Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture recently won the design competition for the Shimao Shenzhen Longgang Master Plan and the associated tower, Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center. The tower is currently envisioned to rise approximately 700 meters (2,296.5 feet).
At this height, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center would become the second tallest tower in the world, about 400 feet shorter than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, and about 200 feet taller than China’s Shanghai Tower.
See Also: Indoor-outdoor amenities open leasing value at a San Francisco skyscraper
The tower will be located at the center of the Shimao Shenzhen Longgang Master Plan and become the main focal point for every office and apartment building within the development. At night, the building will become a visual, sound, and light show to represent the district’s athletic and entertainment purposes.
“The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is anthropomorphic in its character, representing and honoring in an abstract way the athletes that train and struggle to have the opportunity to perform in the world-class stadiums, arenas, and natatorium directly adjacent to and integrated into the overall AS+GG master plan for this project,” says AS+GG Design Partner Adrian Smith, FAIA, in a release.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The tower will also be home to one of the highest observation decks in the world, and include additional club facilities such as a “performance space,” a restaurant, a night club, spa services, and a grand swimming pool. The surrounding mixed-use district will contain five-star hotels, offices, retail, and conference facilities.
In order to meet the project’s goal of LEED Platinum certification, high-performance glass will be used to reduced heat gain, buildings will be oriented to respond to existing environmental solar conditions for enhanced passive solar control, and strategic natural lighting will be used for the interior spaces to increase human comfort levels.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Additionally, predominant winds from the east and northeast will be funneled into the open spaces to provide natural ventilation throughout the site and improve outdoor thermal comfort. Due to Shenzhen’s summer months of heavy rains and flooding, landscape features are being designed to manage heavy rainfalls using engineered soils, retention ponds, native plants, and foliage as a network of systems to recycle the rain water for irrigation and other uses. “Everything in the design is customized to this specific site,” says AS+GG Partner Robert Forest, FAIA, in a release.
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Related Stories
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 16, 2014
Ranked: Top hotel sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Tutor Perini, Gensler, and AECOM top BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from hospitality sector projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Sep 15, 2014
Argentina reveals plans for Latin America’s tallest structure
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announces the winning design by MRA+A Álvarez | Bernabó | Sabatini for the capital's new miexed use tower.
| Sep 5, 2014
First Look: Zaha Hadid's Grace on Coronation towers in Australia
Zaha Hadid's latest project in Australia is a complex of three, tapered residential high-rises that have expansive grounds to provide the surrounding community unobstructed views and access to the town's waterfront.
| Sep 2, 2014
Extreme conversion: 17-story industrial silo to be converted to high-rise housing
As part of Copenhagen's effort to turn an industrial seaport into a bustling neighborhood, Danish architecture firm COBE was invited to convert a grain silo into a residential tower.
| Sep 2, 2014
Melbourne's tallest residential tower will have 'optically transformative façade'
Plans for Melbourne's tallest residential tower have been released by Elenberg Fraser Architects. Using an optically transformative façade and botanical aesthetic, the project seeks to change the landscape of Australia's Victoria state.
| Aug 28, 2014
Stantec releases design for Edmonton's tallest tower
At 227 meters, Stantec Tower will be the tallest building in the city, dwarfing the two next-tallest: Epcor Tower and Manulife Tower.
| Aug 25, 2014
Tall wood buildings: Surveying the early innovators
Timber has been largely abandoned as a structural solution in taller buildings during the last century, in favor of concrete and steel. Perkins+Will's Rebecca Holt writes about the firm's work in surveying the burgeoning tall wood buildings sector.
| Aug 25, 2014
'Vanity space' makes up large percentage of world's tallest buildings [infographic]
Large portions of some skyscrapers are useless space used to artificially enhance their height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Aug 25, 2014
Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos
Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.
