Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower / SOM / China

Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower

• Architects:  Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, East China Architectural Design & Research Institute 
• Location:  Nanchang, China
• Client/Developer:  Greenland Group
• Structural Engineer:  Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
• Structural Material:  Composite (Core: Reinforced Concrete;  Columns: Concrete Encased Steel;  Floor Spanning: Steel)
• Project Proposed:  2010, Construction start:  2012, Completed:  2015
• Site Area:  40,022 m2 
• Project Area:  209,058 m2  
• Building Height:  268 m / 879 ft / 56 stories
• Function:  Commercial + Office, Hospitality, Mixed-use 
• MEP Engineer:  Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
• Facade Maintenance Consultant:  Lerch Bates
• Fire Consultant:  Rolf Jensen & Associates
• Landscape Consultant:  SWA Group
• Lighting Consultant:  Kaplan Gehring McCarrol Architectural Lighting, Inc
• Vertical Transportation:  Edgett Williams Consulting Group Inc  
• Wind Consultant:  RWDI

Located in southeastern China and bordered by mountains and a sizable lake, Nanchang is known for its scenery and cultural landmarks. As the city becomes increasingly industrialized. SOM has been hired to design iconic buildings for the burgeoning Gaoxin District. The Zifeng Tower is one such project.

A defined rectangular massing emphasized by a strong diagrid shading fin system and a unique "Great Window" gives the Jiangxi Greenland Zifeng Tower a striking presence on the Nanchang skyline. The 258 meter tower, completed in August 2015, is located in the burgeoning Gaoxin Business District. It is situated across the Ganjiang River from the Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza, Parcel A project, a sister project composed of twin office towers that was completed in early 2015. Both projects were designed by the same architecture firm and commissioned by the same client.

The skyscraper's massing is geometric and refined its "Great Window" a sloping surface occupying the top third of the building faces Nanchang's Old City to the west. Triangular fins that trace their way up the four faces of the tower not only provide a distinctive texture but also ensure a better performing building by helping mitigate heat gain.

Office Floors occupy the bottom two-thirds of the tower. The regular rectangular form and a central core ensure that these floors remain incredibly flexible. A luxury hotel stacks on top of the office floors, occupying the tower's top 20 stories. This change in program is registered by the "Great Window" - a distinct carved into the tower's mass. Formally, the Great Window transitions the floor plates to a suitable size and layout for the hotel function.

Aesthetically, it marks the tower with a strong design, distinguishing it from the other towers that composite Nanchang's urban fabric. The tower is further defined by its system of perforated  aluminium triangular fins that trace up all four elevations. The fins shade the tower, preventing excessive solar heat gain and glare to the interior. They are also programmed with tiny white LED lights that, when illuminated at night, make the system's diagrid pattern and the tower's rectangular form glow across Gaoxin.

At ground level, a grand public courtyard creates a variety of spatial conditions for pedestrian, office tenants, and hotel guests. The building's podium contains retail space and on its roof graceful outdoor terraces with spectacular views.