Wuhan, China
Zaha Hadid Architects designs a 266,000-square-meter vertical complex for Taikang Insurance Group, in Wuhan, comprised of three skyscrapers that will be interconnected with multiple skybridges that will allow people to move easily between them without needing to descend to the ground.
The main inspiration for the architects was drawn by the positioning of Wuhan, as the city is considered to be China’s central hub of information and transport networks.
The towers incorporate offices, apartments, hotel, shopping, and dining amenities as well as cultural and recreational facilities.
The new center, acting as an integrated vertical community, will house over 20,000 people throughout each day while connecting the city’s new Central Park and riverfront wetlands.
“Moving upwards from the shared central courtyards at ground level to the center’s skybridge terraces and rooftop gardens that surround its central canyon, the design creates a kaleidoscope of the city in a series of interwoven public spaces over many levels,” state the architects.
Tower One, reaching 52 floors, sits an adjacent station on Line 1 of the city’s metro network, facing the city, while Tower Two, reaching 47 floors, faces the river, and Tower Three, reaching 50 floors, offers views of the park.
Shops and restaurants are arranged at ground and lobby levels surrounding the garden courtyard that extends vertically as an urban canyon between the three towers.
Other key features of the towers are floating skybridges that consist of public spaces and amenities, while they are also connecting the towers at higher floors. The upper floors feature a rooftop garden terrace in order to provide panoramic views across the city and Yangtze River valley.
The façade of the towers features external fins with tapered profiles that extend from each glazing mullion for additional façade shading whilst maintaining unobstructed views of the city.
Thanks to the center’s enveloping nature, it ensures high performance in terms of natural daylighting throughout each floor while reducing the center’s heating and cooling requirements.
Water consumption is planned to be reduced with low flow-rate fixtures and the planting of native drought-tolerant vegetation while the development’s rainwater management system is integrated within the district’s sponge city program.
Project: Wuhan Taikang Financial Centre
Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
Lead Architect: Patrik Schumacher
Project Manager: Satoshi Ohashi
Project Associate Directors: Yang Jingwen and Stephane Vallotton
Project Associates: Martin Pfleger and Di Ding
Project Architect: Sebastian Andia
Project Lead: Xiaoyu Zhang
Project Team: Zheng Xu, Shaofei Zhang, Xuan Zhao, Yuchao Zhang, Pengcheng Gu, Othmane Kandri, Alejandro Garcia Gadea, Armando Solano, Branko Svarcer, Carolina Lopez-Blanco, Catherine McCann, Christian Lindvang Samsoe, Congyue Wang, Dennis Schiaroli, Dimitris K, Erwan Gallou, Frenji Koshy, Houzhe Xu, Jung Yeon Kwak, Lenka Petrakova, Li Jin, Lida Zhang, Meng Zhao, Pelayo Bustillo Macias, Tomasz Starczewski, Xiujing Wang, Yevgeniya Pozigun, Ying Xia, Yuan Feng, and Zohra Rougab
Client: Taikang Wuhan
Renderings: Zaha Hadid Architects
