Pas De Deux Above The Metro Tunnel

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

The 45-story Leeza SOHO skyscraper is the fourth joint project between Zaha Hadid Architects and the leading Chinese developer SOHO China. Previously, they implemented multifunctional complexes Galaxy SOHO and Wangjing SOHO in Beijing and Sky SOHO in Shanghai. The name Leeza SOHO is a variation on the theme "Lize": it is one of the highways at the intersection of which there is a tower.

The offices located in the new building are designed for small and medium-sized companies for which Beijing lacks class A business centers. Of the four underground levels of Leeza SOHO, the lower two are occupied by a garage for 480 cars, and the upper two are occupied by cafes and shops.

Leeza SOHO is located in the Fengtai business district in southwest Beijing, between the city center and the new

Daxing Airport, another notable ZHA building. The concept of the development of the Chinese capital implies its growth without increasing the load on the transport system of the urban core, so Fengtai has its own train station, where five metro lines under construction intersect. Leeza SOHO is very close, and its section is cut diagonally by a service tunnel.

The tower seems to have straddled this tunnel: it is vertically divided into two parts, and between them is the world's highest atrium: its height is 194.15 m, and the entire building is 207 m, if you count up to the helipad on the roof. The architects compare their project to the pas de deux of two parts of a skyscraper, smoothly curving as the height increases within the common façade shell. There are bridges across the atrium at the height of the 13th, 24th, 35th and 45th floors, offering panoramic views of the city.

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1/3 Leeza SOHO Tower Photo © Hufton + Crow
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2/3 Leeza SOHO Tower Photo © Hufton + Crow
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3/3 Leeza SOHO Tower Photo © Hufton + Crow

The atrium provides natural light access to the center of the building and also acts as a “thermal tube” in the ventilation system, which keeps positive overpressure low and thereby restricts air flow. At the same time, each floor of the skyscraper is equipped with valves for air intake, that is, if necessary, you can regulate the temperature there autonomously, depending on current needs.

The façade is a unified low-emissivity glass double skin that protects the interior from the often harsh weather conditions in Beijing. For glazing, the heat loss U (1 / R) is 2 W / m²· K, and the shading index is 0.4. U-factor of the entire shell - 0.55 W / m²·TO.

The project claims to be LEED Gold: the building management system monitors energy consumption and indicators of temperature, humidity, etc. around the clock. Among the “green” technologies used are heat recovery ventilation, high efficiency pumps, fans, cooling and heating units, lighting. Provides rainwater collection, mixers with low pressure, the use of "gray" water in toilets. The roof is landscaped, solar panels are installed there. There are 2,680 bicycle parking spaces, which, importantly, are combined with changing rooms and showers.

The architects emphasize that they used BIM on all of their projects for SOHO China, which, among other things, made these four structures highly resource efficient.