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 2, 2010
GKV Architects wins best guest room design award for Park Hyatt Istanbul
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects, PC won the prestigious Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design for best guest room, Park Hyatt Macka Palas, Istanbul, Turkey. Park Hyatt Maçka Palace marries historic and exotic elements with modern and luxurious, creating a unique space perpetuating Istanbul’s current culture. In addition to the façade restoration, GKV Architects designed 85 guestrooms, five penthouse suites, an ultra-hip rooftop bar, and a first-of-its-kind for Istanbul – a steakhouse, for the luxury hotel.
| Nov 16, 2010
CityCenter’s new Harmon Hotel targeted for demolition
MGM Resorts officials want to demolish the unopened 27-story Harmon Hotel—one of the main components of its brand new $8.5 billion CityCenter development in Las Vegas. In 2008, inspectors found structural work on the Harmon didn’t match building plans submitted to the county, with construction issues focused on improperly placed steel reinforcing bar. In January 2009, MGM scrapped the building’s 200 condo units on the upper floors and stopped the tower at 27 stories, focusing on the Harmon having just 400 hotel rooms. With the Lord Norman Foster-designed building mired in litigation, construction has since been halted on the interior, and the blue-glass tower is essentially a 27-story empty shell.
| Nov 3, 2010
Rotating atriums give Riyadh’s first Hilton an unusual twist
Goettsch Partners, in collaboration with Omrania & Associates (architect of record) and David Wrenn Interiors (interior designer), is serving as design architect for the five-star, 900-key Hilton Riyadh.
| Oct 6, 2010
From grocery store to culinary school
A former West Philadelphia supermarket is moving up the food chain, transitioning from grocery store to the Center for Culinary Enterprise, a business culinary training school.
| Sep 30, 2010
Luxury hotels lead industry in green accommodations
Results from the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey showed that luxury and upper-upscale hotels are most likely to feature green amenities and earn green certifications. Results were tallied from 8,800 respondents, for a very respectable 18% response rate. Questions focused on 14 green-related categories, including allergy-free rooms, water-saving programs, energy management systems, recycling programs, green certification, and green renovation.
| Sep 13, 2010
Conquering a Mountain of Construction Challenges
Brutal winter weather, shortages of materials, escalating costs, occasional visits from the local bear population-all these were joys this Building Team experienced working a new resort high up in the Sierra Nevada.
| Aug 11, 2010
Accor North America launches green hotel pilot program
Accor North America, a division of Accor Hospitality, has announced that it will pilot the Green Key Eco-Rating Program within its portfolio in the United States in 2010. Green Key is the first program of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts based on their commitment to sustainable "green" practices; the Accor North America pilot will involve 20 properties.
| Aug 11, 2010
CTBUH changes height criteria; Burj Dubai height increases, others decrease
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)—the international body that arbitrates on tall building height and determines the title of “The World’s Tallest Building”—has announced a change to its height criteria, as a reflection of recent developments with several super-tall buildings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 International Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
