Designing a vertical city for Shenzhen Bay

Zaha Hadid Architects have won the competition to design Tower C at the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base, with their multi-dimensional vertical city of two towers reaching nearly 400 metres.

The important business and financial centre in southeastern China serves the greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

The global technology hub accomodating 300,000 employees includes venues for conferences, exhibitions, cultural and art programmes, as well as residential developments, a transport centre, botanical grasslands, and a coastal zone with wetlands.

The design of Tower C integrates the city and nature within its central green axis.

Tower C will sit at the intersection of the planned north-south green axis and Shenzhen’s east-west urban corridor. Directly connected to the adjacent park and plazas, these will transform into a terraced landscape that extends upwards within the two towers.

The skyscrapers are united by these planted terraces filled with greenery and aquaponic gardens, creating a new public space.

A glass curtain wall with a stepped finish helps the building to self-shade, and the interior boasts column-free, naturally lit office spaces, shopping, entertainment and dining, and panoramic views of the city.

As the park’s landscapes are integrated with the tower’s civic plazas at the lower levels, direct pedestrian access and daylight for the public transport interchange below ground is provided. Lawns, trees and shaded areas are all abundant.

Tower C at the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base reaches nearly 400 metres.

Aquaponic gardens on all terraced levels filter contaminants from the local environment, and low-volatile organic compound materials will be installed to minimise indoor pollutants and particulates. Zaha Hadid’s target for the building is to use recycled and low-embodied carbon materials. Photovoltaics will harvest solar energy for the district, and water collection and recycling will be carried out on-site.

Tower C’s design prioritises pedestrians, and includes bike parking and charging facilities.

“The design of Tower C,” say Zaha Hadid Architects, “integrates the city and nature within its central green axis with the transit orientated development (TOD) of Shenzhen’s new spine, creating a ‘superscape’ that will become a tower of the future within the Super Headquarters Base.”

The skyscrapers are united by planted terraces filled with greenery and aquaponic gardens, creating a new public space.