fuksas-designed guosen securities tower in shenzhen conveys a ‘vertical rigidity’

fuksas adds to shenzhen’s growing skyline

italian architecture firm fuksas has completed a skyscraper in shenzhen, a chinese city which over the last three decades has become a global metropolis. the project, named the ‘guosen securities tower’, is located in shenzhen’s central business district, with easy access ensured thanks to an adjacent metro station. the building’s exterior is characterized by a three-dimensional void that stretches the full height of the tower. ‘the design of the void shape explores the relation between the podium and the vertical section of the tower with diagonal space and fluxes that create a vertical tension in the full height of the tower,’ explain the architects.

all images © zeng tiapei | header image by zhang chao 

guosen securities tower’s rational glass design

to emphasize the void concept, fuksas (see more here) designed the building’s glass envelope to be as rational as possible. this play between solid and void continues internally, where the different spaces in the façade atrium are designed in response to the urban context, thus creating the best views and visibility. a sequence of diagonal connections in the atrium links the main lobby (level 1), the lease office lobby in the west façade (level 12), the company lobby in the east façade (level 27), and the roof garden (level 43). the void that runs upwards through the building has been conceived as a ‘vertical piazza’ that serves as a space for social exchange.

environmental impact

the project also takes into account environmental concerns. the design team says that CFD models (computational fluid dynamics) were used to demonstrate that, for most of the year, passive and natural strategies result in the best thermal conditions for the atrium’s users. furthermore, the energy used is much less than the energy used to condition a hall with a traditional shape which doesn’t promote natural strategies.