SOM unveils design for 54-story mixed-use tower in Hangzhou, China

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) recently unveiled the design for the Hangzhou Wangchao Center in Hangzhou, China. The tower will add 125,000 sm of office, hotel, and retail space directly adjacent to one of the city’s new subway stations.

The tower’s silhouette is the result of an efficient structural system that minimizes wind loads with eight mega-columns that slope outward at the corners to create large, flexible floor plates. As the corner columns move farther apart, secondary perimeter columns branch out to maintain equal bays.

At the tower’s crown, the primary corner columns extend upward to a truss at the top level. Hangers and spandrels are braced back to the central concrete core with a series of struts that work in tandem to support MEP equipment and conceal the building maintenance systems.

Above the lobby, a Vierendeel transfer truss links the secondary columns to the corner columns, which creates an open lobby space below. The cladding on the undulating façade consists of planar glass panels.

"The Hangzhou Wangchao Center's distinctive silhouette derives its form from an integrated design process that solves programmatic, structural, and environmental criteria,” says SOM Design Partner, Gary Haney, in a release. “Located at the intersection of several major transportation networks, the tower is a beacon of performance-driven design and is emblematic of Hangzhou's future as a new global destination."

The Hangzhou Wangchao Center is slated for completion in 2021.