Nine Dragons for Zhuhai
We have come to expect expressive architectural forms from international design practice Aedas, so it came as no surprise when we received renderings for the firm’s latest high-rise venture: Hengqin International Financial Center.
Released soon after the completion of the unusual Aedas-designed Sandcrawler for George Lucas in Singapore, the Hengqin International Financial Center in Zhuhai, China takes its inspiration from a historical painting dating back to the Southern Sung Dynasty.
Nine Dragons sees a pair of dragons rising up out of a stormy sea, and Keith Griffiths and Andy Wen at Aedas have taken this as their starting point for the design of the new commercial and residential tower. A press release reads: “In ancient Chinese literature the flood dragons are magical creatures capable of invoking storms and floods and is often used to describe a newborn power – an apt symbol for a new building devoted to the development of an experimental financial zone.”
The development rises 334m high, beginning at ground level with a retail podium comprising conference, commercial and exhibition facilities. As the mass rises, it splits into four tower components designed to symbolise the convergence of talents of Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
In order to smoothly blend the connection between the retail podium and the tower above, Aedas has transferred the vertical elements around a corner, transforming them into the podium roof in a single fluid motion.
Aedas