Following on the heels of their CCTV Headquarters, a folded skyscraper in Beijing, OMA has now completed another tower in China, this time on the Pearl River Delta in Shenzhen. Shenzen Stock Exchange (SZSE) is a 36-storey tower with 180,000 sq meter of above ground mixed-use space. Included in the project is Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s offices, the Listing Hall, conference centers, a Chinese art gallery, restaurants, rental offices, and a retail area. The project was conceived as a visual representation of the stock exchange and the 3-storey cantilevered podium “broadcasts” the city’s financial market’s activities.
Elevating the podium creates space for the public on the ground level and frames views of the surrounding city. A lush green roof tops the podium and acts as a new park for the city. SZSE is designed to be one of the first 3-Star Green Rated Buildings in China. The envelope plays an important role in regulating sunlight to minimize solar heat gain and maximize daylighting, while deep, recessed windows work as sun shades to protect the interior from direct sunlight in the summer and to bounce light in during winter. The exterior’s neutral color and its relative transparency will have a crystalline effect and change according to weather conditions.
Located at a new public square on a prominent downtown site, the SZSE is more than just a financial center. It has a strong civic component and will work to engage with the city, not stand apart from it. “The Shenzhen Stock Exchange embodies the Pearl River Delta’s phenomenal transformation over the past thirty years,” Rem Koolhaas explains. “We are greatly excited about the building from an architectural standpoint, but I believe its true significance emerges when viewed in an economic, political, and ultimately social context. We are immensely honoured to contribute to Shenzhen’s 21st century landscape.”
Images courtesy of OMA; photography by Philippe Ruault
