Resembling a stack of green terraces with a glass façade draped over the top like a blanket, “Cloud on Terrace,” a new mixed-use development, has been revealed for Shanghai’s urban city ring. The development will add almost 500,000 sf of office and retail space near a planned residential development, archdaily.com reports.
The building’s design, a retail podium with vegetated terraces that gives way to a deliberately ambiguous form of soft corners and a rippling curtain wall façade, is described by Aedas, the architect for the project, as resembling a cloud sitting just above a hill.
The “hill” in this instance is the retail podium, which has entrances on both ends of the building that face the most highly-trafficked pedestrian junctions and linking to two nearby metro stations. As the building rises, the retail terraces give way to the glass façade.
This façade uses horizontal ribs around the tower as sunshades and high-performance, low-e, low-iron glass to reduce solar gain on the office floors. The naturally ventilated terraces use natural landscaping for cooling and shading benefits.
Gemdale Changshou Road, the development’s official name, is scheduled for completion in 2019.
Rendering courtesy of AsymmetricA
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
ASHRAE introduces building energy label prototype
Most of us know the fuel efficiency of our cars, but what about our buildings? ASHRAE is working to change that, moving one step closer today to introducing its building energy labeling program with release of a prototype label at its 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
| Aug 11, 2010
Urban Land Institute honors five 'outstanding' developments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2009 Awards for Excellence: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) competition. This year, the competition also included the announcement of two special award winners. The Awards for Excellence competition is widely regarded as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program.
| Aug 11, 2010
Cannon Design’s European-inspired Sparkling Hill Resort breaks ground
Cannon Design, a leading international architectural, engineering and planning firm, is pleased to announce that the firm’s Sparkling Hill Resort and Wellness Hotel in Vernon, BC, has broken ground.
| Aug 11, 2010
10 tips for mitigating influenza in buildings
Adopting simple, common-sense measures and proper maintenance protocols can help mitigate the spread of influenza in buildings. In addition, there are system upgrades that can be performed to further mitigate risks. Trane Commercial Systems offers 10 tips to consider during the cold and flu season.
| Aug 11, 2010
Skanska, Turner most active in U.S. hotel construction, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Hotel Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
AECOM, Arup, Gensler most active in commercial building design, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Commercial Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
New book provides energy efficiency guidance for hotels
Recommendations on achieving 30% energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 11, 2010
AGC unveils comprehensive plan to revive the construction industry
The Associated General Contractors of America unveiled a new plan today designed to revive the nation’s construction industry. The plan, “Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth,” is designed to reverse predictions that construction activity will continue to shrink through 2010, crippling broader economic growth.
| Aug 11, 2010
PCL Construction, HITT Contracting among nation's largest commercial building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Commercial Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants