Chicago-based global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) recently announced the completion of its largest project in China to date: the China Resources Qianhai Center, a mixed-use complex in the Qianhai district of Shenzhen. Developed by CR Land, the project includes five towers totaling almost 472,000 square meters (4.6 million sf).
The overall development, which totals more than 500,000 square meters (5.4 million sf), comprises three office towers, a hotel tower, an apartment tower, and a terraced retail complex. GP designed the towers and co-developed the master plan with UK-based design firm Benoy, which also designed the retail complex.
To prioritize the pedestrian experience, the project team combined the original eight-parcel site into two larger blocks, unifying the development and minimizing vehicular traffic within the site. The five towers are arranged around the site’s perimeter to create an urban street wall while also opening the site’s interior for pedestrians. Inside this “financial canyon,” terraced levels reduce the scale of the urban streetscape and provide multiple options for social interaction. In addition, the pedestrian canyon’s lush landscape supports Shenzhen’s “sponge city” requirements to absorb rain and prevent flooding.
As one of the first developments within the recently created Qianhai district, the China Resources Qianhai Center supports a live-work environment to draw people to the neighborhood. The development also aims to project “a character of reserved elegance, quality, and permanence” to attract global finance companies, according to a press statement. As an example: The windows can open and close within the shadows of the building’s double-fin sunshades, reducing visual disruption and maintaining visual cohesion.
On the Building Team:
Owner/developer: China Resources Land Co., Ltd.
Design architects: Goettsch Partners and Benoy
Architect of record, MEP engineer of record, and structural engineer of record: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong
MEP design engineer: Meinhardt
Structural design engineer: WSP
Construction manager: China State Construction Engineering Corporation
China Resources Qianhai Center, Planning Animation (c) Goettsch Partners from Goettsch Partners on Vimeo.
Related Stories
| Apr 6, 2012
Batson-Cook breaks ground on hotel adjacent to Infantry Museum & Fort Benning
The four-story, 65,000-ft property will feature 102 hotel rooms, including 14 studio suites.
| Apr 4, 2012
JCJ Architecture designs New York City's first casino
Aqueduct Racetrack complex transformed into modern entertainment destination.
| Apr 3, 2012
Luxury hotel 'groundscraper' planned in abandoned quarry
Would you spend $300 a night to sleep underground? You might, once you see the designs for China's latest hotel project.
| Mar 16, 2012
Temporary fix to CityCenter's Harmon would cost $2 million, contractor says
By contrast, CityCenter half-owner and developer MGM Resorts International determined last year that the Harmon would collapse in a strong quake and can't be fixed in an economical way. It favors implosion at a cost of $30 million.
| Jan 15, 2012
Smith Consulting Architects designs Flower Hill Promenade expansion in Del Mar, Calif.
The $22 million expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot, two-story retail/office building and a 397-car parking structure, along with parking and circulation improvements and new landscaping throughout.
| Dec 27, 2011
Ground broken for adaptive reuse project
Located on the Garden State Parkway, the master-planned project initially includes the conversion of a 114-year-old, 365,000-square-foot, six-story warehouse building into 361 loft-style apartments, and the creation of a three-level parking facility.
| Dec 19, 2011
Chicago’s Aqua Tower wins international design award
Aqua was named both regional and international winner of the International Property Award as Best Residential High-Rise Development.
| Dec 12, 2011
Mojo Stumer takes top honors at AIA Long Island Design Awards
Firm's TriBeCa Loft wins "Archi" for interior design.
| Dec 5, 2011
Summit Design+Build begins renovation of Chicago’s Esquire Theatre
The 33,000 square foot building will undergo an extensive structural remodel and core & shell build-out changing the building’s use from a movie theater to a high-end retail center.
| Nov 28, 2011
Leo A Daly and McCarthy Building complete Casino Del Sol expansion in Tucson, Ariz.
Firms partner with Pascua Yaqui Tribe to bring new $130 million Hotel, Spa & Convention Center to the Tucson, Ariz., community.
