Dynamic analysis of an unsymmetrical high rise building

A complete time history response dynamic analysis is carried out to establish the design seismic loading for the Harbour Centre building in Vancouver. The building has an elevated observation deck and restaurant offset from the centre of the structure. The paper describes the steps and considerations involved in the dynamic analysis such as the dynamic modelling of the structure, the choice of input ground records and the interpretation of the computed results. Whenever possible, the calculated values are compared with the 1975 National Building Code of Canada requirements to provide a proper perspective of the various approaches in establishing design loads for this building.