The buildings in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Great Bay Area are exposed to typhoons and rainstorms annually. To improve the disaster mitigation and safety requirements of the metal cladding system of buildings in Great Bay Area, a series of new forms of disaster mitigation and reinforcement systems of building metal cladding were developed. Under the support of experts from Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction and related national associations, through the CMA/CNAS accredited laboratory established by Macao in Zhuhai, a number of new equipment and testing methods were developed, and the technical methods for design, testing, evaluation and reinforcement of metal cladding systems were proposed. The technical standards for building metal cladding system in Great Bay Area have been drafted and released. The innovative solutions for the safety evaluation and engineering application were provided for the building metal cladding system in Great Bay Area to resist the combined action of strong wind, rainstorm, impact, temperature and wind vibration. The building metal cladding system constructed or reinforced based on the research results of this project has successfully withstood many strong typhoons and rainstorms, further demonstrating the technical significance and importance for improving the safety and reliability of the building metal cladding system in the Great Bay Area. The contributions from the project has remarkably promoted the technological progress of the construction industry in the Great Bay Area.

Fig 1 The chief engineer of national steel structure engineering technology research center inspects the wind resistance test

Fig 2 Experts from Tsinghua University and National Association instruct fire test of cladding system

Fig 3 Wind resistant reinforcement provided by wind tunnel laboratory in South China University of Technology