How many of you have heard about the Shenzhen skyscraper? It is scheduled to become one of the world’s tallest buildings, however; there is a very high chance that it becomes the world’s second tallest. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center, by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), will reportedly achieve an amazing height of about 700 meters.
If everything goes accordingly, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center’s height will render it as the world’s second-tallest building following the 829.8m tall Burj Khalifa. Burj Khalifa was also designed by Adrian Smith while he was at SOM. However, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center might drop down on the list to third or even fourth place if AS+GG’s Jeddah Tower and Santiago Calatrava’s Dubai Creek Tower get finished first.
To give you a perspective; the building is over two times the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is about as high as nine Boeing 747-8 airliners, stacked nose to tail! The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is basically a component of a larger development by AS+GG that is supposed to feature apartments, hotel, and office space. The tower will also feature one of the world’s highest observation points along with a swimming pool, nightclub, and restaurant. The design also boasts of an intricately sculpted façade that will be able to counter the harsh wind forces that are quite frequent at such high heights.
Adrian Smith says, ‘The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is anthropomorphic in its character, representing and honoring in an abstract way the athletes that train and struggle to have the opportunity to perform in the world-class stadiums, arenas, and natatorium directly adjacent to and integrated into the overall AS+GG master plan for this project. In this way, it adds a subtle layer of contextualism to the activities that these performance spaces contain. The result is a muscular expression in the high-performance glass with layers of texture that define the elements of its shaped form.’
The Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center is also scheduled for LEED Platinum certification (green building standard), and will also feature high-performance glass for a reduction in heat gain and to provide natural ventilation along with rainwater collection, and a focus on natural lighting.
The company behind this development is Shimao Property Group, and according to speculations, it will be completed in 2024.