The Nexus Building, the focal point of PLP Architecture’s new masterplan in China’s Pearl River Delta, looks to feature a building that would be one of the world’s tallest, but the extreme height of the building, surprisingly, wouldn’t be its major defining feature.
According to Gizmag, PLP Architecture has split the building into three volumes, each one offset on equidistant axes, giving the structure the look of a giant Transformer in mid transformation. The firm says this type of configuration, while providing a unique and stunning aesthetic, will serve a functional purpose, as well. With a proposed height of 1,952 feet, this tripod-like design will be better equipped to deal with natural forces, such as high winds.
The three tiers will be angled to provide views of different surrounding areas. The lowest tier is made up of 44 stories and will face a nearby park. The middle volume will have 83 stories and be oriented toward the rest of the surrounding city. The top tier will offer 124 stories and provide views of the city and distant mountains.
The Nexus Building looks to redefine skyscraper design by forgoing traditional core-based design. Besides providing the building’s support, these pivot points, the points where each of the three tiers meet, also create wide open views. By not having a central core, there is no need for pillars and supports that take up interior space.
Each level has floor heights of 15 feet with wide open spaces and plenty of windows to offer “a real connection to nature and the outdoors,” PLP Architecture Founding Partner David Leventhal told Curbed.
The structure would consist mainly of office space but would have space for an eight-story retail podium and will be topped with a 14-story hotel.
With such a unique and innovative building design, the use of regular old elevators for transporting people around obviously wasn’t going to get the job done. Instead, office workers will get to various parts of the structure via shuttles that run on a schedule like trains. There will be express cars that will take people to the central floors where the tiers intersect where they can then transfer to other elevators to get to their final destination.
If this plan gets put into action, the earliest possible completion date wouldn’t be until at least 2020.
Rendering Courtesy of Luxigon
Rendering Courtesy of Luxigon
Rendering Courtesy of Tegmark
Rendering Courtesy of PLP Vyonyx
Rendering Courtesy of PLP Vyonyx
Related Stories
| Oct 4, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Methods, impacts, and opportunities in the concrete building life cycle
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub conducted a life-cycle assessment (LCA) study to evaluate and improve the environmental impact and study how the “dual use” aspect of concrete.
| Sep 20, 2011
Jeanne Gang wins MacArthur Fellowship
Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship winner described by the foundation as "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."
| Sep 14, 2011
Lend Lease’s role in 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Lend Lease is honored to be the general contractor for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum project at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
| Sep 14, 2011
Thornton Tomasetti’s Poon named to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Board of Trustees
During his 30-plus years of experience, Poon has been responsible for the design and construction of super high-rise structures, mixed-used buildings, hotels, airports, arenas and residential buildings worldwide.
| Sep 6, 2011
Construction on Beijing's tallest building starts next week
The 108 floor mixed-use skyscraper consists of offices, apartments, hotels and shopping malls on the lower floors.
| May 25, 2011
World’s tallest building now available in smaller size
Emaar Properties teamed up with LEGO to create a miniature version of the Burj Khalifa as part of the LEGO Architecture series. Currently, the LEGO Burj Khalifa is available only in Dubai, but come June 1, 2011, it will be available worldwide.
| May 17, 2011
Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?
Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.
| Apr 19, 2011
15 mind-blowing skyscrapers
Our friends at Inhabitat have rounded up 15 incredible buildings—from underground cities to vertical farms to bio-fuel power plants and skyscrapers.
| Mar 22, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s
Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.
| Mar 11, 2011
Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church
The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.
