What if skyscrapers could adapt and change shape almost as easily as a stack of Legos could? Kok Keong Tew & Linshou Wang explore that possibility with their design entitled the Adaptable Tower. Consisting of a steel mega frame structure with slots that can be filled in with shipping containers, the yellow, red, blue and black building was inspired by Mondrian and the Dutch De Stijl movement. Envisioned for Rotterdam, the modular tower would be almost completely adaptable over its lifetime and able to change function, density and even height if required. Click through our slideshow to check out some of the really innovative ideas that the designers have injected into the design - such as terraces that can be created simply by pushing the containers further out from the frame, a sky lobby that straddles the underground metro stop and predictions of what the tower will look like in the future.

Since Rotterdam has a rather vast container port, sourcing the modular elements for the Adaptable Tower would be made even more sustainable since the containers would not have to be trucked from afar. The containers could be removed, extended and rearranged within the mega frame to cater to changes such as fluctuations in market forces, different types of families moving into the area, etc. It would also allow residents to enlarge their apartments to accommodate larger families by extending their homes into vacant grids instead of having to move to the suburbs.

The lower floors of the tower house a basketball court, communal areas and a sky lobby. And as if all of the adaptability of the building isn’t convenient enough as it is, the four legs of the mega-frame straddle the underground metro line below, meaning that getting to the station platform would just be a matter of going downstairs.

+ Adaptable Tower

2 Comments

Utrecht's Rainbow Shipp... October 13, 2010 at 9:50 am

[...] seem to have been modified further than what we typically see. For one thing, the sides of the containers are smooth (as compared to the corrugated look we are used to). In addition, the end of each unit [...]
Rainbow Hued Recycling ... September 20, 2010 at 9:44 am

[...] with your building's shoddy recycling policies, you may want to think about moving to this colorful complex called the Recycling Tower. Designed by Minh Ngoc Phan & Sim Lee Yee, the residential tower [...]