The $450-million China World Trade Tower in Beijing’s Central Business District, which opened on Aug. 30, has become the city’s tallest structure at 330 meters. The 81-story high-rise will have 36,421 sq meters of mixed-use space and is LEED Gold registered, says its designer, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), Chicago. The project’s energy and conservation strategy includes crystalline walls layered with “fritted glass” and “metal fins” that serve as “vertical sunshades” and maximize daylighting for the building’s interior, says the firm. The tower’s structural engineer was Ove Arup & Partners, HK Ltd.; its mechanical-electrical engineers were Parsons Brinckerhoff Asia Ltd., Hong Kong, and WS Atkins International Ltd; and the local project architect was Wong & Tung International Ltd. SOM did not disclose the the name of the structure’s building contractor.
