After almost six years of construction, the Moshe-Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing is close to completion. The amazing engineering feat in China is also called horizontal skyscraper and is comprised of eight towers and a sky bridge that connects these eight towers. The developer behind the amazing project, CapitaLand, has reported that the structural work is complete and interior work is being finished. The opening ceremony has been slated for the second half of 2019.
Raffles City Chongqing reminds of Safdie’s Marina Bay Sands. However, Raffles City Chongqing is far more ambitious as opposed to Marina Bay Sands. It also involves the engineering firm Arup. The unusual design has been inspired by the sails of the Chinese trading vessels.
The project has a total floor space of 817,000 square meters that span over the eight towers. The curved sky bridge that has been named Crystal is the focal point of the project and relies on four 820-ft tall skyscrapers. It is also connected to another pair of 350-meter tall skyscrapers via two adjoining smaller sky bridges. The Crystal has a length of 300 meters and is covered in 3,000 glass panels and about 5,000 aluminum panels.
The Crystal was divided into nine segments. Four of these segments were built in place atop the towers while three of the segments were pre-fabricated on the ground and then lifted up into their respective places. The end pieces were mostly assembled in place; however; the finishing sections were lifted up from the ground thus completing the Crystal at the height of about 250 meters. Reportedly, Crystal’s interior will feature a gallery, two swimming pools, big gardens with trees, a viewing point, and restaurants among many other amenities.
The remaining Raffles City Chongqing will feature residential and office space along with a shopping mall and a large landscaped site that measures 22.7 acres. What do you think of this wonderful engineering feat? Do let us know!
