Chinese High Records
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill has unveiled its design for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center, a 700-metre tall glass tower in Shenzhen, China.
The megatall skyscraper is set to become the tallest building in China, and the world’s third tallest building behind SOM’s 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the 1,000-metre-high Jeddah Tower, which is under construction in Saudi Arabia.
Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is being designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill for Chinese property developers Shiamo Group, which first revealed the design in May 2018 – but didn’t disclose details of the architect at the time. To put the new edifice size into perspective, the building will be over twice the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, and around the same height as nine Boeing 747-8 airliners, stacked nose to tail.
It will be built between the foothills of Longcheng Park and the Dayun National Park, and form part of the Chicago-based architect’s wider masterplan for the Longgang district in the east of the city.
The visuals released by the practice show the skyscraper’s twisted, “anthropomorphic” form, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill in reference to its proximity to several major sporting venues in the district. The wider masterplan imagines a mixed-use district for Shenzhen, which connects with the tower and comprises a large retail facility, apartment towers, a cultural centre, a five-star hotel, a library and offices.
Shenzhen-Hong International Center joins the boom of big building projects currently being designed and constructed in Shenzhen, which accounted for 10 percent of the 2018’s record number of supertall skyscrapers completed worldwide.
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (AS+GG)
