Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has completed a 55-storey tower in Beijing with exterior glass panels that function as prisms, capturing and refracting daylight (+ slideshow).

The mixed-use tower, called the Beijing Greenland Center, is located in the Dawangjing business district and sits halfway between the city's historic core and international airport.

Rectangular in plan, the skyscraper contains four floors of office space and 178 serviced apartments, all organised around a central core.

Rising 260 metres, the tower is sheathed in a curtain wall consisting of low-E glass panels that are configured in a way that provides shade and redirects sunlight.

"The tower's striking facade pattern is informed by the bas relief carving technique," said SOM, a global firm founded in 1936. "Isosceles trapezoidal modules function as prisms, catching daylight and refracting it to create an interplay of light and shadow."
Two different trapezoidal modules were used, with one tapering upward and the other tapering downward. The modules alternate in a regular pattern on all sides of the building.

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The tower is designed to consume 30 per cent less energy and water compared to a baseline building. In addition to the shade-providing skin, the skyscraper's sustainable elements include a heat reclaim wheel, variable speed pumps for heating and cooling, and a water-side economiser to uti...