OMA commissioned for the essence financial building, shenzhen

it has just been announced that the new 'essence financial building' adding to shenzhen's skyline will be designed by acclaimed practice OMA.
in straying from the typological office building, the new scheme will plug into the city's several transit systems and provide a more sensitive social
approach to the relationship with the general public in response to a rapidly shifting focus from the manufacturing to the service industry occurring
in the area. the simple extruded form contains many subtle characteristics that make each facade very unique.  gradated apertures on the southern face
are a direct result of solar gain studies, optimizing views in each direction while maintaining an acceptable level of natural illumination and eliminating
problems such as glare or excessive heat gain. the east and western facades are in turn more porous to accept indirect light. the structure's typically
central core is translated to the edge of the floor plate which frees the entire level and offers a high degree of adaptability and flexibility with today's
constantly changing communication systems. the ubiquitous curtain wall is also broken towards the top, where a cube-like volume seems to float over
the base, creating a sliver of a void that serves as a lookout area over the city.



in context
image © OMA



overlooking the golf course
image © OMA
image via architizer



approach from the street
images © OMA



gradated openings on the southern facade
images © OMA



observation level looking out over golf course
image © OMA



interior atrium and work areas
image © OMA



work desks
image © OMA



meshed facade during the day
image © OMA



meshed facade during the night
image © OMA



elevations
image © OMA



program diagram
image © OMA



concept evolution
image © OMA



floor plan and core placement diagram
image © OMA



office building typologies
image © OMA


project info:


project: essence financial building
status: design development
clients: essence securities company limited; mintaian insurance surveyors & loss adjusters company limited
location: futian cbd, shenzhen, pr china
budget: n/a
site: lot number b116-0077, 4,813m2
program: offices (64,550m2), commercial (5,450m2)
building height: tower 180m, podium 13.5m

partners in charge: david gianotten and rem koolhaas (review)
project architect: bauke albada
team: lingxiu chong, chee yuen choy, charles lai, federico letizia, jue qiu, takehiko suzuki, andreas viglakis, with byungchan ahn, kevin chan, helen chen, jocelyn chiu

local architect: sadi: wu chao
sustainability: yrg: arpan bakshi, yetsuh frank, josh radoff, lauren yarmuth
landscape: swa: sean o'malley, xiao zheng
facade: inhabit: ron bertoli, hugh brennand
smep & traffic: aecom: eric kwok, w l leung, martin wu, jason w. k. yuen
model: rj models
night & aerial view: silkroad