Steven Holl Architects will design the new headquarters for iCarbonX, a genome machine intelligence company, in Shenzhen, China after winning the project’s design competition. The buildings are inspired by the study of genes and DNA with the two towers connected by four green bridges that draw their inspiration from carbon bonds.
The first tower, Body A, will be a residential tower, while the second Tower, Body B, will house offices, labs, and public reception spaces. The towers will also comprise a sky lounge, a gym, a restaurant, a sky atrium, a health club, lecture and exhibition space, dining space, and a business club.
Â
Â
Two green bridges will connect the towers at the top at a health and nutrition circuit with cafes, a gym, and a swimming pool. The lower two bridges connect to form public outreach spaces, a clinic (which anchors the Living and Working towers), galleries, and meeting spaces. All four bridges will be filled with native tropical plants.
Â
See Also: Yeti’s new global headquarters evokes the outdoors
Â
Â
Ground level public space with water gardens and a central recycled-water “Pool of Knowledge” is shaped by curvilinear geometry. The podium-level garden is partially embedded in the ground and uses continuously circulating water to mask the sounds of the city.
Foundation construction for the iCarbonX headquarters is set for Fall 2019. It is slated for completion in 2021.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Gold Award: Westin Book Cadillac Hotel & Condominiums Detroit, Mich.
“From eyesore to icon.” That's how Reconstruction Awards judge K. Nam Shiu so concisely described the restoration effort that turned the decimated Book Cadillac Hotel into a modern hotel and condo development. The tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1924, the 32-story Renaissance Revival structure was revered as a jewel in the then-bustling Motor City.
| Aug 11, 2010
Silver Award: Palmer House Hilton Hotel & Shops Chicago, Ill.
Chicago's Palmer House Hilton holds the record for the longest continuously operated hotel in North America. It was originally built in 1871 by Potter Palmer, one of America's first millionaire developers. When it was rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire it became the first hotel in the U.S. to put a telephone in every room.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gulf Coast Hotel's Stormy Road to Recovery
After his initial tour of the dilapidated 1850s-era Battle House Hotel, Ron Blount, construction manager with Retirement Systems of Alabama, said to his boss: “You need a priest more than you need a contractor.” Those words were more prescient to RSA's restoration of the historic Mobile landmark than he could have known at the time.
| Aug 11, 2010
Lifestyle Hotel Trends Around the World
When the Rocco Forte Collection opens the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily in early 2009, the 200-room luxury property will be one of the world's newest lifestyle hotels. Lifestyle hotels cater to guests seeking a heightened travel experience, which they deliver by offering distinctive—some would say avant-garde, or even outrageous—architecture, room design, amenities, and en...