Architecture firm Goettsch has been hired by developer China Resources Land Limited to design a massive project located in Neighborhood 2 of Shenzhen’s Qianhai district. The project covers 6.18 hectares and includes five commercial towers totaling 450,000 square meters—the firm’s largest project to-date in China.
The overall development totals 503,000 square meters and includes three office towers, a five-star hotel tower, an apartment tower, shopping mall, and retail stores. Goettsch is designing all of the towers, as well as the hotel and apartment podiums and their affiliated program spaces. UK-based design firm Benoy is developing the master plan and designing the shopping mall and retail areas.
The Qianhai district is a special economic zone designated for an ambitious $45 billion overall development to transform the 15-square-kilometer area into the “Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta.” Neighborhood 2 is the most recent of three Qianhai parcels sold.
The overall design concept is one of a unified complex composed of buildings with related yet individual exterior characteristics and facades designed with a textured elegance that differentiates them from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.
A metallic-painted aluminum frame with consistent spacing between verticals prioritizes internal planning flexibility for the office towers. The spacing between horizontal frame elements varies from a two-story to a four-story rhythm in order to respond more individually to each office building’s height and proportions.
The frame’s vertical component is accentuated by means of double fins; this character is countered by an expression of double horizontal fins on the hotel and apartment towers that create a related yet different appearance while affording maximum flexibility for views and natural ventilation.
“We are delighted and honored to win this prestigious commission,” said James Zheng, AIA, LEED AP, President of Goettsch Partners. “We are confident to design a modern, bold and highly sustainable world class complex for the new Qianhai district.”
The commission marks Goettsch Partner’s latest project for China Resources Land. Other assignments include the Grand Hyatt Dalian, an over 400-meter-tall mixed-use tower in Nanning, the Hotel Kapok Shenzhen Bay, and two additional towers at Shenzhen Bay.
Related Stories
| Jul 20, 2012
2012 Giants 300 Special Report
Ranking the leading firms in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction.
| Jul 20, 2012
Data Centers Report: Demand ‘exploding’
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Data Center sector.
| Jul 20, 2012
Office Report: Fitouts, renovations keep sector moving
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Office sector.
| Jul 20, 2012
K-12 Schools Report: ‘A lot of pent-up need,’ with optimism for ’13
The Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the K-12 Schools Sector.
| Jul 20, 2012
Higher education market holding steady
But Giants 300 University AEC Firms aren’t expecting a flood of new work.
| Jul 20, 2012
3 important trends in hospital design that Healthcare Giants are watching closely
BD+C’s Giants 300 reveals top AEC firms in the healthcare sector.
| Jul 20, 2012
Global boom for hotels; for retail, not so much
The Giants 300 Top 10 Firms in the Hospitality and Retail sectors.
| Jul 20, 2012
Gensler, Stantec, Turner lead ‘green’ firms
The Top 10 AEC Firms in Green Buildings and LEED Accredited Staff.
| Jul 19, 2012
Renovation resurgence cuts across sectors
Giants 300 reconstruction sector firms ‘pumping fresh blood in tired spaces.’