PH Alpha Design: The project site which is in the centre of eastern Shenzhen is very well served in terms of public transport from both the adjacent overground metro rail and Longgang Avenue, a major urban road connecting directly into central Shenzhen. The land to the north of the site will be developed as a residential area.
The project involves the façade design for a 5-story retail podium and a 180-metre high-rise office landmark tower. The retail podium and office tower extend along and open out to the busy Longgang Avenue, providing not only excellent display and advertising opportunities but a clearly defined and separate main entrance to the office tower at ground floor level. On the southeastern side, the building setbacks allow the formation of a large urban plaza and the smooth curving form of the podium facade defines and highlights the main entrance to the retail mall.
The design concept of the tower originates from the motif associated with the traditional Chinese ‘Lucky Cloud’ – a symbol of luck and heaven. The spiral curve at the top of the tower creates sky gardens and terraces at different levels and orientations to provide views throughout the full 360-degree panorama. The tower profile and facade continue directly through the podium to ground to provide a clearly identifiable, totally separate and easily accessible main entrance to the office accommodation. To take advantage of the continuity of views at the corners of the tower building, without being impeded by overlapping mullions, the façade has been designed in a large radius curve form.
The design concept of the podium comes from the wave movement of water. The horizontal waveform that wraps around the podium both terminates at the office tower to allow the form of the building to be easily identifiable from ground level upwards, and, also rotates inwards at the southeast corner of the site to create the main entrance to the retail mall. The facade of the retail podium is formed from three different systems: zig-zag glass for the upper levels, alternating vertical clear/fritted glass strips and duo coloured metal panels for the wave, and, clear glass at ground level. The huge and highly visible curving LED screen at the entrance to the retail mall mirrors the cinema accommodation provided in the retail podium and not only brings to life the main entrance plaza but acts as a shining beacon for the whole development.
