RSHP's 212-meter 'butterfly' tower opens in Shenzhen with suspended corners and mega trusses

The building has 96,223 square meters (about 1.04 million sq ft) of floor area, roughly £1,250 per square meter at the reported cost. That includes 70,410 square meters of offices and a six-story podium with sports facilities, a library, shops and exhibition space. RSHP folded briefs from two clients, one for the tower and one for a podium on the neighboring plot, into one scheme. China Railway Construction Engineering Group was general contractor and CCDI Group the structural engineer, RSHP's project page shows.

RSHP says the concrete core provides the tower's main lateral stability. The mega trusses sit on refuge and service floors so they stay out of office space, and the outer bays cantilever with no primary structure inside them. RSHP associate Marco Tessaro said the corner bays are suspended, which keeps perimeter structure to a minimum and leaves slim edges and double-height glazed corners. At the base, triangular mega trusses on the podium roof carry the east wing's load back to the core, so slim columns can hold up the double-height lobby.

Ventilation is natural, through louvred facade panels and vents in the glazing; RSHP designed 10% of the facade to open. GCR reported the tower has China's 3-star Green Building Evaluation Standard rating, which it equates with LEED Gold. The basement links to the Futian Bonded Zone metro station.