Upon completion, MahaNakhon tower became the new tallest building in Thailand and an instant landmark on the Bangkok skyline. The unique shape of the tower began with adhering to a required setback line angling inward from the property line as elevation increases, requiring the top of MahaNakhon to be cut away on the east side. This planning requirement in part inspired the “pixelation” of the tower’s exterior, leaving an impressive 30 percent of the tower’s floor plates in cantilever. This required the perimeter columns to change positions at specific points throughout the height of the building with load transfers performed through a robust core and outrigger structural system.
MahaNakhon’s construction highlighted the complexities of the design and construction process for a supertall building in densely populated Bangkok with high levels of traffic congestion, requiring a design-build approach while planning construction staging in a manner that would allow for the steady flow of material deliveries and ensuring the concrete mix for the structural frame of the tower wouldn’t get too hot before delivery. To compensate for the soft soils below Bangkok, 129 piles were drilled to a depth of 65 meters and then capped with a massive 8.75 meter thick mat foundation, so large that the concrete pouring took 2 months over the course of 12 consecutive Saturday nights, the least congested time periods for Bangkok traffic. The seismic design was based on CTBUH recommendations and the tower’s unconventional form was subjected to 36 directions of wind loads during wind tunnel testing.