Built on the site of a former hotel, Shanghai’s T20 combines office, civic, commercial, and cultural space with elevated green ribbons of public walkways at China’s busiest intersection.
The 215,000-sf building divides its uses by floor. Two underground levels are set aside for commercial space, with one of the levels connecting to the Metro City building by an underground gallery. Floors 1 and 2 house a few hundred square meters of community space. Floors 3 through 7 house the public parking garage. The garage unfolds in the form of a continuous spiral to serve the surrounding offices and businesses.
Photo: Jacques Ferrier Architecture / Photo Luc Boegly.
Floors 8 and 9 are shared office space arranged around a large raised garden. These floors also include a reception area, cafeteria, meeting rooms, auditorium, and spaces for relaxation. Floors 10 through 15 were designed as user-friendly office spaces. The top two floors will comprise the cultural center, which has been designed to “float” on the skyline of the district.
See Also: Berlin’s Museum Island receives its first new building in almost 100 years
The design introduces suspended gardens and plantings throughout to help counteract some of the pollution of the neighboring intersection.
Photo: Jacques Ferrier Architecture / Photo Luc Boegly.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Casino Queen breaks ground on $2.15 million entertainment venue
The Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill., is raising the stakes in its bid to capture a larger share of the local gaming market with the start of construction on a new $2.15 million sports bar and entertainment venue that will enhance the overall experience for guests.
| Aug 11, 2010
Outdated office tower becomes Nashville’s newest boutique hotel
A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54 suites, two penthouse apartments, 13,600 sf of meeting space, and seven “cardio” rooms.
| Aug 11, 2010
Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
10% of world's skyscraper construction on hold
Emporis, the largest provider of global building data worldwide, reported that 8.7% of all skyscrapers listed as "under construction" in its database had been put on hold. Most of these projects have been halted in the second half of 2008. According to Emporis statistics, the United States had been hit the worst: at the beginning of 2008, "Met 3" in Miami was the only U.S. skyscraper listed as being "on hold". In the second half of the year, 19 projects followed suit.
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
New website highlights government tax incentives for large commercial buildings
Energy Retrofit Group (ERG), the subsidiary of 40-year-old, award-winning Adache Group Architects, Inc., has announced the creation of their new energy conservation web site: www.energy-rg.com.