GATEWAY TO EUROPE

TOWERS

Technical analysis of the building

Fernández Estévez, Jaime

Teoria Arhitectura. Programme - An II - FAT - 2013/2014
PRELIMINARY INFORMATION

The ‘Gateway to Europe’ towers

are also known as ‘KIO Towers’ coming
this name from the company sponso-
ring it, the company Kuwait Investments
Office (KIO), although they were even-
tually ended by Caja Madrid. Designed
by American architects Philip Johnson
and John Burgee in 1989, they were the
first inclined skyscrapers in the world.

The Torres KIO are two towers

of glass, granite and metal inver-
sely symmetrical 114 meters high
spread over 27 floors and stands in-
clination of 15 ° from the vertical.

The secret of its construction is based on the majority of its weight rests on a core of
concrete and steel structure each, while the ‘leaning’ of each of the towers is much lighter.

BASIC DATA

The office towers that reach 115 meters high each (one of the towers is 1 inch higher than
the other) flying 30 m above the base of the vertical. They have 27 homes whose area is 1,170
m2 each. Since lifts up vertically and not diagonally, each plant has a different development.

Still, since the vertical apex

Constructed surface 87.808 m² of the base coincides with the
apex, the elevators had to be divi-
Technical plants 2.300 m² ded into two parts: the floor is rai-
Office plants 54.000 m² sed to 13 and from there switch to
Basements 33.808 m² another elevator to the 27th floor.
 CONSTRUCTIVE SYSTEM

The structural solution to the spectacular slope is

achieved through structural steel, bonded to a rigid core,
a prismatic reinforced concrete box housing the stairs
and lifts.

To counteract the thrust of the story to the inclined

side, a system of cables connects the top of the building
with an underground counterweight on the opposite side
(the weights are given concrete 60 x 10 x 10 m).

At the same time we chose triangular elements to

give rigidity to the structure and avoid deformation; hen-
ce the giant blades in the side walls and the two triangles
on the main facades are divided.

FACADE COMPOSITION
The facades were composed by the following ele-
ments and their corresponding surfaces:

Curtain wall 32,864 m²

Glass 22,324 m²
Stainless Steel 10,540 m².
 METAL STRUCTURE
Steel Type A-42 and A-52
Total Weight 8.900 tm
Unions screws 200,000 ud.

CONCRETE STRUCTURE
Foundation
Screens (H-175) 17,500 m³
Piles (H-200) 13,950 m³
Pile caps, beams and slabs in basements (H-250) 16,800 m³
Perimeter walls and slabs of tower (H-275) 2,975 m³
Towers
Sliding core (H-350) 8,400 m³
Forged plant (HL-200 Arlite) 6,780 m³
Steel armor 4,200 tm
Prestressing steel 140 tm

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Technical data of KIO Towers - http://www.urbanity.es/ 2006/datos-tecnicos-
de-las-torres-kio-puerta-de-europa-madrid/

Structural anaylisis KIO Towers, Madrid - http://sistemasestructuralesii.blogs-

pot.com.es/2011/04/analisis-estructural-torres-kio-madrid.html