Morphosis' Hanking Center skyscraper, a new tipology with detached core
14/06/2021.
[Shenzhen] China
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Morphosis completes the construction of a mixed-use complex with a commercial office skyscraper and retail center, located on Shennan Boulevard, in Shenzhen, China .
The 65-story Hanking Center Tower, rising nearly 360 meter tall, is defined by its pioneering steel structural system and a detached-core configuration which places the tower’s primary core on the building’s exterior. This rethinking of the typology promotes higher efficiency and adaptability of interior floor plates, enhancing the tower’s ability to service the varying needs of its occupants.
The detached-core also allows for an innovative approach to internal circulation, and at 359.8m (1180ft) tall, the construction is the tallest detached-core building in the world.
The 65-story Hanking Center Tower, rising nearly 360 meter tall, is defined by its pioneering steel structural system and a detached-core configuration which places the tower’s primary core on the building’s exterior. This rethinking of the typology promotes higher efficiency and adaptability of interior floor plates, enhancing the tower’s ability to service the varying needs of its occupants.
The detached-core also allows for an innovative approach to internal circulation, and at 359.8m (1180ft) tall, the construction is the tallest detached-core building in the world.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Fei Wu
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Fei Wu
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Fei Wu
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis. Photograph by Zhang Chao
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.
Shenzhen’s new hanking center marks the first supertall skyscraper designed by Morphosis. Officially completed in 2018, its gradual opening continued into 2021 and currently stands as the tallest detached-core building in the world.
“As a typology, skyscrapers tend to emphasize shape as the primary differentiator. Instead, we focused on lived experience within the city. The delamination between the circulation core and the office spaces within the tower generates a threshold, an intensification of the urban landscape as part of the day-to-day."
Morphosis Founding Partner Thom Mayne.
The slender profile redefines shenzhen’s skyline, emerging elegantly above a low-rise retail podium that also features angled facets, shadowing the form of the tower above. A series of glass sky bridges and steel mega-braces knit the offset core to the main body of the tower, creating dramatic connections in the sky that allow for efficient circulation routes within the tower.
At ground level, the Center is accessible by multiple entrances and is set within a landscaped public plaza, creating a permeable site that invites the public into the retail podium.
Project description by Morphosis
Hanking Center Tower rethinks the traditional commercial office building through an innovative approach to circulation, social, and work spaces. Offering flexible tower office space anchored by high-end retail and dining in the podium, the Tower serves Shenzhen’s growing body of global professionals and brings density to the suburb of Nanshan.
Occupying a place of prominence on Shennan Boulevard, Hanking Tower’s slender profile redefines the local skyline. The Center utilizes folded angles to elegantly merge public components in the podium with private commercial space in the tower – a departure from conventional towers, where differing program is often relegated to separate and disjointed volumes. Surrounding the tower’s podium, a grand plaza and dimensional hardscape create a new neighborhood landmark and enhance public activity at the street level.
The form of the tower is primarily defined by its pioneering steel structural system, which offsets the primary movement and service cores to the exterior of the floorplate. Shifting the cores open the main body of the tower, significantly minimizing the building’s structural footprint while maximizing open space. Shadowing the offset circulation core, two secondary cores in the body provide structural reinforcement and house private elevators for VIP users, as well as freight elevators and mechanical services. A series of sky bridges and diagonal mega-braces rigidly link the offset core to the main tower.
As the new icon for the high-tech industrial sector, the Hanking Center Tower is designed as an incubator for emerging technologies, providing for growing firms with evolving space requirements. The open floor plate, made possible by the tower’s offset core, dramatically increases space-planning flexibility and offers healthier work environments with enhanced natural light and airflow. Offsetting the core also allows for a public to private gradient of activity on each floorplate, as tenants move from circulation and social spaces around the core to quieter perimeter offices with panoramic views. Freed from the interior of the building, circulation and amenity areas gain natural light and exterior views over the city.
More information
Architects
Morphosis. Design Director.- Thom Mayne
Project Team
Project Principal.- Eui-Sung Yi. Project Manager.- Hann-Shiuh Chen. Project Architects.- Jamie Z. Wu, Mario Cipresso, Amit Upadhye. Project Designers.- Daniel Pruske, Ben Toam, Natalia Traverso Caruana.
Project Team.- Ilaria Campi, Sarah Kott, Daniel Leone, Michael Nesbit, Carolyn Ng, Atsushi Sugiuchi, Kwo Wang.
Advanced Technology.- Cory Brugger, Kerenza Harris, Stan Su.
Project Assistant.- Natalie Abbott, Viola Ago, Marco Becucci, Paul Cambon, Carmelia Chiang, Sam Clovis, Tom Day, Ryan Docken, Emma Entress, Chris Eskew, Kabalan Fares, Bart Gillespie, Marie Goodstein, Fredy Gomez, Austin Griffis, Greg Gyulai, Parham Hakimi, Yoon Her, Maria Herrero, Chip Hubert, Jonathan Kaminsky, Hunter Knight, OneJae Lee, Katie MacDonald, Eric Meyer, Nicole Meyer, Elizabeth Miller, Samuel Naylor, Liana Nourafshan, Sille Pihlak, Jon Rieke, Ari Sogin, Colton Stevenson, Henry Svendsen, Derrick Whitmire, Patrick Witthaus, Evan Yoon, Helena Yun, Pablo Zunzunegui.
Project Team.- Ilaria Campi, Sarah Kott, Daniel Leone, Michael Nesbit, Carolyn Ng, Atsushi Sugiuchi, Kwo Wang.
Advanced Technology.- Cory Brugger, Kerenza Harris, Stan Su.
Project Assistant.- Natalie Abbott, Viola Ago, Marco Becucci, Paul Cambon, Carmelia Chiang, Sam Clovis, Tom Day, Ryan Docken, Emma Entress, Chris Eskew, Kabalan Fares, Bart Gillespie, Marie Goodstein, Fredy Gomez, Austin Griffis, Greg Gyulai, Parham Hakimi, Yoon Her, Maria Herrero, Chip Hubert, Jonathan Kaminsky, Hunter Knight, OneJae Lee, Katie MacDonald, Eric Meyer, Nicole Meyer, Elizabeth Miller, Samuel Naylor, Liana Nourafshan, Sille Pihlak, Jon Rieke, Ari Sogin, Colton Stevenson, Henry Svendsen, Derrick Whitmire, Patrick Witthaus, Evan Yoon, Helena Yun, Pablo Zunzunegui.
Client
Hanking Group.
Dimensions
Building Height.- 1177 feet / 359 meters.
Site Area.- 2.7 acres / 1.09 hectares.
Size.- 1,796,131 ft² / 166,866 m².
Site Area.- 2.7 acres / 1.09 hectares.
Size.- 1,796,131 ft² / 166,866 m².
Location / Venue
Shennan boulevard and Kejizhong Yi road, Nanshan district, Shenzhen, China.
Dates
Design.- 2012 - 2014. Construction.- 2014 - 2020. Opening.- 2021.
Photography
Zhang Chao, Fei Wu.
THOM MAYNE
Thom Mayne.- (b. January 19, 1944, in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a Los Angeles-based architect. Educated at University of Southern California (1969) and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1978, Mayne helped found the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 1972, where he is a trustee. Since then he has held teaching positions at SCI-Arc, the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is principal of Morphosis, an architectural firm in Santa Monica, California. Mayne received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in March 2005.
