Architecture technology

SOHO Li Ze
Tower

Master Student: Sarah Omran l 11800199

2018-23-12
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Abstract:
The Leeza Soho skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects is under
construction in Beijing’s Lize Financial Business District. The building will
be 207 meters tall, with 46 floors destined for a variety of different uses, and
will be the skyscraper with the world’s highest foyer, 190 meters tall. This
unusual feature, a foyer almost as tall as the building itself, is due to the
features of the site on which the construction stands: the area is divided in
two diagonally by the new metro tunnel, and below it is the new
exchange between lines 14 and 16 of the Beijing metro.
The skyscraper will look like a single volume, but its construction will actually
be divided into two halves built on either side of the tunnel, connected by the
central foyer. In its vertical development, the Leeza Soho undergoes a slight
twist, returning to the east-west alignment of the Lize Road, an important
traffic artery in Beijing, on the top floors. The twist is underlined by the public
square surrounding the building and receiving visitors and reflected in a
different façade solution in the central part of the skyscraper. The big clear
windows ensure that all the building’s floors have panoramic views of the city
and that daylight penetrates right to the Centre of the building.
Soho China
SOHO China is a Chinese office developer. The company was founded in
1995 by Chairman Pan Shiyi (潘石屹) and CEO Zhang Xin (张欣).

SOHO China focuses on developing properties in the central business

districts of Beijing and Shanghai. SOHO China developments are known for
their modern architecture, with designs from architects such as Zaha Hadid
and Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
The company has developed over five million square meters of commercial
properties.
The company uses the name "SOHO" in both English and Chinese contexts.
SOHO China is China's only pure prime office developer. Having shifted from
a “build to sell” to “build to hold” strategy in 2012. the company now holds
1.4 million square meters of office space in Beijing and Shanghai for long-
term investment.
Architect

Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born British architect who was the first woman to
win the Pritzker Architecture Prize and was recently awarded RIBA's
2016 Royal Gold Medal, died from a heart attack today at the age of 65.
Per a statement from Zaha Hadid Architects on the shocking and saddening
news, "Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE died suddenly in Miami in the early hours of
this morning. She had contracted bronchitis earlier this week and suffered a
sudden heart attack while being treated in hospital."

Born in Baghdad in 1950, she studied mathematics at the American

University of Beirut and then headed to London in 1972 to study architecture
at the Architectural Association. She established her own architectural
practice there in 1979 and four years later came to international attention
with the competition-winning The Peak in Hong Kong.

Most early projects, like The Peak, remained unbuilt, but eventually Hadid
became one of most renowned and prolific architects this century, especially
in the years following the receipt of the 2004 Pritzker Prize. Alongside office
partner Patrik Schumacher, she designed and realized what the firm
describes as "unexpected and dynamic architectural forms" all around the
world.
Notable completed buildings include the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein,
Germany (1993); the Hoenheim-Nord Terminus and Car Park in Strasbourg,
France (2001, the recipient of the 2003 EU Mies Award); the Rosenthal
Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003); the MAXXI: Italian National
Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome (2009, recipient of the 2010 RIBA
Stirling Prize); the Guangzhou Opera House in China (2010); and the Heydar
Aliyev Centre in Baku (2013).

The Li Ze tower is the latest of four projects that Zaha Hadid Architects has
designed for the developer Soho China, including two others in Beijing.

The Galaxy Soho building is made up of four main domed structures, while
the Wangjing Soho commercial complex features three pebble-shaped
towers located midway between Beijing Capital Airport and the city.

Wangjng Soho Galaxy Soho

Location
Leeza SOHO is located at the intersection of Lines 14 and 16 currently
under-construction for the Beijing Subway rail network .

