With its 25 floors, the MG tower in Ghent of De Paepe Group is one of the highest towers in Flanders. Apparently you can spot the sea on an clear day.

Foundations

The tower has been founded on piles, in a very good sand layer that could be reached quite quickly. The foundation piles reach from 8 to 10 meters deep, and the forces underneath the core are divided through a local apron.

Overall stability

The general horizontal stability is guaranteed by a core containing the elevator shafts, the emergency stairways and the sanitary utilities. The quality of the used concrete is C30/37. Exceptions are the 2 corners with columns in high resistance concrete, integrated into the walls (concentration of bearing loads, wind loads, the permanent couple due to the facade construction, and openings in the walls).

The facade architecture implies a number of inclining elements for transfer of the loads. The incline of the facade elements result in additional permanent horizontal loads that weigh on the core. On every level, these horizontal forces are transferred to the core by the floor. These charges create a horizontal deformation, from the couple on every level. The modelling software shows a deformation of 6 cm, equal to the deformation by the wind loads.

Non-progressive collapse

The principle of the non-progressive collapse has been applied through connections between beams, floors and columns. In addition, the columns have been provided with a continuous reinforcement, inspite of the large measure of prefabrication of the building.

Fire resistance

The fire resistance of the structural elements is 2 hours, partly because of the use of bearing elements in pre-stressed concrete instead of steel. As a result, only a few beams, used for building services, had to be protected.

Overhang

The two inclining facade elements are supported by large steel beams with 2 consecutive corbels. The architecture results in a support that recedes fairly far from the facade. The bearing beams consist of flat, custom-welded frames. The entire structure has been poured in concrete as an additional reinforcement for the horizontal aspect of the bearing loads, in order to stiffen the beams and counter any deformation, and to raise the fire resistance of the beams.

Roof

The building is crowned with a metal skeleton clad in stone, hiding the technical installations.

There is also a series of photo's from the construction site with the general description of the MG tower.