Guangzhou International Finance Center (IFC), engineered by Arup, has been recognised with the Best Tall Building Award for the Asia & Australasia Region by the Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH) for its outstanding design and construction.
The skyscraper, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, is also one of the four regional winners competing for the top accolade '2011 Best Tall Building Worldwide' which will be announced at the CTBUH 10th Annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner to be held in October.
Arup is also the engineer for three finalist projects: International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, Riviera TwinStar Square in Shanghai, and Heron Tower in London.
Arup engineers from Hong Kong, London and Shenzhen worked seamlessly together to provide full engineering design services for Guangzhou IFC, an innovative tower with striking visual impact.
"Guangzhou IFC is another success story of global collaboration between Arup offices to deliver a world class project. We are proud that the depth and breadth of our expertise helps to shape Guangzhou’s skyline and continues to make a positive impact on the built environment."
- Michael Kwok, Arup's Project Director
Curved and crystalline in form, Guangzhou IFC is an elegant tower comprising a five-star+ hotel and grade-A office facilities with breathtaking views of the city. It is the tallest building in South China at 440m high, and boasts some eye-catching features beyond its height.
The supertall structure is the first in China to use a double curvature diagrid column system. Arup’s engineers conducted extensive computer analysis to find the optimum geometry for the diagrid structure, as well as the floor layout in relation to the curve of the building elevation and profile.
The tower’s services system adopts an array of sustainable design solutions. Waste heat recovered from heat recovery chillers is used to preheat water for the hotel to reduce energy consumption, and displacement ventilation is adopted for areas such as the office entrance lobby and hotel lobby to minimise operating costs and improve indoor air quality. Condensate from air-conditioning is collected and re-used for irrigation.
Guangzhou’s typhoon climate was a particular concern for Arup’s wind engineers. We co-ordinated comprehensive typhoon simulations and wind tunnel tests both locally and internationally to design and optimise the wind loads – the first project in Guangzhou to undergo such a comprehensive wind climate analysis.
Sitting at the very centre of Guangzhou’s emerging Central Business District, Guangzhou IFC has become a new beacon of the city’s dynamic urbanisation and prosperity.