Session 6: Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia Part I
Chair: Robert Pratt
Co-Head of Global Design & Construction, Tishman Speyer PropertiesSpeakers
Click a presenter to see a video of their presentation, and the accompanying paper and PowerPoint presentation.
President, Smart-hero (HK) Investment Development
Associate Partner, MAD Architects
Fund Manager, Lendlease Corporation
Managing Director, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
CEO, Lotte Property & Development
President, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Managing Director, Design, Ping An Financial Center Const. & Dev
Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Session Summary
The first of two sessions centered on tall buildings from Asia and Australasia, Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia: Part I included standout projects from two regions that have seen unprecedented skyscraper development in recent years, yielding architectural feats of magnitude, beauty and technological prowess. The session was chaired by Robert Pratt, Co-Head of Global Design & Construction, Tishman Speyer.
The first presenter, Dixon Lu, Associate Partner, MAD Architects, talked about Chaoyang Park Plaza, a striking complex whose organic silhouette is inspired by traditional Chinese ink landscape paintings. The plaza sits on the edge of Chaoyang Park, where it both blends into the natural landscape, and stands out with its curvilinear, glossy black facade surrounded by the right angles of Beijing’s CBD. “We tried to apply the Shan Shui philosophy, which is how human emotions are affected in natural surroundings, especially in a special or spiritual space in the natural world,” said Dixon Lu. “Our goal was to recreate that in a modern, urban building.”
Subsequently, Liam Timms, Fund Manager, Lendlease Corporation and Avtar Lotay, Managing Director, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners explained to the audience the origins of how the International Towers came to be referred to as “Sydney’s New Front Door.” The three towers that make up the complex, each distinct in their own way, are radially oriented to enjoy maximum views and sunlight, and are chock-full of sustainable features, including 65,000 square feet of solar panels, and a 20% reduction of embodied carbon. “Everything we do at International Towers is based on sustainability and that includes environmental, social and economics,” said Timms. These towers crucially link the western waterfront and Sydney’s CBD, promoting cross-pollination of financial activity. Like a front door, these distinguished towers welcome both from within and without, by prizing occupant and employee comfort and resiliency against change with open, flexible workspaces that will help workers adapt.
The sweeping Lotte World Tower, at 555 meters high, offers no shortage of mixed-use programming for its 123-stories. The presenters Hyunchul Park, CEO, Lotte Property & Development, and James von Klemperer, President, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, gave an engaging presentation that detailed one of the most comprehensive and successful applications of the vertical village paradigm to a tower that both recalls its sense of place, and looks to the future. “I want to talk about something broader than the height of the building, and that is its multiplicity of uses,” said and James von Klemperer. “Like the tree that nourishes itself from the ground, there is diverse interconnectivity within the building and integrated connectivity to the city outside,” he said. The curved form of the tower, among the world’s top ten tallest, mimics many traditional Korean pottery forms, including celadon vases. Yet the interior is as modern as it gets, with a theater boasting the world’s largest screen, and a sophisticated efficiency plan that has Lotte producing 14.5% of its own energy needs.
The super-efficient--both in construction and design--Ping An Financial Center was the subject of the final presentation for part one of the session. The presenters, which included Felix Wu, Managing Director, Design, Ping An Financial Center Const. & Dev, and Robert Whitlock, Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, talked the audience through the tower’s finest features, including its signature aperture, prismatic stainless steel façade (the world’s largest) and expedited (yet zero-casualty) construction and significant energy efficiency, fitting for such an iconic and trailblazing building in Shenzen. “Our calculations showed that artificial lighting was one of the primary consumers of energy, but we were able to achieve 25% savings in this area,” said Wu.
Session Photo Gallery
