Image + Text Feb 2008:
Steven Holl Architects wins invited competition with Vanke Center: a horizontal
skyscraper over maximized landscape.
New York – Steven Holl Architects announces the winning design for
the Vanke Center, a progressive new sustainable mixed-use complex in Shenzhen,
China on the South China Sea. The firm was selected from a small list
of invited firms including MVRDV (The Netherlands) and HAE (China). Vanke
Center, set to break ground in April 2007, is located on a 60,000 sq meter
site on the Chinese coast. The building, a floating horizontal skyscraper,
will contain a conference center, hotel, serviced apartments and offices.
Rather than create a series of building shapes that address the various
uses within the complex, Steven Holl Architects’ design combines
all the various programs into one grand vision. Hovering over an inventive
‘sea scribble’ garden, the collision of buildings appears as
if they were once floating on a higher sea, which has now subsided, leaving
them propped up high on glass and white coral-like legs. The open plan
provides space for the intricate multi-faceted daily life at the ground
level to evolve and change.
As a vision of tropical sustainability for the 21st century, Vanke Center
incorporates several new sustainable elements designed specifically for
the development. The floating buildings create a flexible area of shaded
landscape underneath the building, allowing sea and land breezes to pass
through the site. Special geothermal cooled waterscape in the form of
radiative cooling lakes create a microclimate. Moveable faÁade
screens made of special composites protect the inner glass against high
solar and typhoon. Renewable energy such as solar power and geothermal
cooling are among the key issues to be explored in this project.
Within the office portion of the project China Vanke Co., Ltd will have
its main office. China Vanke Co.,Ltd is the largest property developer
(publicly traded) in China. Besides it headquarters in Shenzhen it has
over 20 branch offices around China.
Vanke Center architects -
Steven Holl
Hong Kong Architecture
announcement 2 nov 2006:
Vanke Center: a horizontal skyscraper over maximized landscape
Shenzhen, China
2006-
Images of Vanke Center Models : Courtesy Steven Holl Architects
Shenzhen Buildings
Hong Kong Architects
Shenzhen Building - New Shenzhen
Stock Exchange HQ, China
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Shenzhen Vanke Center China - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt