Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) has announced the completion of the third-tallest building in Shenzhen. The China Resources Headquarters, a 400-meter-tall commercial office tower, stitches together retail, residential, and office functions surrounded by 2,000 square meters of public space.

The tower, inspired by the shape of winter bamboo shoots, seeks to “invigorate Shenzhen’s urban fabric while providing one of the country’s premier companies with a visual icon symbolizing its historic growth and prominent stature.”

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The scheme is constructed of a light, stable tube and diagrid structural system, producing a tapered, sculptural form. The system allows for column-free interiors, further expressing the tower’s radial symmetry. As the tower rises, the prefabricated column and steel units rise and converge, from 56 vertical columns at the base to 28 at the top.

The convergence of structural columns forms a series of “entry portals” at the base, merging at a peak towards the top. At the triangular juncture where the columns meet, faceted glass panels illuminate at night to create a “jewel-like brilliance across Shenzhen’s waterfront business district.” At the tower’s peak, a “sky hall” offers a conical, cathedral-like space which is one of few high-rises in the world that is habitable at its highest point.

It was an honor to work on this headquarters tower with China Resources, one of the nation’s oldest and most important companies. The conical tower design shows a geometric boldness that reflects China Resources’ pride in their past and confidence in the future. By marking the skyline, it will be one of the most recognizable buildings of Shenzhen, China’s leading technology city.

-James von Klemperer, President, KPF

The scheme marks the latest accolade for KPF, who have designed the tallest buildings in Paris (Tour First), Seoul (Lotte World Tower), Beijing (CITIC Tower), and Shenzhen (Ping An Finance Centre).

Last month, the firm released images of their proposed Huamu Lot 10 towers in Shanghai, seeking to create a “new participatory urbanism,” as well as their scrolling tower in Tel Aviv.

News via: KPF