Location: Shanghai, Pudong, China
Developer: Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.
Designer: Gensler, SWA Group
Site Size: 7.5 Acre

A new icon on the exciting Shanghai skyline, the Gensler-designed, 127-story, 576,000-square-meter Shanghai Tower completes a trio of “super-tall” buildings in Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district. Currently ranked as the tallest building in Asia and the second tallest on the planet, the 632-meter tower is a premiere global financial center, containing Grade A office space, entertainment venues, retail, an exhibition center, boutique hotel, and cultural venues. The new tower takes inspiration from Shanghai’s tradition of parks and neighborhoods, recast a high-density urban form. Its curved façade and spiraling form symbolize the emergence of modern China as a global financial power, while setting new standards for performance. Three important strategies—the tower’s asymmetrical form, its tapering profile, and its rounded corners—allow the building to withstand the typhoon-force winds common to Shanghai. The tower’s refined form, helped reduce building wind loads by 24 percent. In addition to its beauty, the tower is a showcase for technologies that raise the bar for the next generation of super high-rise buildings. More than a landmark, the mixed-use tower represents a new way of envisioning and creating cities.

Credit: Blackstation

Credit: Connie Zhou

Credit: Connie Zhou

Credit: Connie Zhou

Publications: The ULI Global Awards for Excellence 2017 Winners and Finalists