The Altair tower in Colombo, Sri Lanka

One of the tallest towers in Colombo’s skyline. The Altair tower in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is an ambitious project. With a final height of 240 metres, the building consists of a main 68-floor tower alongside a sloping, 64-floor tower.

Moshe Safdie is the architect behind the project and has been involved in various iconic constructions around the world. Altair tower is being developed by Indocean Developers (PVT) Limited and contracted by Shapoorji Pallonko Co. & Ltd. OTIS-Elevators (Pvt) Ltd are also acting as a sub-contractor.

The building has been designed by Moshe Safdie of Safdie Design who was also the architect for the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. There are two towers, one of which is leaning on the other. The leaning tower has been designed using a distinctive diagrid structure with flat slabs which not only adds structural stability to the building without the need for internal columns but also allows for a permeable surface with large windows. This allows maximum airflow and light which contributes to energy savings in heating and cooling and also provides access to the balcony for an awesome view.

Rawlplug DCA wedge anchors used in Altair

The project is estimated to cost around 36,345,000,000 Sri Lankan Rupee (over 230,000,000 US Dollars) and includes R-XPT-16125/5 bolts in its construction. Specifically, Rawlplug’s through-bolts were used to fix and secure separator beams in the elevator shaft. Rawlplug DCA wedge anchors, threaded rods and screws used in various applications.

The towers is constructed on reinforced concrete piles and a raft footing with a reinforced concrete and/or steel superstructure. Even though Colombo rarely experiences significant earthquakes (it is classified in seismic Zone 0 under the international building code), Altair has been designed to withstand earthquakes up to 7 on the Richter Scale.

The developers have also commissioned wind tunnel tests to be conducted by RWDI. This is the same team that conducted the tests for the Burj Khalifa. 103 individual wind speed sensors were placed on a 2m model of Altair. They also modeled all relevant surrounding buildings and topography within a 480m radius.

The name of the facility may be a registered trademark of third parties and is not the property of the publisher Rawlplug.