say that when designing, the most important thing is a competent approach to the structure of the power elements used in the building and the use of lightweight materials.
- Are projects such as a 57-storey building in 19 days and a 30-storey building in 15 days typical or unique for you?
- Many people, speaking about our company, primarily pay attention to the speed of construction.: how can 57 floors be built in 19 days? But we are trying to shift the focus to the environmental characteristics of our buildings and show what can be achieved in terms of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
– What is it about?
- Our company started its business by supplying air conditioners. We found out that 70 percent of the electricity consumed in buildings is spent on air conditioning. And we decided to create energy-efficient buildings, using any available and possible energy sources - solar, wind, gas, and others.
- You have construction experience in China and Mexico. What about projects in other countries? For example, with a different climate?
- We have already thought about this when we considered various business development options, taking into account various factors, including weather conditions, when designing. But in the case of work in Russia, of course, we will cooperate, first of all, with local architects and designers to take into account all the features.
- So you have plans to start construction in Russia?
- The annual volume of construction worldwide is currently 4 billion square meters. meters. Of these, 50 percent are in China. But Russia is the most interesting market for us right now. Firstly, because it's cold here, which means that the period of effective construction is quite short, and our expertise in rapid construction of buildings would be very useful in this case. Secondly, you now have a sufficient need for construction.