Triangular tower targets travelers

Chicago-based Goettsch Partners is designing a new mixed-use high-rise for the Chinese city of Dalian, located on the Yellow Sea coast. Developed by Hong Kong-based China Resources Land Limited, the tower will have almost 1.1 million sf, which includes a 377-room Grand Hyatt hotel, 84 apartments, three restaurants, banquet space, and a spa and fitness center. The tower’s triangular form with rounded corners serves three purposes: it helps minimize the structural impact of the high-force winds common to the Dalian coastline; it accelerates wind speed to better propel the building’s vertical-axis wind turbines; and it orients all rooms toward water and mountain views. Completion is expected in 2011.