Honor Award in Architecture – OCT Tower by KPF
Located at the juncture of Shenzhen’s built and natural environment, OCT Tower’s form emulates a geode, creating a beacon for commuters and visitors with a façade that is everchanging in daylight and glowing at night. The office tower is located in the middle of the art and culture-focused OCT district positioned alongside the city’s main axis connecting east and west. This urban site marries commuting convenience with stunning views of the bay and the lush park.
Solar envelope analysis influenced the massing to optimize views and curtain wall performance. The north and south façades are feathered with over six thousand steel shading fins, scaling in depth to produce a high-performance façade that is functional and visually appealing. Prows on the front and back of the tower are left smooth to reveal the interiors, including a series of triple-height atria that connect the ground lobby, sky lobby, and event space at the top of the
tower.
Five retail pavilions occupy the landscaped plaza, foregoing the typical enclosed shopping mall structure and instead evoking an open town square. Following the scale of the pavilions, the tower lobby wraps around the stone-clad core of the building, while the transparent curtain wall enhances a sense of openness. This airiness continues at the top floor of the tower, where the event space is centered around the core in a diamond shape that glows in Shenzhen’s skyline at night.
Credits
Design Architects: Design Principal: David Malott, AIA. Managing Principal: Michael Greene, AIA. Managing Director: Florence Chan, AIA. Design Director: Keisuke Hiei. Project
Team: Xing Xiong, Shane Dai, Xianyan Gong, Kingsley Ho, AIA, Charles Tsang, Zhizhe Yu, Yi Xiong.
Associate Architect: China Construction Design International
Consultants: Leslie E Robertson Associates (Structural Engineer); WSP (MEP); ALT Limited (Facade Consultants); WSP (Vertical Transportation) Lighting
Planner Associates (Lighting).
Contractors: China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd
Owner: Shenzhen OCT Real Estate Co., Ltd
