Ping An Finance Center - China
The city's new Central Business District will be anchored by KPF's Ping An Finance Center, which will shortly be Shenzhen's tallest tower at 660 meters. The skyscraper will connect to nearby properties as well as the Shenzhen Line 1 Gou Wu Gong Yuan metro station in the Futian District, which is located at the southwest corner of Yi Tian Road and Fu Hua Road. More information is available after the jump. The spire of the PAFC, which stands 115 floors high, is reminiscent of historic spired buildings like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. The retail shops will form a terrace that progressively slopes away from the tower, creating a huge amphitheater-like space that will act as a spur for the CBD's development. The retail shops will form a terrace that progressively slopes out from the tower, forming a huge amphitheater-like space – designed to serve as a catalyst for the growing CBD – perched above a platform hosting retail and conference programming.
The exterior scheme uses a complementary language of light-colored stone and glazing. The vertical superstructure is encased in chevron-shaped stone panels that highlight the eight-story diagonal braces on the outer columns. The spire is the conclusion of the structural's subtle expression, as the superstructure integrates into one visual aspect meeting the sky.
A composite concrete core and steel outriggers anchor the eight super-columns in the tower's structural architecture. On the mechanical and refuge levels, seven double-layer belt trusses are positioned, as well as super diagonals in the corners of the tower. The eleven levels of the podium are constructed utilizing typical steel frame construction. The nonlinear dynamic time-history seismic analysis of structural engineers Thornton Thomasetti improved the skyscraper's performance-based structural design.
Location: Shenzhen
Height: 1,965 ft (599 m)
Floors: 115
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)
Building Function: Office
Completion: 2017
