🔹 Tower DescriptionÂ
The One Wall Centre is a 48-storey residential and hotel tower located at 1088 Burrard Street, on the southern edge of Vancouver’s downtown core. Reaching 150 meters to the roof (157.8 m including the spire), it ranks among the city’s tallest and most architecturally prominent structures. Â
The tower houses a 733-room Sheraton Hotel on the lower floors and luxury residences above, supported by a curving podium with commercial and retail spaces, all linked by a landscaped public plaza.Â
The building stands atop a multi-level underground parking garage and a large convention and ballroom facility, both hidden beneath a public rooftop garden, maximizing usable urban space.Â
With its slender, elliptical profile and a 7:1 height-to-width ratio, the structure required advanced engineering to address wind and seismic forces. A central reinforced concrete shear core, perimeter columns, and a unique outrigger system—spanning four floors with deep concrete beams—provide lateral stability by transferring forces to the exterior.Â
 To further reduce wind-induced motion and improve occupant comfort, a Tuned Liquid Column Damper (TLCD) was installed at the tower’s crown. Â
This system features two 227,000-liter rooftop water tanks, which act as passive dampers and also serve as emergency fire suppression reserves.Â
A full-scale Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) was conducted to verify the structure’s dynamic behavior. Wind-induced accelerations were recorded and analyzed to extract modal properties, confirming that the TLCD was properly tuned and effectively reduced structural vibrations—ensuring both safety and long-term comfort.Â
Measurements were carried out on April 10, 2001 by Professor Carlos Ventura, Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia, using the ARTeMIS software from SVIBS.Â
The purpose of the test was to provide information to the structural engineer with the actual dynamic properties of the building before the liquid tuned mass damper was activated. This helped with the "tuning" of the damper.Â
7 Test Setups, each with 8 to 12 channels, were used to conduct the entire test. 2 reference accelerometers were fixed in the upper corner; the remaining accelerometers were rowing from top to bottom of the building. The measurement duration was 36 minutes.Â
In particular, the following methods were used: Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) and Extended Unweighted Principal Components - Stochastic Subspace Identification method (SSI-UPCX)Â Â
A detailed description of the test they did can be found in the following papers:Â Â
FEM Updating of Tall Buildings Using Ambient Vibration DataÂ
FEM Updating Using Ambient Vibration Data from a 48-storey Building Â
in Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaÂ
Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering Jeju International Convention Center, Seogwipo, Korea, August 25-28, 2003Â
Palle Andersen
Managing Director, Ph.D.
Niels Jernes Vej 10
9220 Aalborg East, Denmark
