Chicago-based global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) recently announced the completion of its largest project in China to date: the China Resources Qianhai Center, a mixed-use complex in the Qianhai district of Shenzhen. Developed by CR Land, the project includes five towers totaling almost 472,000 square meters (4.6 million sf).
The overall development, which totals more than 500,000 square meters (5.4 million sf), comprises three office towers, a hotel tower, an apartment tower, and a terraced retail complex. GP designed the towers and co-developed the master plan with UK-based design firm Benoy, which also designed the retail complex.
To prioritize the pedestrian experience, the project team combined the original eight-parcel site into two larger blocks, unifying the development and minimizing vehicular traffic within the site. The five towers are arranged around the site’s perimeter to create an urban street wall while also opening the site’s interior for pedestrians. Inside this “financial canyon,” terraced levels reduce the scale of the urban streetscape and provide multiple options for social interaction. In addition, the pedestrian canyon’s lush landscape supports Shenzhen’s “sponge city” requirements to absorb rain and prevent flooding.
As one of the first developments within the recently created Qianhai district, the China Resources Qianhai Center supports a live-work environment to draw people to the neighborhood. The development also aims to project “a character of reserved elegance, quality, and permanence” to attract global finance companies, according to a press statement. As an example: The windows can open and close within the shadows of the building’s double-fin sunshades, reducing visual disruption and maintaining visual cohesion.
On the Building Team:
Owner/developer: China Resources Land Co., Ltd.
Design architects: Goettsch Partners and Benoy
Architect of record, MEP engineer of record, and structural engineer of record: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong
MEP design engineer: Meinhardt
Structural design engineer: WSP
Construction manager: China State Construction Engineering Corporation
China Resources Qianhai Center, Planning Animation (c) Goettsch Partners from Goettsch Partners on Vimeo.
Related Stories
| Dec 12, 2011
Mojo Stumer takes top honors at AIA Long Island Design Awards
Firm's TriBeCa Loft wins "Archi" for interior design.
| Dec 5, 2011
Summit Design+Build begins renovation of Chicago’s Esquire Theatre
The 33,000 square foot building will undergo an extensive structural remodel and core & shell build-out changing the building’s use from a movie theater to a high-end retail center.
| Nov 28, 2011
Leo A Daly and McCarthy Building complete Casino Del Sol expansion in Tucson, Ariz.
Firms partner with Pascua Yaqui Tribe to bring new $130 million Hotel, Spa & Convention Center to the Tucson, Ariz., community.
| Nov 15, 2011
Suffolk Construction breaks ground on the Victor housing development in Boston
Project team to manage construction of $92 million, 377,000 square-foot residential tower.
| Nov 3, 2011
Hardin Construction tops out Orlando Embassy Suites
The project began in April 2011 and is expected to open in fall 2012.
| Sep 30, 2011
Kilbourn joins Perkins Eastman
Kilbourn joins with more than 28 years of design and planning experience for communities, buildings, and interiors in hospitality, retail/mixed-use, corporate office, and healthcare.
| May 20, 2011
Hotels taking bath out of the bathroom
Bathtubs are disappearing from many hotels across the country as chains use the freed-up space to install ever more luxurious showers, according to a recent USAToday report. Of course, we reported on this move--and 6 other hospitality trends--back in 2006 in our special report "The Inn Things: Seven Radical New Trends in Hotel Design."
| May 18, 2011
Design diversity celebrated at Orange County club
The Orange County, Calif., firm NKDDI designed the 22,000-sf Luna Lounge & Nightclub in Pomona, Calif., to be a high-end multipurpose event space that can transition from restaurant to lounge to nightclub to music venue.
| Apr 12, 2011
Retail complex enjoys prime Abu Dhabi location
The Galleria at Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi will be built in a prime location within Sowwah Island that also includes a five-star Four Seasons Hotel, the healthcare facility Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and nearly two million sf of Class A office space.