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Architects: KPF
- Area: 210000 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Tim Griffith
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Manufacturers: Cava Romana, ETMA, Outokumpu, United Anodisers
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Architect of Record: CCDI
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Lead Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Text description provided by the architects. The China Resources Headquarters tower anchors the burgeoning Houhai District with a design distinguished by its innovative structure and geometric purity, relaying a cultural message about the company’s history and growth. Inspired by the winter bamboo shoot, the 400-meter tower features a light, stable and fast-to-erect tube and diagrid system that is expressed in its tapered, sculptural form. Rendered in a pre-fabricated column and steel units, the system affords column-free interiors, in turn allowing greater expression of the tower’s radial symmetry and more boutique floorplates as it rises.
The 56 vertical columns converge into 28 columns at the lower and upper sections of the tower, forming a series of entry portals at the tower’s base and merging to a singular point at its peak. At these junctures, faceted, triangular glass panels illuminate at night with a jewel-like brilliance across Shenzhen’s waterfront business district.
In particular, the tower’s “sky hall” is as a conical, cathedral-like space offering visitors stunning views of the diagrid spire -- it is one the few high-rises in the world in which people can occupy its absolute highest point. In this vein, China Resources Headquarters also crowns the larger, KPF-planned development that stitches retail, residential, and office amenities with 2,000 square meters of public space and the city’s greenbelt and waterfront. Together, the tower and complex invigorate Shenzhen’s urban fabric while providing one of the country’s premier companies with a visual icon for its historic growth and stature.
