Ping An Finance Center

Ping An Finance Center / KPF / China

• Architects:   KPF
• Location:   Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
• Area:   462,000 m2
• Project Year:   2016
• Architect of Record:   China Construction Design International
• Structural Engineer:   Thornton Tomasetti
• Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing:   J.Roger Preston Group
• Vertical Transportation Consultant:   J.Roger Preston Group/ Fortune Consultants
• Landscape Consultant:   AECOM
• Sustainability Consultant:   ARUP
• Interior Design:   Office: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York; Retail: Benoy, Hong Kong; Club House: Cheng Chung Design, Hong Kong
• Main Contractor:   China Construction First Group Construction & Development Co., Ltd
• Fire/Sustainability:   ARUP
• Wind Consultant:   RWDI
• Traffic Consultant:   MVA
• Lighting Consultant:   Lighting Planners Associates
• Curtain Wall Consultant:   ALT
• Facade Access Consultant:   GMS
• Graphic Design Consultant:   Duttonbray Design Ltd.
• Acoustic Consultant:   Westwood Hong & Associates Ltd.

KPF worked with Ping An Insurance Company to design a super-tall headquarters that would become the physical and iconic centre of Shenzhen's burgeoning central business district, the Futian District, it connects to both neighboring commercial and residential properties and the Line 1 Gou Wu Gong Yuan metro station, situating the tower - and the city - prominently within the Pearl River Delta's high-speed rail corridor that increases access to the region's rapidly densifying cities.

Comprising 100 office floors above the retail and conference podium, the tower will accommodate 15,500 workers and 9,000 daily passengers to an observation desk. Anchored by eight stone mega-columns with diagonal bracing, the tower conveys stability at its ground level. Its chevron-shaped columns rise six hundred meters and coverage at the tower's height, mediating the tension of the earth to a single point in the sky. Sheathed in glass and stone, the podium houses a central atrium that acts as a public vestibule and sun-lit space for meeting, shopping, and dining. Five floors of retail shops terrace away from the tower, forming a large, amphitheater-like-space.

Designed for local weather resistance, the tower's tapered facade reduces wind loads by forty percent and its stainless steel piers form a protective net against lightning strikes. With its completion in 2016, Ping An Finance Centre is now the tallest building in Shenzhen, the second tallest in China, and the fourth tallest in the world. It joined other KPF super-talls, including Lotte World Tower in Seoul, Shanghai World Financial Center, International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, and CTF Finance Centre in Guangzhou among the ranks of the world's ten tallest towers.

Soon to be Shenzhen's tallest tower at 660 meters, the Ping An Finance Center by KPF will anchor the city's new Central Business District. Positioned at the southwest corner of the intersection of Yi Tian Road and Fu Hua Road in the Futian District, the tower will connect with neighboring properties in addition to Shenzhen Line 1 Gou Wu Gong Yuan metro station.

Rising 115 floors above grade the PAFC punctures the sky with an impressive spire that is reminiscent of iconic spired towers such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. Perched a top a podium housing retail and conference programming, the retail shops will form a terrace that gradually slopes away from the tower forming a large amphitheater like space - intended to serve as a catalyst for the developing CBD.

The facade system incorporates a complementary language of light colored stone and glazing. Chevron shaped stone panels sheath the vertical superstructure and highlight the perimeter columns that feature eight-story diagonal braces.The subtle expression of the structural culminates at the spire where the superstructure merges into one visual element meeting the sky.

Structurally, the tower has been engineered with a composite concrete core with steel outriggers anchoring the eight super-columns. Seven double layer belt trusses located at mechanical and refuge floors comprise the exterior in conjunction with the super diagonals at the corners of the tower. The eleven floors of the podium are constructed in a typical steel frame method. Nonlinear dynamic time history seismic analysis performed by structural engineers. Thornton Thomasetti played a critical role in the performance-based structural design of the tower.

Under construction since 2010, the Ping An Finance Center was completed in 2015.

CTBUH Crowns Ping An Finance Center as World's 4th Tallest Building

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced the completion of the Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen, China, according to CTBUH tall building criteria. At 599 meters (1,965 feet), it is now officially the second tallest building in China and the fourth tallest in the world, behind only the Burj Khalifa, Shanghai Tower and Makkah Royal Clock Tower.

Designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates (KPF), the Ping An Finance Center is located in the heart of Shenzhen's Fultan District. The building contains over 100 floors of office space located above a large public podium, with a multi-story atrium providing retail, restaurants and transit options to the city and greater Pearl River delta region.

The CTBUH describe the form of the tower as a "taught steel cable, outstretched by the sky and the ground at once. At the top of the tower, the facade tapers to form a pyramid, giving the tower a prismatic aesthetic." The form is further emphasized by eight composite "mega-columns" along the building envelope that streamline the building for improved structural and wind performance, reducing baseline wind loads by 35 percent.

The facade of the building is one the project most innovative features; its use of 1,700 tons of 316L stainless steel make the envelope the largest stainless steel facade system in the world. The specific material was chosen for its corrosion-resistance, which will allow the building to maintain its appearance for decades even in the city's salty coastal atmosphere.