Visited NYC this past weekend and saw multiple buildings that were at least 30-40 stories high, but the base wasn’t finished yet. Why do you keep building upwards and finishing windows instead of finishing the bottom and then doing the same?
In: Engineering
> Why do you keep building upwards and finishing windows instead of finishing the bottom and then doing the same?
Many large buildings are designed with the assumption that their outer shell will be in place, not that their frame will be exposed to the weather. Beyond the aesthetics there is also a safety angle to consider, where ongoing work within the building can benefit from a barrier between them and open air. You probably don’t want to start laying down carpet when there aren’t even windows in yet.
Try thinking about your question in the context of a smaller building, like a 2 story house. How do you think you are going to feel living on a fully furnished first floor, when the second floor is unfinished and there is no roof? What do you think is going to happen when it rains?
Imagine walking in to the completed first floor of your skyscraper and wanting to go up to the 4th floor to your office. The receptionist is like “Well, you can’t take the elevator because the cables anchor at the top and that isn’t like… built yet. Also the elevator shaft is open to the sky for the top, like, 20 floors, so it is basically a waterfall sometimes. The same for the stairwells really. There was some engineer here saying something about most skyscrapers needing a mechanical floor about every 10 floors, so that might be why the toilets, air conditioning, and electricity doesn’t work. But yah, there is like, furniture there, or whatever.”
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