Honey, I Shrunk The Office (Building)

Architizer News

Honey, I Shrunk The Office (Building)

January 15, 2013

Taisei’s Tecorep in action, pulling down a 105-meter building

An ugly tower can be a permanent blot on a city’s skyline. How to fix that? Either populate the surrounding blocks with large high-rises so as to camouflage the eyesore, or simply tear it down, raining dust, noise, and drama on your neighbors below. Contemporary Japanese (de)construction techniques, however, render the entire process relatively dust and drama-free by—hold onto your hats—shrinking the structure. Developed by the Taisei Corp., the technique reverses the additive building process, pulling the tower apart floor-by-floor. Click through for video!

All photos: Taisei Corp.

As its name implies, the “Taisei Ecological Reproduction” (Tecorep) system is being marketed as a sustainable method of demolition, with the company claims that the technology is significantly more energy efficient. The patented design, which Taisei promises is capable of reducing dust by almost 90% and noise by 25%., involves the construction of a giant “hat” containing workers and equipment that’s fitted on top of the condemned building. As the upper stories are dismantled, the hat slides downwards towards the ground until the last floor has been removed.

A Taisei representative explained that the headgear was a sort-of “disassembly factory,” inside which heavy machinery gradually (and quietly) eat away at the structure. The enclosed workspace allows for work in all weather, thus cutting down on both time and subsequent costs. The system also generates its own power, aggregating the weight of the floor loads to produce electricity that’s then fed to lighting and demolition equipment. Watch the video below for a look at how it’s done.