Best Tall Building 300-399 meters Award of Excellence: Hanking Center, Shenzhen
Tim Wu
Marketing Vice President
Hanking Group, Shenzhen
Jinwen Wang
Chief Structural Engineer
Zhubo Design, Shenzhen
An Off-Set Core Delivers New Spatial Possibilities
Located in proximity to universities, research institutes, new technology headquarters, as well as an established residential district, the Polansberg Hanking Center tower represents the modern integration of learning, culture, and commerce that characterizes Shenzhen’s new cosmopolitan identity. Occupying a place of prominence on Shennan Boulevard, the design’s soaring height and dramatic profile redefine the Nanshan skyline. At street level, the broad plaza circled with greenery integrates the neighborhood and projects the building’s message of openness and global enterprise to the public. The plaza, with primary entrances along the south, west, and north edges of the property, provides wide and inviting passages through and into the site, linkages that are available to residents and workers 24 hours a day.
The conventional notions of an office tower are redefined, by reconfiguring typical spaces. By removing the core, as well as the majority of its services, from the envelope, large, open and flexible office spaces are thereby created. This design allows natural light and fresh air to invigorate the working environment, and it creates social space between the core and the building. This is reinforced by elements such as a light-filled lobby atrium with a multistory green wall, skybridges between the off-set core and the office spaces, and a striking, angular podium. The result is a high-quality work environment that evokes an expansive feeling for the user, while offering views of the city alongside interior green connective and contemplative space. The off-set core design will allow the building to become an incubator for emerging technologies, with the flexibility to house growing firms with evolving space requirements.
