Professional English

Cambridge English for

Engineering

Unit 4

Case Study

Reaching for the sky

Part 1

Burj Khalifa in Dubai currently holds the record for the worlds tallest
building. Look at the information below of the five tallest buildings in
the world. Based on how the record has evolved, make an educated
guess at the height of Burj Khalifa.
Petronas Towers
(Kuala Lumpar): 452m
International Commerce Centre
(Hong Kong): 484m
Shanghai World Financial Centre
(Shanghai): 492m
Taipei 101
(Taipei): 508m
Burj Khalifa
(Dubai): m ?

Burj Khalifa the

worlds tallest
building

Part 2

Read a short extract from an article, below, about the dimensions of

skyscrapers. With a partner, underline and explain the meaning of those
words in the text which describe:

elements of a skyscraper

dimensions.

From a business perspective, the vital statistics of record-breaking

skyscrapers are:

total height, to generate publicity

total number of floors and total floor space, to maximise value.

From an engineering perspective, the above factors will determine a

number of key dimensions: those of the foundations, columns, beams,
floor slabs and curtain walls. During the design phase, if the lengths,
widths, depths, thicknesses, areas or volumes of any of these elements
are changed, all the other pieces of the dimensional jigsaw puzzle
will be affected.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010

www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 3

You and your partner are consulting engineers. You are going to give a technical
briefing to some investors who are planning a new skyscraper project. The talk
should focus on the question of key dimensions which will be determined by the
overall height, number of floors and total floor space of the skyscraper as
discussed in the extract above. Hold a discussion and make notes to prepare your
briefing. Include the elements and dimensions you underlined in Part 2. Use the
example discussion below to get started.
A The total height of the skyscraper will determine its width, as taller structures need
to be wider, for stability.
B Yes. And the height and width of the structure will determine the total area of
the curtain walls. The area of the walls is important, because itll determine the
amount of wind load on the building.
A Thats right. And the amount of wind load is critical because thatll affect ...
In preparing your technical briefing, the following language from Unit 4 of
Cambridge English for Engineering may be useful.

Discussing dimensions and precision

(pages 32 and 33)
verbs: specify, vary
nouns: depth, diameter, dimension, height, ideal, length, size, thickness, tolerance,
width
adjectives: deep, high, long, low, maximum, minimum, narrow, shallow, short, thick,
thin, tight, wide
adverbs and prepositions:
plus, minus, outside (tolerance), within (tolerance)
other phrases:
maximum total variation between and
too + adjective (too narrow / too tight / too deep etc.)
not + adjective enough (not narrow enough / not tight enough / not deep enough etc.)

Part 4

In pairs, present a technical briefing to the group.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010

www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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Professional English

Cambridge English for

Engineering

UNIT 4

Teacher's Notes

Reaching for the sky

Before you begin

Write up skyscraper on the board. Invite students to say what a skyscraper is (an
exceptionally tall building usually refers to an occupied building as opposed to
a structure such as a chimney). Discuss the logic of the word (the notion of a tall
building reaching/scraping the sky).

Invite students to give some examples of skyscrapers.

Suggested answers
In addition to the five tallest buildings in the world which this case study focuses
on, students may also mention (among others): Nanjing Greenland Financial
Centre (Nanjing, China); Willis Tower (Chicago, USA); Guangzhou West Tower
(Guanghzhou, China); Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai, China); Chrysler Building (New
York, USA); Baiyoke Tower II (Bangkok, Thailand); Eureka Tower (Melbourne,
Australia); Republic Plaza (Singapore)

Part 1

Students complete the task in pairs. Write up each pairs suggested answer on
the board. Then write up the actual height.
Answer
828 metres

See which suggested height came closest. Discuss the fact that the building is
surprisingly tall when compared with the progression of previous records. You
could also invite students to suggest what the next target will be for the world
record.
Suggested answer
There are a number of proposals, in countries in the Middle East, to build
buildings of a 1,000 metres and more. For example the Nakheel Harbour &
Tower project (also in Dubai) which is aiming for a height of 1140m
(Go to http://www.nakheelharbour.com for more information)

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010

www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 2

Students complete the task in pairs. For the dimensions, ask students to give
examples of dimensions of objects to illustrate the meaning of each word.
Answers
elements of a skyscraper

foundations: the part of a structure below ground which supports it

columns: vertical elements with a narrow cross-section which transmit loads

downwards to the foundations

beams: horizontal elements with a narrow cross-section which transmit loads

horizontally often supported by a column at either end

floor slabs: relatively thin elements with a large area which act as a floor
these can be supported by beams or, if they are at ground level, by the ground
beneath it

curtain walls: panels glass, for example which form the external envelope
of a building, but which do not support the building (unlike the brick walls of a
house, which do support the building)
dimensions

height: how high something is, e.g. the height of a column from base to top

length: how long something is, e.g. the length of a car, from front to back

width: how wide something is, e.g. the width of a road from one side to the other

depth: how deep something is, e.g. the depth of a hole in the ground, from
ground level to the bottom

thickness: how thick something is, e.g. the thickness of a sheet of glass (the
distance between its opposite surfaces)

area: length x width, e.g. the number of square metres of a floor surface

volume: length x width x height, e.g. the amount of space, in cubic metres,
inside a room

Part 3

Students discuss their ideas in pairs, making brief notes if they wish.
Suggested answers

The total height will determine the width of the skyscraper, as taller structures
need to be wider, for stability.

The height and width will determine the total area of the curtain walls.

The area of the curtain walls will determine the amount of wind load on the
building.

The amount of wind load will affect the depth of the foundations needed in
order to keep the building stable, and the thickness of columns needed to
resist the bending force generated by the wind.

Increasing the height of the building will require thicker columns to resist the
increased wind loads, and to support the increased total mass of the structure.

Thicker columns will reduce the area of the floors.

The thickness of the floor slabs will affect the total height of the building for a
given number of floors.

Minimising the thickness of the floor slabs and the thickness of the columns
will help to increase the number of floors and the floor area available for a
given building height.

Increasing the width of the building will require longer beams, which will need
to be deeper to cope with the longer span. Deeper beams will add to the
height from one floor to the next, meaning fewer floors are possible within a
given height.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010

www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 4
Students in pairs take turns to give a short technical briefing to the group. Ask
the students to compare the content and ideas in their presentations. Finally,
give positive feedback on the presentation style of the students and then
summarise and review any points of language or discourse which need remedial
work (e.g. language might be the use of comparative and superlative adjectives;
discourse might focus on phrases for how the presentation was organised and
structured First then etc.)

Extension activity: exploring ideas

To conclude, you could explore the engineering challenges of building ever
taller skyscrapers. Write up the following question on the board and invite
students to come up with suggestions in pairs, then present their ideas.
What technological and design improvements would help engineers to build taller
skyscrapers?

Suggested answers

Improve the strength of concrete and steel to enable columns and beams to
carry higher loads without having to increase their cross-section, in order to
minimise the total mass of the structure.

Develop lighter, high-strength concrete or alternative materials to help reduce

the total mass of the structure.

Carry out research into more aerodynamically efficient building shapes, to

reduce their drag (air resistance) and therefore reduce the amount of wind
load they are exposed to.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010

www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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