Vibration protection for Toranomon Hills Mori Tower and road in Tokyo

Austrian company Getzner provides vibration protection for the tower and four-lane roadway running directly underneath

02.12.14

Tokyo. The Toranomon Hills Mori Tower in the heart of Tokyo opened in the middle of this year. Measuring around 247 m in height, the tower has a peculiar feature: it was constructed directly above a four-lane main road. In order to protect the hotel located within the building complex from vibrations, Getzner mounted parts of the building and the road on Sylomer® mats.

Directly beneath the Toranomon Hills Mori Tower the planners designed a four-lane underground urban motorway – a new main traffic artery for getting across Tokyo. To enable this impressive skyscraper to be built to the required usage standards, a solution had to be found for the vibration produced by the urban motorway, which runs through a tunnel for some 200 m. Getzner was selected by the owner Mori Building as its specialist partner for vibration isolation. Getzner has developed vibration protection for two significant subprojects: an elastic solution for the hotel on the uppermost floors of the high-rise complex and a solution for the urban motorway running directly underneath the building.

First implementation phase

The first implementation phase of the project involved applying a resilient bedding to the 200 m underground length of motorway. The full width of this section was bedded on the high-tech Sylomer®. This has the effect of providing the structure erected above the road with effective and long-term protection against vibration. The solution directly addresses the cause of the vibration, as the four-lane urban motorway, which is the source of the disturbing structure-bourne noise, has now been isolated. The elastic bedding decouples the source of disturbance from its surroundings, and thus also from the structure erected over it.

Second implementation phase

In the second implementation phase of the project, a variety of internal vibration-damping construction measures for decoupling the hotel that occupies the upper floors of the tower were carried out. In order to protect this sensitive area in the best possible way against vibrations, Getzner bedded the hotel floors, the pool areas and the fitness and machinery rooms of the hotel on Sylomer®. This prevents structure-borne noise from spreading through the building. The building is thus effectively protected against unwanted vibrations.

New standards in urban development

"Installing Sylomer® mats has the effect of reducing noise and vibration. The material has been employed successfully for decades – Getzner has demonstrated this on numerous occasions in the railway sector. Another important criterion for future-oriented urban planning is that the material should be easy and quick to install", states General Manager, Toru Tsuchihashi of Mori Building. Getzner also assumed responsibility for overseeing the installation process. "On a project of this magnitude it is not only very important to work closely with our Japanese partners, one really needs to be on site oneself, as only then can we constantly monitor the quality of the work and ensure that our materials protect this superb architecture in the long term. For Getzner, this order is a valuable reference for future projects all over the world", adds Werner Ebster, project manager at Getzner.

Factbox Toranomon Hills in Tokyo (JP)

Key facts: A mixed use high-rise building in Tokyo (247 m, 52 floors)
Location: Toranomon 1-chome 23-1~4, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Owner: Mori Building Co., Ltd. Carriageway
solution: Full-width elastic bedding with Sylomer® of a four-lane carriageway
Hotel solution: Hotel floors, pool complexes plus fitness suites and machinery rooms underlaid with Sylomer® bedding
Completion: 2014

Vibration protection for Toranomon Hills Mori Tower and road in Tokyo

First implementation phase

Second implementation phase

New standards in urban development

Factbox Toranomon Hills in Tokyo (JP)

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