Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture recently won the design competition for the Shimao Shenzhen Longgang Master Plan and the associated tower, Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center. The tower is currently envisioned to rise approximately 700 meters (2,296.5 feet).
At this height, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center would become the second tallest tower in the world, about 400 feet shorter than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, and about 200 feet taller than China’s Shanghai Tower.
See Also: Indoor-outdoor amenities open leasing value at a San Francisco skyscraper
The tower will be located at the center of the Shimao Shenzhen Longgang Master Plan and become the main focal point for every office and apartment building within the development. At night, the building will become a visual, sound, and light show to represent the district’s athletic and entertainment purposes.
“The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is anthropomorphic in its character, representing and honoring in an abstract way the athletes that train and struggle to have the opportunity to perform in the world-class stadiums, arenas, and natatorium directly adjacent to and integrated into the overall AS+GG master plan for this project,” says AS+GG Design Partner Adrian Smith, FAIA, in a release.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The tower will also be home to one of the highest observation decks in the world, and include additional club facilities such as a “performance space,” a restaurant, a night club, spa services, and a grand swimming pool. The surrounding mixed-use district will contain five-star hotels, offices, retail, and conference facilities.
In order to meet the project’s goal of LEED Platinum certification, high-performance glass will be used to reduced heat gain, buildings will be oriented to respond to existing environmental solar conditions for enhanced passive solar control, and strategic natural lighting will be used for the interior spaces to increase human comfort levels.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Additionally, predominant winds from the east and northeast will be funneled into the open spaces to provide natural ventilation throughout the site and improve outdoor thermal comfort. Due to Shenzhen’s summer months of heavy rains and flooding, landscape features are being designed to manage heavy rainfalls using engineered soils, retention ponds, native plants, and foliage as a network of systems to recycle the rain water for irrigation and other uses. “Everything in the design is customized to this specific site,” says AS+GG Partner Robert Forest, FAIA, in a release.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Related Stories
| Aug 25, 2014
Tall wood buildings: Surveying the early innovators
Timber has been largely abandoned as a structural solution in taller buildings during the last century, in favor of concrete and steel. Perkins+Will's Rebecca Holt writes about the firm's work in surveying the burgeoning tall wood buildings sector.
| Aug 25, 2014
'Vanity space' makes up large percentage of world's tallest buildings [infographic]
Large portions of some skyscrapers are useless space used to artificially enhance their height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Aug 25, 2014
Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos
Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.
| Aug 19, 2014
Goettsch Partners unveils design for mega mixed-use development in Shenzhen [slideshow]
The overall design concept is of a complex of textured buildings that would differentiate from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.
| Aug 15, 2014
First look: RMJM’s 'jumping fish' tower design for the Chinese Riviera
The tower's fish-jumping gesture is meant to symbolize the prosperity and rapid transformation of Zhuhai, China.
| Aug 12, 2014
Shading prototype could allow new levels of environmental control for skyscraper occupants
Developed by architects at NBBJ, Sunbreak uses a unique three-hinged shade that morphs from an opaque shutter to an abstract set of vertical blinds to an awning, depending on what is needed.
| Aug 6, 2014
Vegetated residential tower breaks ground in Taiwan
With vegetated balconies reaching the full height of the 100-meter tower, the One More residential development aims to establish a relationship between its residents and nature.
| Aug 5, 2014
New bomb-proof concrete mixture used in One World Trade Center
The new concrete mix deforms instead of breaking, removing the threat of flying debris in an explosive attack.
| Jul 30, 2014
Wolf Point high-rise development begins construction in Chicago
Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the 48-story luxury residential tower is part of a three-tower mixed-use development along the Chicago River.
| Jul 24, 2014
High-rise 'slum' in Venezuela to be shuttered
Authorities have decided to move 4,400 squatters out of Venezuela's third-tallest skyscraper, allegedly to investigate the structural soundness of the tower.