The Ping An Finance Center, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, is officially complete according to the criteria established by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. This means the 599-meter-tall (1,965 feet) structure is now formally the fourth tallest building in the world. Only the Burj Khalifa, Shanghai Tower, and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower are taller.
The Ping An Finance Center rises from Shenzhen, China’s prominent Futian District and comprises a large public atrium at its base. This atrium is packed with stores, restaurants, and transit connections to the city, the Pearl River Delta region, and greater China, CTBUH reports.
The tower features the world’s largest stainless steel façade, using a total of 1,700 tons of 316L stainless steel. The material was chosen for its corrosion resistance, which will help the Ping An Finance Center keep a stable aesthetic for years despite the salty coastal atmosphere of the city.
The building’s shape was not only chosen for its aesthetics, but also because it helps to improve the structural and wind performance of the tower by reducing baseline wind loads by 35%.
In addition to being the fourth tallest building in the world, Ping An Finance Center is the second tallest building in China and the tallest building in Shenzhen.
Thornton Tomasetti was the structural engineer for the project and China Construction First Building Group was the general contractor.
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | May 23, 2017
Goettsch Partners to design three-building Optics Valley Center complex
The Chicago-based firm won a design competition to design the complex located in Wuhan, China.
High-rise Construction | May 15, 2017
Construction begins on 47-story luxury tower in Chicago’s South Loop
The glass tower is being built at 1326 S. Michigan Avenue.
High-rise Construction | Apr 26, 2017
Dubai’s newest building is a giant gilded picture frame
Despite currently being under construction, the building is the center of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the architect.
3D Printing | Apr 17, 2017
The Tokyo Pod Vending Machine resembles a giant game of Tetris in the sky
The building is designed to print and dispense its own dwellings in vending machine-obsessed Tokyo.
Green | Apr 11, 2017
Passivhaus for high-rises? Research demonstrates viability of the stringent standards for tall residential buildings
A new study conducted by FXFOWLE shows that Building Teams can meet stringent Passivhaus performance standards with minimal impact to first cost and aesthetics.
Mixed-Use | Apr 5, 2017
SOM-designed ‘vertical village’ is Thailand’s largest private-sector development ever
60,000 people will live and work in One Bangkok when it is completed in 2025.
High-rise Construction | Apr 4, 2017
Fifth tallest tower in the world opens in Seoul with the world’s highest glass-bottomed observation deck
Lotte World Tower’s glass-bottomed observation deck allows visitors to stand 1,640 feet above ground and look straight down.
High-rise Construction | Mar 27, 2017
Density and tall buildings
CRTKL’s Maren Striker examines Europe’s desire to build upward.
High-rise Construction | Mar 23, 2017
This speculative skyscraper would be suspended from an orbiting asteroid
Clouds Architecture, a New York-based architecture firm, has created a design to invert a skyscraper’s traditional earth-based foundation and replace it with a space-based supporting foundation from which the tower is suspended.
High-rise Construction | Mar 22, 2017
Porsche Design Tower is, unsurprisingly, a car lover’s dream
The idea behind the residential tower was to provide residents with a full single family home in the sky, complete with a private garage and pool.