The China Merchants Tower anchors the Woods Park master plan, located in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, China. It sits on a 150,000 sm site and provides 103,000 sm of new office and select retail space. The tower's tapered and chamfered form increases the building's aspect ratio and allows lower floors to slope away from the sun, decreasing the solar radiation that strikes the exterior wall. The shape also allows for the distribution of exterior notches that support balconies, giving tenants access to the outdoors on each level.
Inside, the notches double the quantity of corner offices per floor, making the floorplates more appealing to potential tenants. The tower features a low-E, unitized glass curtain wall that is clad in a system of horizontal glass fins. The façade's fins have been closely spaced together in order to reduce solar gain. Aesthetically, the fins give the façade a fine-grain texture and balance the slenderness generated by the tower's verticality. They also bounce daylight deep into the space and refract light at night, working in conjunction with the top of the tower its signature elementto illuminate the form.
This makes the building read as a beacon across Shenzhen. The China Merchants Tower incorporates a comprehensive suite of environmental features that contribute to its performance and target a two star certification from the China Green Star rating system. The suite includes optimized tower orientation that allows for passive cooling of interior spaces via operable windows; efficient water fixtures and grey water management that produce water savings of up to 25%; a central plan with variable speed chillers, pumps, drive fans, and zoning controls; and an efficient curtain wall that works in tandem with the shading fin system to reduce solar heat gain and enhance daylighting.