employ some state-of-the-art engineering. The tower itself is incredibly impressive. As far as signature pieces go, it’s right up there. This thing is both incredibly tall and incredibly thin, making it a real state-of-the-art feat of engineering.
It’s a level of engineering that would have undoubtedly required advanced CAD software, the kind of software that’s now industry standard. Now, while we’re not using that software at the B1M, we are using our computers to develop some pretty advanced 3D models of some of the world’s biggest and most famous buildings.
And for that, we need one hell of a processor. That’s why we’ve teamed up with AMD’s Thread Pro 7000WX series. The thing is an absolute powerhouse designed to handle the very toughest workloads. Even if you’ve got massive design files, demanding software requirements, and a complicated workflow, the Threader Pro can handle it all effortlessly.
You can create photorealistic renders, run in-depth simulations, and hop between tools, all without the fear of lag. and its highfrequency cores pair seamlessly with platforms like Autoesk Revit and Metashape, which is pretty handy if you’re designing one of the world’s tallest buildings. It has incredible memory, too, with fast DDR5, which is perfect for architects or YouTubers with a lot on their plates.
The Thread Ripper has a whopping 96 cores of processing power, which means 3D artists can easily move between tasks. And that’s perfect for us because we’ve always got several different videos on the go. Guys, you can find out more about AMD and how it can power your next project by hitting the link down there in the video description or scanning the QR code on screen right now.
When you guys take the time to go and check out our video sponsors, it really helps us. It helps us continue bringing you guys great stories. So, please do go and check that out. We would really appreciate it. Now, let’s get back to that massive building. It’s composed of a reinforced concrete core coupled with an outrigger and belt trust system.
The design enhances lateral stiffness and helps the building to resist wind and seismic forces. Several high strength steel mega columns around the perimeter help to support the massive load of the tower. These work with the core to provide structural integrity. Now at nearly 600 m tall, the tower had to be engineered to withstand those immense lateral wind loads.
Wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic shaping helped minimize any sway. The building rises from deep pile foundations which are essential for supporting such a heavy structure on Tanzin’s relatively soft ground. These piles reach down dozens of meters into the bedrock to distribute the weight of the skyscraper and prevent settlement.
Its diamond shaped crown meant to house a sky lobby and observation deck is one of the building’s most complex architectural elements and required intricate steelwork and cladding. Though it was never fully fitted out, the plan included over 80 high-speed elevators with zone service for various sections. They would reach speeds of over 10 m a second or 36 km an hour.
Let’s just say it wasn’t an engineering issue that caused construction work to stop on this megat skyscraper. Instead, it was a highly complicated financial system that crumbled like a house of cards. I think we need to understand a little bit of the operation of of Chinese real estate business which is not necessarily the same as the real estate operation in other countries.
>> Firstly, golden finance needed the land the tower is built on. To get that they needed the support of the local government and promising a signature tower for the city is a solid way to go about it. And once you have that land, that’s like 50% of the business. Then you can use that land as collateral, right? To borrow money from the state owner banks.
You get a land, you use land as collateral, you get loans from the banks. The project is is going to carry on without much investment from you. >> At that time, Tan Jin was emerging as a major city in the region. The economy again was taking off. Real estate industry was taking off and also for the city of Tenzin which is is now about 30 to 40 minutes away from Beijing by the highspeed railway.
It had always been an important city in China. So all looked really good. the political motivation, the economical motivation and also the operational model of Chinese real estate business all actually kind of allowed this project to go ahead. >> What’s important to note is that to maintain the integrity of the Chinese property market, new developers are not permitted to start pre-sales on their schemes until authorities have inspected and signed off on the finished product with exemptions typically only granted to established and usually state-owned
firms. At the time, Golden Properties was a publicly listed Hong Kong-based company and a relatively new player in the mainland Chinese market. That meant it had to fully self- finance the entire 10 billion US master plan and wouldn’t be able to begin recouping its investment until each building was completed.
That put the entire scheme in a precarious situation right from the beginning. But if the developer was able to pull up the capital investment and there were no major disruptions to markets during construction, then the rewards would be worth it. They went ahead and construction began on the 18th of August 2008. But then the project stopped in 2015.
So in 2015, what happened was this Hong Kong developer is stock price on the Hong Kong stock market basically dropped to like only about half of it. It’s like a within a couple of days. >> China’s stock markets plunged by over 30% in less than a month. Many developers had borrowed heavily during the stock boom, including through stock pledges using their shares as collateral for loans.
When stock values collapsed, these companies faced margin calls, cash flow issues, and a loss of financing options. Golin’s own share price on the Hong Kong stock exchange plummeted and company chairman Pansu Tong reportedly lost 13 billion US dollars of his own fortune in August. Unrelated to the towers, there was a series of enormous chemical explosions in the port of Tanzhin.
This coupled with the slowing economy made the once booming city less of an attractive destination for the elite. And this financial loss or the dropping of the market value right had a huge impact right on the project. I said earlier right you can get loans from the banks. Nevertheless you still need cash to you know to maintain the operation.
