China Resources Headquarters

Located in Shenzhen China is the newly completed headquarters building for China Resources. This project which measures 400 meters tall has a pronounced facade expression to help define the form within the urban environment. The tower design takes into consideration strict proportions which are directly embedded into the parametric model and can be seen here in the sectional proportions. The facade expression has a set of proportions that are dynamically controlled by custom algorithms in the model which maintain the proportional qualities of the design. These proportions vary with the tower height, tapering as the tower rises upward. The parametric model also automates the generation of the necessary facade drawings and plans, creating a seamless working environment, allowing more time to focus on design and less time focusing on updating documents. At the base and crown of the tower, the facade is expressed with a diagrid form creating focal points while the mid section contains a vertical expression.

The cross section of the building consists of multiple tangential arcs to which creates a sooth tapering profile which satisfies all the interior programmatic and space requirements.  The model generates all the floor profiles dynamically by reading values from a spreadsheet. The areas are calculated and placed back into the spreadsheet adjacent to their corresponding level height. The seamless exchange of data allows for multiple iterations to happen quite rapidly, honing in on a design solution rapidly. 

The facade expression at the lower section of the tower consists of a diagrid, where each diamond shape spans multiple floors. Here the pronounced mullions help anchor the building, as they start to taper in width throughout the first zone in the building. In the second zone of the facade, the mullions transition to a vertical expression and begin to taper in depth. In the third and top-most zone of the project, the mullion expression transitions back into a diagrid and the size begins to taper in both width and depth, finally culminating in a conical shape. 

The recent topping out of the project was captured via drone footage. Click on the image below to view the video.