KBC Tower

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The KBC Tower is frequently cited as 'the first skyscraper of Europe'.
• In 1981 the building became a National Protected Monument.
• The foundation of this building is a reinforced concrete plate, with a thickness of 2m under the tower and 1m elsewhere. This plate was placed on a first concrete base plate, required for equalization of the ground surface.
• Foundation pressure under the harshest conditions, amounts between 3.4 kg/cm² and 4.1 kg/cm².
• The first time in Belgium steel was used in a building for the frame construction.
• About 180 000 bolts and 340 000 rivets were used in the construction of the steel frame.
• For the steel frame, which took about four months to be built, about 3400 tons of steel was used.
• About 7000 m³ ground was excavated.
• About 4 700 000 bricks were used in the construction.
• About 500 tons of steel was used in concrete.
• The roof required 900 m² or 6000 kg of red copper.
• When finished, there were four elevators in the tower, which had a speed of 1.5 m/s and could transport all together about 10 000 people a day.
• Currently the lower part of the building has 13 elevators, while the tower itself has two.
• From September 5 to 7, 1944 about 50 shells from German artillery hit the tower.
• The building's elevators typically travel at a speed of between 1 and 2.5 m/s.
• The building was 87.5 meters high when it opened. In 1976 another 8.5 meters were added to the top.
• On January 6 1945, the tower was hit by a V2 rocket. Just like with the shell strikes previously, this did not damage the steel construction, but made a big hole in the façade.
• The 26th floor houses a water tank with a volume of 230m3. Today, this water tank serves as a buffer in case of fire.