Ying Long Tower

Located in Shenzhen’s Futian Central Business District, this 28-storey office tower enjoys a prominent location and panoramic views of the city skyline.

TOWER DESIGN
The tower design aims to provide a high standard of tenant amenities. Four box-shaped glass volumes were stacked on Xinzhou Road to create a ‘vertical village’. At the northern part of the tower, vertical sky gardens were placed at each elevator lobby on every floor. The design concept comprises efficient, rectangular floor plates with minimal intrusion.

The four overhanging volumes were designed with large aluminium framing, the outlines of which are lit at night. The glass curtain wall is sheathed in a distinctive skin of aluminium louvres that provide shade and reduce glare. Dark-coloured cladding materials at the podium level enable the building to have a unified overall appearance.

At ground level, the flow of pedestrian movement is facilitated by the shape and position of the 10-metre-high lobby that faces an outdoor plaza with various water landscape designs. Shops and cafés are featured at podium levels, encouraging further use by the community. The second and third floors were designed to accommodate restaurants and the fourth floor was equipped with facilities designed to host meetings. An existing garden nearby was redesigned and rebuilt.

CONSTRUCTION APPROACH
The developer aimed to minimise the cost of construction by sourcing all material and technical supplies locally. In addition, passive devices were integrated to help monitor and minimise energy consumption, as well as control the construction technology for future flexibility.

GREEN FEATURES
External aluminium sunshades are utilised to help reduce heat gain from direct sunlight. There is also an extensive use of double-glazed windows and low-E glass. The design favours natural ventilation with large openings. Natural light is directed into the building through office light-partition walls, with 75 per cent of the interior floor plate having access to daylighting.

Other Green features include the use of energy-efficient lighting, and the use of a combination of water-efficient sanitary fittings and a grey water recycling system. The building is also fitted with an extensive green roof terrace and an air-conditioning system that is capable of adapting to individual tenant requests.

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS
The design process spanned nearly four years. A major project constraint involved the extension and construction of a three-floor basement car park below an existing garden adjacent to the site. The aim of constructing the basement car park was to supplement Ying Long Tower and the nearby residential community with additional parking spaces that were previously lacking in this old district. The design of the garden was part of the commission. It was a long process to obtain government permission to extend the basement limit.

The project won the Best Developer award in the Commercial/Office – Future category in the 2008 Cityscape China Real Estate Awards.