Sea Dragon in the Pearl Sea

What can link contemporary architectural intent and the painting, which is separated from us with the more than seven centuries? The inspiration for the new tower of Hengqin International Financial Center is the well-known Southern Sung Dynasty painting, Nine Dragons, in which the dragons rise strong and commanding from a stormy sea. Designed by Keith Griffiths and Andy Wen at Aedas, the building takes the form of a flood dragon busting from the sea.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, when lived a Chinese painter, the dragon images were the most popular themes in art.

The image of dragon in China can be found almost everywhere - in temples, palaces, obelisks, and even on the walls of peasant houses (in the form of pictures or paper clippings). 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.

This building, designed by Aedas, is a pioneer development in the Shizimen central business district on Hengqin Island in Zhuhai. Part of the Pearl River Delta, it is in the process of developing into a key financial centre. Zhuhai is also one of China’s premier tourist destinations, being called the Chinese Riviera. Zhuhai borders the Macau Special Administrative Region (north and west), and 140 kilometres (87 miles) southwest of Guangzhou. Its territory includes 146 islands.

Heavy traffic between Zhuhai and Macau has led to the construction of a new crossborder corridor, the Lotus Bridge, built in November 1999 to divert traffic away from the congested Gongbei Port of Entry. As part of the Pearl River Delta integration, a Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is scheduled to be commissioned in 2016. Zhuhai (the only city which will connect Hong Kong and Macau) has become significantly prominent within the Pearl Delta region.

This project on a site overlooking the water is a 334-metre high office and apartment tower which segues into a ground level retail podium with conference, commercial and exhibition facilities.

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Materials provided by Aedas