The Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)-designed Zhengzhou Greenland Plaza has opened its doors to its office users. The circular 60-story tower takes its place as the tallest building in the central Chinese city. Located in the northeast portion of Zhengzhou, the 919-feet tower’s circular form is a response to the surrounding development’s shape that centers on a manmade lake.
The 2.59-million-square-feet building houses a mixed-use program of offices on its lower floors and a 416-room hotel above. Daylighting was a key driver of the building’s design. Three- to five-story-tall light-gauge painted aluminum screens are configured at an outward cant that enhances interior daylighting through scientifically calculated reflections while protecting the all-glass exterior from solar gain. The screens provide multiple performance and aesthetic-related roles. The same outward cant that aids daylighting allows for a nuanced approach to artificial lighting, providing outboard locations for dramatic nighttime lighting of the building that make the tower a beacon. The screens are located between one and two-meters from the building’s curtain wall—allowing window washing to occur behind the screens. Their visual porosity varies depending on a viewer’s location. When close to the building’s base, the tower appears to be primarily metal; from a distance, the panels are more open and the building’s glass nature is revealed. The rhythmic cant of the screens, combined with their decreasing size as they rise on the building, creates a dynamic movement that gives the building a fine-grained texture that relates to the building’s humanistic aspirations.
The form of the tower tapers slightly as it rises. “We conceived the building as a classical column,” SOM Design Director Ross Wimer says. “Its iconic image comes from this timeless form—adapted with cutting-edge, 21st century technologies to create a building that expresses our time.” These innovations include a heliostat that crowns the building and reflects daylight throughout the hotel atrium. “Like the solar screening, the heliostat is a scientifically-derived element that enhances the experience of daylight for the building’s users,” Wimer says. The device allows daylight to be reflected and focused into the atrium whose surfaces are finished to help drive light deep into the space. Computer-controlled dimmer switches modulate the light level-based on the illumination provided by the reflector, enabling the atrium to consume less energy and generate less heat throughout the year.
Wimer notes that, while not unheard of, circular skyscrapers remain somewhat unusual. Among the best known examples are Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City in Chicago, Sir Norman Foster’s 30 St. Mary Axe in London, Jean Nouvel’s Torre Agbar in Barcelona, and Adolf Loos’ unbuilt scheme for the Chicago Tribune Tower. +
Related Stories
| Apr 6, 2013
Lord, Aeck & Sargent and Urban Collage merge
In a move that brings full-service planning expertise to its already well-established architecture practice, Lord, Aeck & Sargent (LAS) has merged with Urban Collage (UC), one of the largest urban and campus planning and design firms in the Southeast. Combining these firms’ talents was made official today. UC plans to retain its name for the foreseeable future.
| Apr 6, 2013
First look: GlaxoSmithKline's double LEED Platinum office
GlaxoSmithKline and Liberty Property Trust/Synterra Partners transform the work environment with the opening of Five Crescent Drive
| Apr 5, 2013
Bangkok gets a leaning tower, that may topple
A seven-story apartment tower under construction in Bangkok has started to tilt and is on the verge of toppling.
| Apr 5, 2013
Snøhetta design creates groundbreaking high-tech library for NCSU
The new Hunt Library at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, incorporates advanced building features, including a five-story robotic bookBot automatic retrieval system that holds 2 million volumes in reduced space.
| Apr 5, 2013
'My BIM journey' – 6 lessons from a BIM/VDC expert
Gensler's Jared Krieger offers important tips and advice for managing complex BIM/VDC-driven projects.
| Apr 5, 2013
Commercial greenhouse will top new Whole Foods store in Brooklyn
Whole Foods and partner Gotham Greens will create a 20,000-sf greenhouse atop one of the retailer's Brooklyn supermarkets. Expected to open this fall, the facility will supply produce to nine Whole Foods stores in metro New York City.
| Apr 5, 2013
Projected cost for Apple's Campus 2 balloons to $5 billion
Campus 2, Apple Inc.'s proposed ring-shaped office facility in Cupertino, Calif., could cost $5 billion to build, according to a report by Bloomberg.
| Apr 5, 2013
Extreme LEGO: Wondrous micro city built out of 200,000 blocks
Master LEGO builder Mike Doyle unveils his latest creation, an out-of-this-world micro city that celebrates peaceful alien contact.
| Apr 3, 2013
AIA CES class: Sealant repairs that last – hybrid sealants for building restoration
It is hard to talk about restoration without talking about sustainability. This two-hour interactive online course discusses the role that restoration can and does play in the arena of sustainability, and specifically the role that sealants play in sustainable design and repair.
| Apr 3, 2013
Construction spending up 20% since 2011, growth will continue, says Gilbane report
The monthly rate of construction spending is up 20% in 24 months and increased in 18 of the last 24 months, which is a good leading indicator for new construction work in Q3-Q4 2013, according to Gilbane's latest Market Conditions in Construction report.