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Qingdao Plaza

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The project includes a 65 stories office tower  and at the bottom a 7 stories shopping center enclosing a promenade that functions as an urban connector. Nature, landscaped areas, trees, green walls, natural ventilation, and natural lighting are the main design key elements, interlaced with economy of scale, simple construction systems, and sustainable principles to create a structure breathing honesty in style and timeless aesthetics.


The shopping center comprehends three major anchor department stores separated by the "Y" shaped promenade where all the boutique stores and food courts are also located. The roof above the promenade is completely glazed and open to the sky; the peculiarity of this structure is that is fully accessible, and populated with miniature gardens and green walls.


A space frame with primary structure laid on a 4 meters grid, creates the map for pedestrian  circulation organized on two levels placed at the top and  bottom chord elevation. These two levels of path of travel, cross each other on a sinuous transition through feature green walls, planters with small trees , reflecting pools, and fountains, all placed at a random and unexpected rhythm to create a maze-like experience while enjoying the outdoors and the views of the promenade below, where the system also creates an organic pattern of shade and shadows which evolve and constantly changes during the day giving a stronger connection with time.


The larger anchor store provides a shopping experience where the displays of different departments sinuously articulate around a multitude of light wells two and three stories deep, where landscaped areas, trees, reflecting pools and fountains create an indoor/outdoor setting  surrounding staircases, escalators, balconies and lounge areas.


The 65 stories tower above, is designed on a square floor plate 40 meters wide with a module that repeats every seven stories.

Every floor plate has a different portions of it carved out along its perimeter to create double story openings with the adjacent floors for outdoors with gardens, trees, reflecting pools, staircases, and lounge areas. These amenities can be visible from the office spaces and can be reached from multiple levels through an outdoor vertical circulation that wraps around the core of the building, allowing every user to walk along the perimeter  all the way down to the  glazed roof above the promenade, to reach bars, cafes, and  restaurant located over the shopping center  roof, and surrounded by gardens and plazas open to the sky for public events.


The tower's skin is designed with a combination of fixed and operable horizontal louvers which would provide a passive sun and heat gain control, or an active system to control the amount of natural ventilation entering the building. An inner layer of skin, exposed to the sun during certain time of the day in specific seasons, is designed with a double glass layer enclosing a 50 cm core that contains horizontal glass louvers built with photosensitive glass. The core collects and store the heat gained through the outer glass layer, while the photosensitive louvers automatically change from clear to frosted finish when the sun could create glare in the working environment.