Bjarke Ingels Group’s new Shenzhen tower includes a folded building envelope

Pleats may be out when it comes to pants, but Bjarke Ingels Group seems to think they look pretty good on skyscrapers.

The design firm’s new 96,000-sm office development for the Shenzhen Energy Company in Shenzhen, China uses an undulating building envelope that creates a rippled skin around the development’s two connected buildings. Folding parts of the envelope reduces solar loads and flare and creates a façade with closed and open parts that oscillate between transparency and opacity.

Photo: Chao Zhang.

The façade’s shape corresponds to the solar orientation, maximizing north-facing openings for natural light and views and minimizing exposure on the sunny sides. The façade is stretched out within the protruded areas of the buildings and two smooth deformations create large spaces for meeting rooms, executive clubs, and staff facilities. The façade system manages to reduce overall energy consumption of the building without any moving parts or complex technology.

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The development consists of two towers, a north tower that rises 220 meters and a south tower that rises 120 meters, that are linked together via a 34 meter podium. The podium contains main lobbies, a conference center, a cafeteria, and exhibition space.

Photo: Chao Zhang.

Visitors will enter from the north and south ends of the buildings while employees will enter from the front plaza into the naturally-lit plaza. The Shenzhen Energy Company offices will occupy the highest floors with the rest left available as rentable office space.

ARUP and Transsolar collaborated with BIG on the project, which started construction in 2012.

Photo: Chao Zhang.

Photo: Chao Zhang.