Why should the main contractors be the only ones to celebrate world records?
Every record-breaking building is really a compendium of record-breaking trades. Behind every “tallest” and “biggest” is a glazier, a steel fixer, a crane crew who actually did the thing.
So here are the world records that belong to you, the subcontractors. See if yours is on the list.
Glaziers
TAIKANG TOWER, BEIJING — the largest single pane of glass ever fitted to a building. One window: 16.5 metres tall, 50.8 square metres, seven tonnes.
Steel erectors
BIRD’S NEST STADIUM, BEIJING — around 42,000 tonnes of structural steel, woven into a shape with barely a straight line in it. Every member fabricated and placed to the millimetre. Still one of the most complex steel structures ever raised.
Steel fixers
BURJ KHALIFA, DUBAI — about 39,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel. Laid end to end, the rebar in that one building would stretch a quarter of the way around the planet, and each bar was tied by hand.
Groundworkers
KAHEEL PROJECT, RIYADH — the world’s largest continuous concrete pour: 69,824 cubic metres in 72 hours. 9,000 workers and 6,500 truckloads, non-stop, for a single foundation. (The UK’s own record, the Shard’s raft, was a mere 5,500.)
Crane and lifting crews
“BIG CARL” AT HINKLEY POINT C, SOMERSET — the world’s largest crane, rated to lift 5,000 tonnes in one go. It runs on rails and takes weeks to put together. A British record, this one.
Timber frame
DALSTON WORKS, HACKNEY, LONDON — the world’s largest cross-laminated timber building when it went up. 3,852 cubic metres of engineered timber, weighing about a fifth of the concrete equivalent.
Dryliners
RIGIPS PLASTERBOARD, CZECH REPUBLIC — the largest single sheet of plasterboard ever made, at 12 metres long. Saint-Gobain made it purely to prove it could be done.
Roofers
THE EDEN PROJECT, CORNWALL — the largest greenhouse on earth, roofed in ETFE cushions instead of glass. The biomes needed 230 miles of scaffolding to build, itself a world record. And another one for Britain.
Cladding and façade
MARAYA, ALULA, SAUDI ARABIA — the largest mirror-clad building. Every panel reflects, so the whole concert hall vanishes into the desert. A cladding job with nowhere to hide.
Precast
BANG NA EXPRESSWAY, THAILAND — once the longest bridge in the world, at 55 kilometres. Built almost entirely from precast segments, cast off-site and lifted into place. Around 1.8 million cubic metres of concrete.
Modular
MINI SKY CITY, CHANGSHA — 57 storeys, built in 19 days. Three floors a day, from factory-built modules. The fastest tall building ever assembled.
Which trade’s got the best claim? And which one did I (unforgivably) leave out?