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.
Â
Related Stories
| May 18, 2011
One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation
The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.
| May 18, 2011
Carnegie Hall vaults into the 21st century with a $200 million renovation
Historic Carnegie Hall in New York City is in the midst of a major $200 million renovation that will bring the building up to contemporary standards, increase educational and backstage space, and target LEED Silver.
| May 17, 2011
Redesigning, redefining the grocery shopping experience
The traditional 40,000- to 60,000-sf grocery store is disappearing and much of the change is happening in the city. Urban infill sites and mixed-use projects offer grocers a rare opportunity to repackage themselves into smaller, more efficient, and more convenient retail outlets. And the AEC community will have a hand in developing how these facilities will look and operate.
| May 17, 2011
Architecture billings index fell in April, hurt by tight financing for projects
The architecture billings index, a leading indicator of U.S. construction activity, fell in April, hurt by tight financing for projects. The architecture billings index fell 2.9 points last month to 47.6, a level that indicates declining demand for architecture services, according to the American Institute of Architects.
| May 17, 2011
Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas
Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.
| May 17, 2011
Gilbane partners with Steel Orca on ultra-green data center
Gilbane, along with Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, has been selected to partner with Steel Orca to design and build a 300,000-sf data center in Bucks County, Pa., that will be powered entirely through renewable energy sources--gas, solar, fuel cells, wind and geo-thermal. Completion is scheduled for 2013.
| May 17, 2011
Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?
Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.
| May 17, 2011
The New Orleans master plan
At an afternoon panel during last week's AIA National Conference in New Orleans, Goody Clancy Principal David Dixon and Manning Principal W. Raymond Manning shared their experiences creating the New Orleans Master Plan, a document that sets a new course for the city, from land use and transportation planning to environmental protection.
| May 17, 2011
Do these buildings look like buffalo to you?
It’s hard to contemplate winter now that we’re mid-spring, but when the seasons change, ice skaters in Winnipeg will be able to keep warm in plywood shelters designed by Patkau Architects. The designers created temporary shelters inspired by animal behavior—specifically, buffalo bracing against the wind. Check them out.