Bjarke Ingels Group’s new Shenzhen tower includes a folded building envelope

Pleats may be out when it comes to pants, but Bjarke Ingels Group seems to think they look pretty good on skyscrapers.

The design firm’s new 96,000-sm office development for the Shenzhen Energy Company in Shenzhen, China uses an undulating building envelope that creates a rippled skin around the development’s two connected buildings. Folding parts of the envelope reduces solar loads and flare and creates a façade with closed and open parts that oscillate between transparency and opacity.

Shenzhen Energy Company headquarters Photo: Chao Zhang.

The façade’s shape corresponds to the solar orientation, maximizing north-facing openings for natural light and views and minimizing exposure on the sunny sides. The façade is stretched out within the protruded areas of the buildings and two smooth deformations create large spaces for meeting rooms, executive clubs, and staff facilities. The façade system manages to reduce overall energy consumption of the building without any moving parts or complex technology.

The development consists of two towers, a north tower that rises 220 meters and a south tower that rises 120 meters, that are linked together via a 34 meter podium. The podium contains main lobbies, a conference center, a cafeteria, and exhibition space.

Exterior facade of Shenzhen Energy Headquarters Photo: Chao Zhang.

Visitors will enter from the north and south ends of the buildings while employees will enter from the front plaza into the naturally-lit plaza. The Shenzhen Energy Company offices will occupy the highest floors with the rest left available as rentable office space.

ARUP and Transsolar collaborated with BIG on the project, which started construction in 2012.

Interior Shenzhen Energy Headquarters Photo: Chao Zhang.

Interior of the Shenzhen Energy headquarters Photo: Chao Zhang.

On April 17, Michael F. Engestrom, Dann H. Hall, Michael A. West, Stephen A. Mahin, Wallace W. Sanders, Jr., Mark V. Holland, Steven C. Ball, Rafael Sabelli, Judy Liu and William J. Wright will be recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) for their exceptional contributions to the advancement of the structural steel design and construction industry.

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Shenzhen projects halted as Chinese officials find substandard concrete

Construction on multiple projects in Guangdong Province—including the 660-m Ping'an Finance Center—has been halted after inspectors in Shenzhen, China, have found at least 15 local plants producing concrete with unprocessed sea sand, which undermines building stabity.

| Mar 14, 2013

25 cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings

Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago top EPA's list of the U.S. cities with the greatest number of Energy Star certified buildings in 2012.

| Feb 28, 2013

Lend Lease builds world's tallest timber apartment building

Construction giant Lend Lease recently put the finishing touches on Forté, a 10-story apartment complex in Melbourne, Australia's Victoria Harbour that was built entirely with cross laminated timber (CTL) technology.

| Feb 21, 2013

AIA College of Fellows awards 2013 Latrobe Prize for 'The City of 7 Billion'

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows has awarded the 2013 Latrobe Prize of $100,000 for the proposal, “The City of 7 Billion.”