PRADA Boutique Aoyarilnr Japan

Yoshio Tanno, Senior Mgr, Hirokazu Kozuka, Mgr, Masayoshi Nakai, Chief Res., Masato Ohata' Mgr,
Takenaka Corp., Tokyo, JaPan

Structural Concept

The overall design concept for the

building and the structural require- i,W:r*'
ments as laid down by the owner and ,eiffiMynr6t
architects were as follows.

- Diagonal lattice forming the outer

Fig. 1 : View of PRADA Boutique Aoyama
Introduction
For the outer lattice of PRADA Bou-
tique Aoyama, the aim was to create a
design that was both symbolic and rev-
olution ary, befitting the building's role
as a flagship PRADA Boutique. As
shown in (Fig.1), the building compris-
es a diagonal latticework frame with a
lattice should form the structural
framework while being an integral
part" of the glass facade (avoiding the
need for vertical or hortzontal mem-
bers in the vertical planes)
- Diagonal lattice members should be
250 mm in width and 300 mm in
depth, including the dimensions of
the finish materials
- Interior vertical shafts, used for ele-
vator '"and equipment duct/piping,
should be made as small as possible,
and atriums should be provided by
floor openings on the 1st, Znd, 4th
and 5th floors.
These requirements were fulfilled as
outlined below while maintaining son-
sistency between the architectural and
mechanical designs.
i[ii, shop
9,101 m
20,580 m
Fig. 2: Third floor plan
The lattice members are of steel con-
struction, so all modules of the build-
ing use the same material, and each
story is exactly the height of two rhom-
boid panels (4 m). The lattice meets
each floor at intersection points on the
lattice. Girders around the periphery
of each floor are connected to these
lattice intersections to form joints that
Maximum height

faEade consisting of rhombus-shaped ./

units measuring approximately 3,2m ,/ Setback regulation -
a''1

Setback reyrtafions -f,

in width and 2,0 m in height, covered / c.I
@
enerator
by a sash of flat and curved glass sur- nur"(ognt
faces. The basic shape of the above- ,k vTFL
4,000 m
ground floors in plan view is a penta-
v6FL
gotr, with each side measuring approxi-
4,000 m
mately 10 to 22m (FiS.2).Each of the 5FL
five vertical sides is set back at the top, (-.
4,000 m -1

so the plan view shape is gradually re- >, >'; \n

q
tr lil
csl 4FL
duced at the 6th and Tthfloors (Fig. 3). d

-1
Corridor vl N
co
Jr- 4,000 m
Floors 1 throu gh 4 are for retail, floors
Ft

-o t--
5 and 6 are offices, and the 7th floor o .g€
.i

A t--
v3FL
a 4,000 m
houses the machine room. The B1F be-
lowground floor, measuring approxi- ,\ ,
vzFL
?,,?5 4,000 m
mately 33 m by 23 m, is almost perfect- Miyuki St. i- A
ly rectangular in plan view, following Desisn G.L. 1EL

the shape of the site. It is used both as

a storeroom and as a continuation of re-
tail space from the aboveground floors.
The fagade of aboveground floors is of
double glass mounted on each rhom-
bus-shaped unit of the diagonal grid. A
total of 840 panes of glass were used: 6m)
205 panes of convex curved glass and 2r,8 m
16 panes of concave curved glass were
used in addition to flat ones. Fig. 3: Section

