Location: Hangzhou, China
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Due to be completed this year after some delay, the Hangzhou Wangchao Center will be a landmark in this rapidly expanding city.
The Wangchao Centre, created by SOM, will soar 54 stories above the city, not far from a brand-new subway stop.
The building will provide about 125,000 square meters of new hotel, retail, and office space once it is finished.
A cohesive architectural and engineering approach gave the tower its expressive silhouette. With eight mega-columns that slope outward at the corners to generate enormous, flexible floor plates, an effective structural system reduces wind loads. Secondary perimeter columns branch out to preserve equal column bays when the corner columns go farther apart. A Vierendeel transfer truss connects the corner columns and secondary columns above the lobby, resulting in an open lobby area below. Planar glass panels can be used for the entire cladding because to the highly rationalized undulating façade.
