Bella Sky Hotel - exploring the potential in precast concrete design

The Bella Sky Hotel comprises two towers both leaning at an angle of 15 degrees. This inclination introduces enormous forces throughout the building which posed huge challenges for the design. Moreover, the building is made of precast concrete elements, which led to further major design hurdles. A full 3D linear elastic FE (finite element) model modified to approximate non-linear support conditions was used for the design of the hotel. Detailed design was carried out using specific post-design programs. These programs were developed for handling the design of lintels, in-plane forces, stability, horizontal joints, vertical joints and joint reinforcement. The large forces in the building require a substantial amount of reinforcement and thus several complex geometric design solutions. For Rambøll the design has been the start of a new era for building design employing in situ and precast concrete.