Architecture firm SOM has completed its headquarters for Shenzhen's Rural Commercial Bank, a naturally ventilated steel-wrapped office building with an exterior that resembles an exoskeleton.
Located on the edge of a public park in one of Shenzhen's business districts, the 33-storey, 158-metre-tall tower is distinguished by its external steel diagrid, which is both a structural and solar-shading element.
The diagrid has the effect of supporting the building from the exterior, which enables column-free and flexible interior layouts and partially shields the tower from sunlight.
It reduces solar heat gain by an estimated 34 per cent, according to the studio.
SOM designed the Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters to suit Shenzhen's tropical climate "We're always exploring opportunities to synthesise inventive engineering solutions with architectural design," said Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) design partner Scott Duncan.
"The Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters gave us the chance to incorporate a diagrid ? similar to an exoskeleton ? that pulls the structure to the exterior and effectively suspends the tower within to create column-free workspaces."
The building's exterior diagrid provides structural support while reducing solar heat gain
The diagrid forms a lattice-like pattern on the outside of the building. Its diamond shapes widen at the building's base to create entryways and provide framed views of the surrounding park and the nearby South China Se...