ZB StructuresWorldwide Structural Engineeringlnternational 1/2005

 Fig. 4: Overall framework
transmit the vertical load. The periph-
eral girders also function as tension
members (restraints on the vertical de-
formation of the lattice), thereby set-
ting up a balance of hortzontal forces
between girders and lattice members.
The floor load is supported by the lat-
tice as well as by the interior vertical
shaft through beams linking the pe-
ripheral girders and the shaft frames.
As a result, the dead and live loads are
borne almost equally by the lattice and
the vertical shaft. On the other hand,
most of the hortzontal loading, such as
the earthquake and wind loading, is
carried by the lattice, since the vertical
shaft has little horrzontal rigidity.
The lattice contains no vertical mem-
bers, so it experiences greater defor-
mation than typical column members
under both long-term and short-term
vertical loading, such as earthquake
loading. Further, only those lattice mem-
bers with upper or lower ends attached
to the peripheral girders at each floor
directly caffy the vertical load. The
other lattice members, whose ends do
not attach to a floor girder (that is, the
lattice members connected at corners
between floors) function as anti-buck-
ling stiffenitrg members for the mem-
bers directl\r carcying the load, but do
not effectively transmit the vertical
load. The effects of the 2nd,1th and 5th
floor openings compound the problem
of the small proportion of direct load-
carrying lattice members. Moreover,
the outer lattice framework that bears
most of any earthquake loading demon-
strates a lack of ductility because of its
Structural Engineering International llZ00S
Fig. 5: Steel frame erection
diagonal allocation of members. With
these weaknesses, it
was important to
the overall "Structural design of the
building as well as to the design of the
facade itself to minimize earthquake
loading on the outer lattrce framework
and thereby reduce deformation of the
lattice.
Given the restraints described and the
consequent requirement to reduce earth-
quake loading, the engineers proposed
base-isolating the building by installing
I4laminated rubber bearings and 25 slide
bearings below the basement floor. This
made it
possible to meet the require-
ments of the design concept by using
fabricated steel Fl-sections measuring
250 mm in depth and 150 mm in width
for the lattice members. The lattice mem-
bers were enclosed in a fire-resistant
material that also serves as the finish-
irg material (molded calcium silicate
board with a minimum thickness of
20 mm). Moreover, for esthetic reasons,
sash frames for the glass panels are
made as compact as possible by limit-
ing the vertical and horrzontal defor-
mation of each rhombus unit in an
earthquake (to an inter-story drift of
1/300 or less).
Overall Structure
The aboveground floors of this build-
irg comprise:
- an outer lattice frame made up of a
diagonal grid using built-up steel H-
sections
- a floor configuration of reinforced
concrete with built-in steel forms
supported on steel beams
- a frame (inner vertical shaft) made
up primarily of vertical members
(steel tubes) passing through each
floor.
Florizontal tubes with the rhombus-
shaped cross-section on the 2nd, 4th
and 5th floors are monocoque con-
structions formed by steel with rib re-
inforcement (FiS. 4 and 5).
The basement level B1F is a steel frame
construction with columns, beams and
braces. The horizontal force from the
aboveground outer lattice frame is
transmitted through the first floor slab
of reinforced concrete to the braces
provided on the periph ery, etc. of the
B1F, The floor of the B1F is of rein-
forced concrete, beneath which is a
base-isolation system. Flowever, directly
beneath the high-rise portion is the
B2F (approximately 40"h ofthe B1F is
taken up by equipment functions), and
a clearance is provided on B 1F for the
elevator shaft on the main stairway
side, with three base-isolation systems
for the three columns provided on the
82 level.
In addition, between the B1F and the
base-isolation story floor is a space of
approximately 7,6 m in height for use
as the inspection pit for the base-isola-
tion system. Also, between the B1F
outer wall and the base slab and re-
taining wall is a clearance of 45 cm, to
accommodate the horizontal deforma-
tion of the base-isolation story.
Structures Worldu'ide 29
 (kN) (kN)
2000

1600 7,',:T,Z,ffi

1200

800

400
::: M
0

-400 1.,3r4

- 800
;;iffi
-1200
.;T
-1600
;; n
-1,078 kN -2000 -1,1-1-8 kN _;;;; w
Fig. 6: Axial force of superstructure

