Vanke Center

Hovering over an inventive 'sea scribble' garden, a harmonious union of buildings, offices, apartments, and hotel appear as if they were once floating on a higher sea; that sea has now subsided, leaving them propped up high on glass and white coral-like legs.

Rather than creating a series of building shapes that address the various uses within the complex, the design combines all the various programs into one grand vision for a floating horizontal skyscraper. It is an innovative visualization that is coherent in its parallel geometry. Like the ocean horizon, it sublimates all the various programs into a grander image.

The floating horizontal bars of space allow sea and land breezes to pass through a flexible, shaded landscape. Under the order of permanence an amorphous program of porous movement engages the diverse functions of the intricate and ever-evolving everyday life tied to the complex Shenzhen city fragment.

As a tropical, sustainable 21st century vision the building integrates several new sustainable aspects and solar energy. A special geothermal cooled waterscape with radiative cooling lakes creates a microclimate in the shadows of the structure. These rectangular cooling lakes which radiate upwards reflecting off the colored aluminum ceilings above are fed by a greywater system. A special system circulates all greywater down 100 meters below ground to pick up the colder groundwater. The glass façade will be protected against the toll of sun and wind by moveable screens made of special composites. The façade shading provided by moveable overhangs allows unobstructed views to the sea and mountains beyond. (by Steven Holl Architettos)