Two best tall building categories, two entries – and, yes, two wins

Designed by Aedas

From the global architecture firm:

Two tall buildings, two categories, and two wins

Shuibei International Center, Shenzhen, China 

(by Global Design Principal Dr. Andy Wen)

Best Tall Building (100-199m) category

Located in China's jewellery trade and processing hub in Luohu, Shenzhen, Shuibei International Center is a high-rise landmark that stands 210m tall. The project integrates Grade-A offices, a jewellery and lifestyle shopping centre, food and beverages, entertainment and various other functions.

Inspired by traditional Chinese bamboos to symbolise prosperity, the podium adopts contours of a wide bamboo leaf and wraps around the commercial portion of the building with a curved outline and LED screen.

The design incorporates public space on multiple levels in the form of sky gardens, landscaped outdoor staircases and greenscaped rooftop podiums to accommodate work and recreational activities. Extensive greenery is employed as a way to blend into the surrounding neighbourhood and elevate the urban landscape.

Hengqin International Financial Center (IFC), Zhuhai, China 

(by Chairman and Global Design Principal Keith Griffiths and Global Design Principal Dr. Andy Wen)

Best Tall Building (300-399m) category

Aedas-designed Hengqin International Financial Center (IFC) stands 339m high at the estuary of the Pearl River, overlooking Macau across the water. Located in the propitious Hengqin Island, a future financial district connecting cities in the Greater Bay Area, the development is part of the economic force highlighted in China’s latest national development strategies.

The design of the property is inspired by the famous painting ‘Nine Dragons’, dating from the Southern Song Dynasty. From outside in, the tower ascends from the ground up in a spiralling fashion, invoking the Chinese flood dragon myth as a metaphor for the dignity and grandeur of the region.

To symbolise the converging of talents at this new metropolis, the design also creates an ingenious illusion of four towers merging into one. Comprised of Grade-A office, conference and exhibition amenities, commercial apartments and retail space, the building inexorably expresses immense growth, and embodies the district’s prosperity.

The CTBUH Awards program honours projects and individuals that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, and that achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level. 

The awards aspire to provide a more comprehensive and sophisticated view of these important structures, while advocating for improvements in every aspect of performance, including those that have the greatest positive impact on the individuals who use these buildings and the cities they inhabit.

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Shuibei International Center – CreatAR Images; Shuibei International Center – Terrance Zhang