PIF Tower

Walter P Moore provided conceptual and preliminary structural engineering design services for this 80-story high-rise office tower in Saudi Arabia. At 400 meters tall and 1,991,000 square feet, this world class office tower will be the landmark project of the new King Abdullah Financial District in Northern Riyadh. Adjacent to the tower is a six-story podium component that includes amenities such as a restaurant, gymnasium, and meeting rooms.

Walter P Moore analyzed over 20 lateral systems for the tower during a six month design period, and ultimately recommended a composite scheme. In the composite scheme, a central Y-shaped concrete core works with a composite perimeter braced frame. No columns are vertical, as they sweep in and out with the faceted curtain wall. In keeping with Walter P Moore’s theme of integration of building systems, the sloping braces and columns are fully integrated with the façade which maximizes lettable floor area and minimizes structural materials.

During the structural system selection phase, Walter P Moore performed a carbon emissions comparison of multiple schemes. Even though the composite scheme would require a significant amount of structural steel to be imported for the project, the required concrete in the composite scheme was 40% less than that of an all concrete scheme which resulted in approximately 30% less total embodied carbon emissions for the structural frame.