Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the People’s Republic of China. Following a high-profile international competition lasting for months, the integrated design team including IDM of Singapore, engineers from RPC and ourselves was appointed to design the masterplan with our focus on the high tower.
The new tower is conceived as a flexible, enduring new addition to one of Harbin’s most celebrated streets.
The towers’ form is a pure expression of its function. The building is divided vertically into three distinct volumes: a six storey base, knitted with the urban grain at street level; a recessed first seven storey for the tower; and a slender column of premium offices at the top. These proportions were established through a process of detailed analysis, involving modelling views of neighbouring buildings and finding the ideal distribution of areas to achieve a balanced composition. To maximise the office frontage, the core is placed in the middle. Clearly expressing the structure, the tapered steel-frame tower rises to meet four shear walls – extending from the top of the tower, these four blades will provide an elegant marker on the skyline.
The office floors for each of the 3 blocks are intersected by dramatic triple-height sky gardens. there are 27 of them offering the prized amenity of open space in the heart of Harbin, with bars, cafes, facilities for meetings and conferences. The social focus of the tower continues at street level, where entrance is via a dramatic triple-height atrium and a large public plaza, with the potential for large-scale works of art.
Tower Design by Marco Ferri
Masterplan by IDMgroup Singapore
