Infinity Bridge by 10 Design and Buro Happold Wins Competition

Image via Bustler10 Design and Culver City-based Buro Happold were recently announced as the winners of international Zhuhai Shizimen Bridge Competition. The winning design, called the Infinity Loop Bridge, is intended for Zhuhai, China, where the 300-meter bridge will create a gateway to a planned commercial hub in South China, connecting the Shizimen Canal to the Pearl River Delta. The winning partnership is the first for the two successful firms (although Buro Happold also recently won a competition to design the Metro West–Liffey Valley Bridge in Ireland.

According to a project description by the architects (via Bustler), the bridge’s takes shape from an “undulating ribbon of structure that wraps around the 6 lane road deck in a continuous sculptural loop form.” The triangle shapes provide a new take on the suspension bridge, supporting the deck of the bridge from two distinct spans. The loop also forms the reflection of a double eight figure—a Chinese symbol of prosperity—in the water below the bridge.

Image via Bustler

SOM Wins Competition for Greenland Group's Suzhou Center in Wujiang, China

 

The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) announced that it has won an international competition to design the Greenland Group Suzhou Center, on Taihu Lake in Wujiang, China, reports Dezeen. The 358-meter supertall tower will top out at 75 stories and will contain a mixed-use program that could comprise a small city--with office, apartments, hotel, and retail uses on site. 

The most striking feature of the exterior design is the 30-story high operable window that spans the hotel and residential floors.

The building also features an atrium in the center of the building that separated the east and west side of the building and functioning as a ventilation channel. According to Luke Leung, SOM Director of Sustainable and MEP Engineering: “The design of the Greenland Group Suzhou Center utilizes an atrium as the ‘lung’ of the building to provide ventilation and will incorporate a series of high efficiency measures with the objective to achieve a 60% savings in energy consumption compared to a conventional US high rise and a 60% reduction in potable water use.”

The building’s expansive lobby is a result of the building a novel approach maximizing the efficiency of the building structure:  “[the] unique split-core configuration of the upper floors increases the efficiency of the building structure. By placing half of the building core program on each side of the lobby and interconnecting them with structural steel braces, the combined core becomes more effective than a typical center core system while also creating a dramatic tall lobby space within.”

SOM also recently announced the opening of a new design studio in Downtown Los Angeles as part of the firm's West Coast practice. Michael Mann, FAIA; Paul Danna, AIA; and Jose Luis Palacios, AIA will lead the new studio--all three come from AECOM but all three also worked for SOM in the past. (All renderings by SOM, via Dezeen)

The Great Wall

Seoul based firm, Yamasaki Ku Hong Associates Design Lab, designed 'The Great Wall,' a mixed used housing complex that is currently in progress in Suizhong, China. The complex also includes office, retail and differentiated public outdoor courtyards which are sandwiched in between two different types of retail, which allows for a concentrated and continuous shopping experience.

The idea of stacking small-size factories in an apartment format is received well, but there have been some problems associated with access to day-lighting and poor working conditions. As a response, they tried to develop next generation ‘apt-factories’ with improved ecological, economical, flexible and social bases in mind.

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Shenzhen Cultural Center

Mecanoo Architects, a firm based in Delft, Netherlands, won the first prize in the design competition for a new 90,000 m2 cultural complex in Shenzhen, China consisting of a public art museum, science museum, youth center, bookshop, underground parking and a public square. 

With their aim to connect the cultural complex with the surrounding areas and a new residential development, Mecanno's design includes a series of tapering volumes emerging from one side of the 70,000 m2 public square. The buildings then come together to create open arches and sheltered outdoor spaces for numerous event types.

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Chinese Lantern-Inspired Shenzhen Tower Features Myriad Green Technologies

This new MVRDV-designed landmark tower slated for Shenzhen, China will house the headquarters of the Guosen Securities corporation. The primary objective for the design of Guosen's new tower was that it be energy efficient and cool, which MVRDV was able to provide with its competition winning design. Resembling a giant Chinese lantern, the 204 meter tall tower will feature shading louvers on every floor, rainwater recycling, and natural daylighting for each employee's work station.
 

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