Shanghai World Financial Center

Park Hyatt Shanghai

One of KPF’s most highly recognized and award-winning projects, the Shanghai World Financial Center has stood as a symbol of commerce and culture since its completion in 2008.

A virtual city within a city, the supertall structure houses a mix of office and retail uses, as well as the Park Hyatt Shanghai on the 79th to 93rd floors. Occupying the tower’s uppermost floors, the SWFC Sky Arena offers visitors aerial views of the historic Lujiazui and winding river below and the chance to walk almost 500 meters above the city via the 100th floor Sky Walk.

A square prism, the symbol used by the ancient Chinese to represent the earth, is intersected by two cosmic arcs, representing the heavens, as the tower ascends in gesture to the sky. The interaction between these two realms gives rise to the building’s form, carving a square sky portal at the top of the tower that lends balance to the structure and links the two opposing elements, the heavens and the earth.

In collaboration with the project’s structural engineer, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, the team arrived at an innovative structural solution that abandoned the original concrete frame structure in favor of a diagonal-braced frame with outrigger trusses coupled to the columns of the mega-structure. This enabled the weight of the building to be reduced by more than 10%, consequently reducing the use of materials and resulting in a more transparent structure in visual and conceptual harmony with the tower’s elegant form.

Read about KPF’s commitment to responsible supertall design here.

Location

Shanghai, China

Client

Mori Building Company

Team

Shanghai Modern (Architect of Record), Irie Miyake (Executive Architect), Tony Chi (Interior Designer)

Type

Civic + Cultural, Hospitality, Mixed-Use, Office, Retail

Size

381,600 m2 / 4,107,600 ft2

Units

174 Rooms

Awards

Award of Excellence (CTBUH 10 Years Award 2018), Winner – Commercial & Office Buildings (Society of American Registered Architects Professional Design Awards 2009), Best-High Rise Urban Building (NAIOP / Commercial Real Estate Development Association Project of the Year Awards 2009), Winner – Chinese Projects, Mixed-Use Buildings, and Audience Vote (MIPIM Asia Awards 2009), Nominee – Business Centres (MIPIM Awards 2009), Highest Observation Deck (Guinness World Records 2009), Award of Design Excellence and Award of Merit – International (AIA NYS Design Awards 2009), Winner (Architect Magazine Annual Design Review 2009), Honor Award for Architecture (AIA Hong Kong Honors & Awards 2008), Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia and Best Tall Building in the World (CTBUH Awards 2008), #3 (Emporis Skyscraper Award 2008), Winner (AIA NY Design Awards 1995)

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Project Type:Supertall
Project Location:Asia Pacific