Shenzhen, China
Located in the fast-developing new district of Qianhai in Shenzhen, China’s south financial and technology hub, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture’s Golden Bridge Twin Towers draws its design inspiration from its connection to nature, bringing it into the buildings and up toward the sky.
For its sustainable and innovative design, the Golden Bridge Twin Towers has recently been awarded a 2023 Green Good Design by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
At 200 meters tall and 180 meters tall, the twin towers have slightly elongated masses with smooth corners and plans, sloping inward toward each other to optimize the solar and wind performance, minimize the impact of the dense urban proximity, and maximize the valuable views to the bay and park.
The two sky bridges, one at near-ground retail and one at the top connect the buildings, creating a strong identity.
These large spaces provide a unique amenity in the sky and help to maximize the program’s flexibility.
Structurally, the bridges transfer wind and seismic loads between the two towers to improve their performance by reducing torsional responses and lateral displacements.
Orientated around the central opening in the sky bridges, exciting central public space establish a venue for people to connect, meet, and celebrate events, with access to connections internally to multiple floors and externally to roof terrace gardens.
Retail spaces are provided in the lower sky bridge, while the upper bridge programming is flexible and can offer exhibition, dining, and socialization, as well as conference space and training facilities.
The sky bridges are characterized by two sky openings where people can break out from interior to exterior to enjoy fresh air and nature on every floor in the exterior landscaped balconies and on the bridge roof gardens.
These spaces are also visible for those taking one of the shuttle elevators, creating an urban, iconic, interactive, vertical community space between the twin towers.
This internal atrium extends further upward, linking to the final roof garden and sky farm that is gently protected by a building-integrated photovoltaic canopy.
At night, special lighting in between towers and on the sky bridges gives the towers and the neighborhood an added identity.
The building’s façade is carefully designed to optimize solar and ventilation performance.
Sunshades are deep and horizontal on the south to control the shading from the high-angle sun.
The sunshades move gently around the building corners to reduce the depth in the horizontal direction and increase the vertical direction to filter the low-angle sun from morning and afternoon.
Special glazing with dual photochromic and electrochromic properties will be used to control the atrium solar condition with the maximized view out.
Horizontal ventilated mullions will provide interior users with convenient control of natural ventilation in the appropriate weather.
Golden Bridge Twin Towers represents a holistic approach toward sustainable design through a high-performance façade with solar heat gain reduction, roof PV renewable energy generation, 60% water reduction, waste, and embodied carbon reduction, improved indoor quality with a view, daylighting, and natural ventilation, on-demand interactive office intelligent control, as well as access to the green and open space.
The towers maximize the comfort of the occupants and minimize the environmental footprint of the buildings while using costs and constructability as additional design factors.
Project: Golden Bridge Twin Towers
Architects: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Photographs: Courtesy of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