The developer was basically running out of cash right they cannot pay people right for the equipment uh you know cannot pay the construction workers etc. The topping out ceremony in September was meant to reignite confidence in the project, but by December 2015, all work had stopped completely.
The skyscraper now stood as an enormous ghostly concrete skeleton on the Tanzin skyline, and it would stay like that for a decade. Now, Tanzin was far from alone. There were a number of other cities who reached for the heavens, but ultimately couldn’t complete their signature projects. But part of the reason for that was to do with the cities themselves.
There are only two buildings in the entirety of China taller than Golden Finance 117. They’re in Shanghai and Shenzhen, two very different cities from Chiian Jin. >> They have the economy that can support such skyscrapers. But Tenzhin, it does not have that. Just next to it, it you have Beijing, right? Beijing is an even more important city, right? And part of the function of Tenzin, it actually is to to to serve Beijing.
So they were too ambitious, right? Too optimistic when they started such projects. >> Now in 2025, many of these projects are finally seeing new life breathed into them. The stalled 468 m Greenland tower in the southwestern city of Changdu is going to be completed along with golden finance. But the building in the intermittent years has become a sort of strange icon for the city.
Just not in the way developers had wanted. It’s kind of embarrassment particularly for you know the government leaders who initiate such a project. It has weirdly achieve that purpose being a signature right but it’s it’s unfinish it right. So in that sense it’s both an icon and also and also an embarrassment. >> There’s been pressure on the local government for years to finally finish the building or at least make it appear finished on the outside.
There’s also the very real fear that the Chinese economy depends too much on real estate with some sources saying it accounts for about a third of it. >> Local government has accumulated a lot of debt because of the real estate industry. That’s what’s what they call the ticking bomb, right, for the Chinese economy. >> This is something China’s actually been acutely aware of over the past decade.
And we’ve seen these new rules and regulations coming in, effectively restricting the construction of skyscrapers and great big vanity projects. These rules have effectively banned new buildings over 150 m in cities with populations under 3 million. 150 m is the height at which a building can technically be called a skyscraper.
Cities with more than 3 million people can only build to a height of 250 m except in special circumstances. Buildings over 500 meters like the 597 meter Golden Finance 117 are now banned outright. But then a little thing called COVID happened. >> The economy really came into lots of trouble.
So I think there has been in the past like two or 3 years right particular after the pandemic there has been a change of tone. China still needs money from the real estate market, but it needs it in a stable way. >> To achieve the purpose of stabilizing Chinese real estate market, you also need to give people confidence. So, how to do that? Why don’t we resume the projects of this resume this signature projects? It’s kind of like like people buying I don’t know luxury jewelries to tell you that I’m rich.
I’m I’m really committed, right, to do this. I think it’s is is a project to send the singles uh to the market like we are back right for entrepreneurs right you shouldn’t hesitate right we we are we are interested in resumeuming uh the market >> it’s been reported that construction restarted in May 2025 a new construction permit lists a contract value of $78 million US also suggests the developer’s name has now been dropped from the title as gold in finance is now defunct which is nowhere worry to the locals who’ve already
dubbed the skyscraper the walking stick thanks to the diamond on the top of its crown. The new permits been issued to PNT Group and PGI Engineering Consultants, most likely with help from the state government. It’s unclear if this building will still be a hotel and commercial space, especially as it’s now being completed in a China that looks very different from a decade ago.
>> You really need a big investor to come in to say, I need to rent half of the floor or one floor, right? Um but with the economy going down uh foreign companies you know uh some of them have have left China um right so and also the vacancy rates of such skyscrapers I’m talking about the finished ones has already been pretty high.
>> It’s also unclear exactly how the skyscraper will be completed after sitting empty for so long. Chinese officials have stated that either way, the building will be finished in 2027. Most likely, construction workers will have to retrofit outdated systems, address material degragation, and update the building to modern safety codes.
A full inspection of the existing concrete core, steel frame, facade, and foundations to check for weathering, corrosion, and degregation is also going to have to be completed. That’ll be done by taking samples from the steel and concrete skeleton of the building to be tested for strength, especially after being exposed to the elements for a decade.
There may need to be a redesign of internal systems, including the elevators. Electrical and plumbing systems may need to be resppecified to newer standards. Prolonged exposure to the elements and pollution may have caused corrosion of steel reinforcement, spooling or cracking of concrete, and degragation of exposed facade elements. Long-term loadbearing elements are going to need to be checked for fatigue or unanticipated movement, and that’s far from a comprehensive list of the issues.
If the new developers decide to change the building’s use from commercial to say residential, that will require even more retrofitting. One thing for certain is that these construction crews are going to have their work cut out for them. Tanzin will finally get its crown, even if its jewels are hollow.
Don’t forget guys, if you haven’t already, go and check out that link down there in the video description. The AMD Thread Ripper is a seriously impressive bit of kit that could have a big impact on your next project. You can learn more about this and the other topics on our channel over on the world’s best construction podcast available now wherever you get your podcasts.
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