Situated in New Zealand’s South Island, the Sutherland Falls, cascading in three soaring levels, were long believed to be the tallest waterfalls in New Zealand.
The famous waterfalls bring inspiration to the Sutherland tower, the second building set to rise at Acqua Private Residences by Century Properties Group. The Acqua Private Residences are a six-tower master planned development on 2.4 hectares, directly across from Rockwell and accessible via a new bridge over the Pasig River in Manila, Philippines.
The project’s six towers are named after some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The first tower to rise at Acqua will be the 42-storey Niagara Tower, named after the waterfalls on the border between New York State and Canada. The second tower is the 44-storey Sutherland Tower. Other waterfalls giving their names to the towers are the Iguaza, in Brazil, Detifoss, in Iceland, Victoria, in Zambia and Yosemite, the famous United States national park and its waterfalls. These five towers will rise to 50 stories.
Since 2010, Sy^2 + Associates, Inc. has engaged the services of AIT Consulting to carry out the Structural Performance-Based Evaluation of Niagara Tower, Acqua’s first residential tower, resting on a 6-level podium which consists mainly of a car park. The tower is currently under construction.
AIT Consulting has been awarded the Structural Performance-Based Evaluation project for the Sutherland Tower, as well. The building, similar to the first tower, is a reinforced concrete building supported by a pile foundation. The structural system of the building is a dual system, comprised of shear walls with a special moment-resisting frame. The main objective of the evaluation, similar to the work on the Niagara Tower, is to evaluate the structural performance of the building to determine whether the overall performance and reliability of the building under the effects of gravity and lateral loadings will satisfy public safety requirements.
