The two-hour long lecture included a discussion of the building’s concept and framing, structural analysis performed, geotechnical conditions at the site, and the unique design challenges of this structure.

The Shanghai Tower will be the tallest building in the Pudong District of Shanghai. The exterior of the glass-and-steel tower is a twisting triangle that tapers with increasing height. The 632 meter- (2,073 foot) high tower has 128 stories and drapes around an inner concrete structure comprising of nine cylinders stacked one on top of another. It has a total of 380,000 square meters (4,090,285 square feet) of floor area and consists of office space, retail, a luxury hotel and cultural facilities, and the world’s highest non-enclosed observation deck.

The design of the tower project will incorporate the latest sustainable design technology, including innovative skin technologies, self-sustaining energy and waste systems, a double curtain wall system and wind turbines as a source of power for the building. The project will seek certification as a LEED project by the China Green Building Council (in association with the USGBC). The building is expected to cost $2.2 billion with and will be completed in 2014.

Over thirty years of experience, Mr. Dennis Poon has been responsible for the design and construction, including Taipei 101,  New York City’s World Financial Center, Plaza 66 in Shanghai, Chicago the Board of Trade Tower, O'Hare International Airport, and MGM CityCenter hotel, casino and convention center complex in Las Vegas. 

He has extensive expertise on seismic design and performance-based design with complex mixed-use structures worldwide.

In addition to his responsibilities as managing principal of the firm, Dennis is in charge of the firm's international operation with branch offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He has lectured at universities worldwide including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the ACEC National Grand Award for the design of Taipei 101. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Columbia University.