Image courtesy of SOM

SOM’s Beijing Greenland Center

The Chicago office of SOM has recently completed a 55-storey tower in Beijing with exterior glass panels that function as prisms, capturing and refracting daylight. Located in Dawangjing business district, between the city’s historic core and international airport, this mixed-use tower named Beijing Greenland Center contains four floors of office space and 178 serviced apartments, all organised around a central core.

Image courtesy of SOM

Rising 260 metres, the tower is sheathed in a curtain wall consisting of low-E glass panels that are configured in a way that provides shade and redirects sunlight. Its trapezoidal skin is part of building’s sustainability systems. Next to the undulating trapezoids, other sustainable systems include a Direct Digital Control building automation system, a heat reclaim wheel, and water-side economizer to utilize evaporative cooling. These systems account for an estimated 30% reduction in energy use and water consumption compared to baseline.

Image courtesy of SOM

Two different trapezoidal modules were used, with one tapering upward and the other tapering downward. The modules alternate in a regular pattern on all sides of the building. “Addressing a need for environmentally responsible, mixed-use urban development, Beijing Greenland Center is a highly visible example of how visually striking design can also be highly flexible and sustainable,” the firm said. For this reason it was conceived as a “walkable, green district that prioritises quality of life and responsible use of natural resources”.

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