The Lotus Riverside Complex, Shanghai

a) What was the aim of the design? The Lotus Riverside Complex aimed to be residential apartment complex located in the Ming District of Shanghai, China. The complex consisted of eleven 13 storey buildings and 629 units. It was built to cope with the large increasing population of Shanghai. b) Why did the design fail? There are many theories of why the building failed, including: Sloppy construction practices in China, buildings put up in a hurry by unskilled migrant workers, developers temped to take shortcuts. The excavations for the construction were dumped at a nearby creek. Weight of the earth caused riverbank to collapse therefore allowing water to seep into the ground and made a muddy foundation for the building that toppled. Bad choice of materials: The prestressed, precast concrete piles used in the Lotus Riverside Complex were outlawed in Hong Kong because they were deemed not strong enough to support Ultra-High buildings. c) What were the consequences? On June 27, 2009, at 5:30am local time, Block 7, one of the eleven 13-storey apartment buildings, collapsed killing one worker. Buyers clamoring to get their money back. Over half of the existing residents met with lawyers and officials to negotiate with the developer.