Structural Design
Design Losd
As permanent vertical loads, the de-
sign takes into account the weight of
the skeleton, the finished load and the
equipment load, as well as the load
from retail and offices (2400 N/m' and
1800 N/m', respectively, for analysis un-
der dead and live loads and 1300 N/m'
and 800 N/m', respectively for analysis
under seismic load).
Florizontal loads due to extreme earth-
quakes were determined by establish-
ing a story shear force coefficient in ac-
cordance with preliminary response
analyses assuming a base-isolated struc-
ture. The story shear force coefficients
were set to be 0,1-65 for B1F; 0,528 for
the top floor and interior values were
interpolated according to floor heights.
S/ress D eformati on Analy sis
Stress deformation analysis for the su-
perstructure (the portion above the
base-isolation story) was performed
using a three-dimensional frame mod-
el with the floor system on each story,
the outer lattice frame, the inner shafts,
the horizontal tubes and the lower
floor portion including B1F all inte-
grated with one another.
As noted earlier, the floor weight of
each story is supported by the inner
shafts and the outer lattice frame, with
each handling approximately 50% of
the load,. The vertical rigidity of the
outer lattice frame was lower than that
of the inner shafts, so at the floor of the
top story the outer lattice frame was
displaced approximately 3 cm vertical-
Iy, and the maximum axial force of the
outer lattice grid members was 1078 kN
(Fig. 6). For wind, seismic and other
hortzontal forces, the outer lattice
frame provided approximately 700%
resistance, and horizontal displace-
ment of the superstructure due to de-
sign seismic load was approximately
6,5 cm at the floor of the top story,
while the maximum story deformation
angle was approximately L1290 (on 6F).
The structure exhibited a box-like re-
sistance system with respect to hori-
zontal forces, and the maximum fluctu-
ation in axial force on the tension and
compression side was about 1300 kN
(Fig. 6).
Cross- Sectional D esign
With respect to constant vertical load
and horizontal load in the event of
wind and seismic force, the outer lat-
tice grid members serve primarily as
members to transmit axial force. How-
ever, as bending moment will be pro-
duced along with in-plane and out-of-
plane deformation of the outer lattice
frame, the grid members are designed
for combined axial force and bending
moment stress. The distance between
supports in the grid member out-of-
plane direction is approximately 7 ,5 m
per story, and approximately 15 m for
two stories in the atrium portion. FIow-
ever, the members that were not effec-
tive in transmitting axial force (placed
at approximately 1,8 m intervals) could
be evaluated as stiffenittg members.
Therefore, the buckling length of the
main axial force transmission mem-
bers was considered to be half of the

Symbol Steel section

Do BH-250x150x9xI9
D1 @ BH-250 x 150 xr2x25
DZffi BH-250 x 150 x12x32
6 floor
D3 BH-250x150x16x40
D4
4rrl:/r/4ii1z4at4!!
BH-250x150x25x50
D5w BH-250x150x25x60
D6- B BOX-250 x 150 x25 x40

