Chicago, IL: Ground was broken on Wednesday, May 9, 2012 for SOM’s newest building at Beijing’s China World Trade Center (CWTC) complex. The 58-story Phase 3B Tower features sleek horizontal bands of canted glass that wrap the building’s square floor plate. The new 918-feet (280-meters) tall icon will be located immediately northeast of the 74-story, SOM-designed China World Trade Center Tower 3, completed in 2010 — which is the tallest building in the Chinese capital. “The form is evocative,” SOM Design Partner Brian Lee says. “It could be a bamboo shoot or a pagoda, but it’s driven by practical issues.” The exterior curtain wall is 3 degrees off vertical to make the façade self-cleaning in Beijing’s dirty air. The cant decreases glare to occupants and results in an estimated 8% less solar radiation on the façade during the summer and 2% annual energy savings. The new CWTC Phase 3B Tower will have 123,000-square-meters, comprising offices, a 600-room hotel and associated amenities. The structure is a steel and concrete composite system using a reinforced concrete core with composite moment frame columns. The building is designed to achieve LEED® Gold certification.
About Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban-planning firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,700 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai and Abu Dhabi.