Vanke Center, Shenzen, China

Vanke Center

Hovering over a tropical garden, this "horizontal skyscraper" - as long as the Empire State Building is tall - unites into one vision the headquarters for Vanke Co. Ltd, office spaces, apartments, and a hotel. A conference center, spa and parking are located under the large green, public landscape. The decision to float one large structure right under the 35-meter height limit, instead of several smaller structures each catering to a specific program, was inspired by the hope to create views over the lower developments of surrounding sites to the South China Sea, and to generate the largest possible green space open to the public on the ground level. The floating horizontal building also enhances the outdoor comfort: it offers shading, shelter by rain and allows sea and land breezes to pass through the gardens.
High performance glazings, external moveable shading devices, operable windows and demand controlled displacement ventilation provide excellent comfort at low energy consumption. A huge photovoltaic cell array generates electric energy. The Vanke Center is a tsunami-proof 21st century hovering architecture that creates a porous micro-climate of freed landscape and is one of the first LEED platinum rated buildings in Southern China.
2011 AIA Institute Honor Award, USA
2011 AIA NY Honor Award, USA
2011 American Architecture Award, USA
2010 Green Good Design Award, USA
2010 AIA NY Architecture Honor Award, USA,
2010 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD China, " Good Design is Good Business" Award, Best Green Project, China