Fig. 7: Arrangement of outer latticed members

30 Structures Worldwide Structural Engineering International 1/2005

 aforementioned distance between sup-
ports, based on buckling analysis re-
sults. Built-up steel H-sections were
used for the grid members, with the ba-
sic size being BH 250 mm x 150 mm x
9 mm x 19 mm (h x b x t.xtl),and de-
pending on the stress the flange thick-
ness and web thickness were made 19
to 60 mm and 9 to 25 mm, respectively.
At the base of the corner aneles that
would be subjected to the moJt severe
stress, assembly box members (BX
250 mm x 150 mm x 25 mm x 40 mm)
(h x b x tw x t/).were used (Fig. 7).
As tension members for reducins the
deformation of the outer lattice fiame
and balancing the horizontal compo-
nent of the grid member axial force
(compressive force), steel H-beam mem-
bers (600 and 400 mm beam depth,
250 mm width) are placed around the
floor slab on each story. Ideallv these
tension members snoutd be placed
in-plane on the outer lattice frame, but
eccentricity with the core of the srid
members unavoidably results in bend-
ing moments being produced in these
floor peripheral members, so the steel
H-beam is used laterally to resist com-
bined tension and bending stress (Flg. g).
The joints between the grid members
and the floor peripheral members (gen-
eral portions and corner angles) need-
ed to have a compact fit, so in places
where the assembly materials could
not be welded to one another,
cast
steel for welded structures (SCW 480)
was used (Fig.8 and 9). For ease of
construction and design considerations,
a total of 219 cast steel members were
used for grid member joints in wall and
roof portions not attached to floor pe-
ripheral members as well.
Construction
As noted earlier, the outer lattice srid
that was the main upper frame hadlow
vertical rigidity, and as the erection
proceeded, great vertical and horizon-
tal displacement was produced along
with the increase in the load placed on
the structure. In construction planning,
the erection of each steel frame node
was considered to be one step, and a
construction analysis was conducted
for each sub-step (outer lattice grid
members, horizontal members and con-
crete slab placement) to evaluate load
conditions and member rigidity. The
vertiCal deformation at the 6th story
floor level at the time of the comple-
tion of construction was approximalely
25 mm including the fagade members,
so the member vertical size for the fab-
Structural Engineeringlnternational U2005
Outer srid member
Glass facade
Outer grid member
Cast steel joint
RC slab
Floor'sub-beam
Fig. B: Details of lattice and floor joint
Fig. 9: Cast steel for corner joint
ricated shape of the grid member steel
frame was increased 6 mm in advance
for each story on 1F through 5F,
Since rigid joint conditions in both in-
plane and out-of-plane directions had
to be secured at all joints for the outer
lattice grid members, all welding of
member intersections was done at the
factory, and joints at the site were cre-
ated in the center of one side of the
rhombus-shaped unit. The node layout
used a * \, shape as the basic form,
with the diagonal length of one story
as one member, creating a bracket
shape with the intersecting side and us-
ing the build-up method to build up
the nodes on each story. To reduce the
size of site welded joints for steel H-
sections, including the finishing mem-
bers (fire-resistant sheathitrg materi-
aI), all flanges were welded, while for
the web members both boltine and
welding were used in accordancJ with
the combination of members.
At the time of erection, a three-dimen-
sional measurement system was intro-
duced, and five *"ur,trement points
were established for each grid member
intersection to provide accvtacy con-
trol. The measurement data was used
as feedback in the erection of the next
node, and the plan arranged for the er-
ror with the measurement values to be
absorbed by an adjustment zone pro-
vided in the sth floor rising portion.
For the facade that constitutes the defin-
ing feature of the building, the four-
sided SSG (Structural Steel Glazing)
construction method was used, and de-
tailed studies were made with respect
to fail-safe mechanisms. Due to the
mechanism in which mullion support
brackets were provided directly on the
outer lattice grid members, the skele-
ton precision was directly linked to the
precision of finishing members. To se-
cure the target quality, stringent target
values (within +15 mm in both vertical
and horizontal directions) were estab-
lished for the construction precision of
outer lattice grid members, but the re-
sult of these policies was that construc-
tion within the target accuracy was
achieved.
Final Remarks
As described above, this building was
made possible through integrating tech-
nologies for structural analysis, CAD,
structural steel fabrication, and build-
ing erection with the base-isolation
method of earthquake load reduction.
As a result. a novel design concept pro-
posed by an overseas owner and archi-
tect was made feasible in Japan. The
authors regard this building as a work
of architecture that demonstrates the
future potential of a design previously
considered unworkable in this earth-
quake-prone country.
Acknowledgements
PRADA Boutique Aoyama was originally planned
in Switzerland by Herzog & de Meuron (H&deM)
with WGG Schnetzer Puskas as structural con-
sultant, and then refined, detailed, finalized and
realized in Japan through a collaboration of
H&deM and Thkenaka Corporation.
Owner: i
PRADAJAPA\Japan
i
Design Architect: i
Herzog&de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland
Associate Architect and Structural"/ l
Mechanical Engineer: I
Takenaka Corporation, Tokyo. Japan
Contractor: 1
Takenaka Corporation, Tokyo. Japan
Steel(t): OOO
i
Concrete (m3): ZIOO
::'*::i:.
l,
_. l:::T: i
Structures Worldwide 3I