Buttressed core is a

structural system A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

for high buildings, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (si ...

that form a Y shape.

Properties

The buttressed core supports itself both laterally and torsionally. It also eliminates the need for column transfers, and moves loads in a smooth path from the building's top into its foundations.

Origin

The buttressed core was invented by the

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

engineer Bill Baker. It was first used in Tower Palace III in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

but its ability to support higher buildings than ever before was first demonstrated in

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

.Higher and Higher: The Evolution of the Buttressed Core
Civil Engineering, October 2012

Uses

* Tower Palace III in

, South Korea, completed in 2004 *

, United Arab Emirates, completed in 2009 *

Crown Las Vegas The Crown Las Vegas, previously known as the Las Vegas Tower, was a proposed supertall skyscraper that would have been built on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. If built, the tower would have been tall, making it the tallest building in ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, USA (never built) * Jeddah Tower in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia, currently on hold in 2021

References

{{Reflist Structural system