Beijing map
Concept location
As an entry point to a
bustling financial district,
elegantly twisting on top of a
subway tunnel, Leeza Soho
is a representation of the
connected, innovative, and
fast-paced society. In
addition to our photorealistic
night interpretation of the
future building, our mission
was to emphasize the
nocturnal effects of the
actual facade, interior, and
landscape lighting in sync
with the tower’s dynamic
context. We visualized the
tower’s transparent facade,
reflecting its surroundings,
and at the same time
accentuated its silhouette
through eye-catching
uplights (spiral floodlight),
emphasized by the interior,
top and other lighting
elements. Undoubtedly,
Leeza Soho’s abstract
twisting atrium was its most
prominent feature, so the significance of its lighting representation was key
to the final holistic 3d visualization of the tower.
Architecture side
Construction is well underway on a 207-metre skyscraper by Zaha Hadid
Architects in Beijing, which will feature a huge twisting atrium that is
expected to be the world’s tallest.
Located in the Lize Financial Business District – a new business, residential
and transport hub in southwest Beijing – the 46-storey Leeza Soho will
feature a mix of offices and shops.
Designed by Zaha Hadid
before her death last year,
the skyscraper – which is
already 20 stories tall – is
positioned above a pair of
subway lines that diagonally
divide the site.

The tower is split into two

halves by the subway and
connected by a huge central
atrium. As it rises, the atrium
twists at 45 degrees to
orientate the higher floors
with the east-west axis of
Lize Road – one of west
Beijing’s main streets.
Once completed, the 190-
metre-high void is expected
to be world’s highest – a title
currently held by the Burj Al
Arab hotel in Dubai.
The shape of the atrium creates convex openings that run up either side of
the tower to allow for plenty of natural light and views of the city from the
centre of each floor.
Walkways will bridge the cavity at different levels, while a glass facade will
encase the two halves of the tower in a single cohesive envelope.
The glazing will be double insulated and as each glass each pane steps up
it is angled to aid ventilation. The intention is to help maintain a comfortable
indoor climate in Beijing’s weather conditions, which ranges from extremes
of warmth and cold.
A public space connecting with the interchange below will occupy the atrium
on the lowest level, leading on from the outdoor public plaza that surrounds
the tower.
There will also be space to park 2,680 bicycles, with lockers and shower
facilities also
provided. Dedicated
charging spaces for
electric or hybrid cars
are located below
ground.
Construction of Leeza
Soho is to reach
its full height of 207
metres in September
this year, with the
tower’s completion
slated for late 2018.
The tower is the latest of four projects that Zaha Hadid Architects has
designed for the developer Soho China, including two others in Beijing.
The Galaxy Soho building is made up of four main domed structures, while
the Wangjing Soho commercial complex features three pebble-shaped
towers located midway between Beijing Capital Airport and the city.
Drawings
A SUSTAINABLE VOID
Leeza SOHO is targeting LEED Gold environmental certification and the
atrium plays a key role within the tower’s sustainability strategy.

As the building rises, its diagonal axis is twisted through 45 degrees to

orientate the atrium’s higher floors with Beijing’s historic north-south axis.
This twist not only creates views from the centre on all levels, but also allows
natural light to penetrate deep into the building’s floorplate.

Above: The atrium plays an important role in the buildings environmental

strategy

Additionally, the tower contains a range of sustainable technologies with an

advanced energy management system monitoring real-time environmental
control and energy efficiency within the structure. There’s also high-
efficiency fans, chillers, boilers and lighting and a water-collection system
that re-uses grey water in toilet flushing and landscape irrigation.

Internally Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) materials have be installed

throughout the tower to minimise interior pollutants, and in the basement
there are 2,680 bicycle parking spaces together with dedicated charging
spots for electric and hybrid cars.
Construction side

The structural system of Leeza Soho is a combination of concrete and steel.

“Reinforced concrete has sculptural qualities; it was therefore the ideal
choice to realize curvilinear form of the tower,” Satoshi Ohashi, project
director of Zaha Hadid Architects, tells Construction+.
“On the other hand, wide-flange steel had long-spanning qualities; it was
therefore selected to realise the inter-connecting bridge. This combination
enabled Leeza Soho to realize the fluid, dynamic forms, while maintaining
construction and economic feasibilities.”

Each of the two halves of Leeza Soho have their own structural core and
perimeter columns that follow the curvilinear exterior form of the tower, with
steel tension rings surrounding each floor plate. The four aerial bridges that
connect the towers are made of wide-flange steel beams and columns, which
provide the right strength to resist bending stress and enabled the bridges to
span extended distances.
THE CASE FOR ALUMINIUM
“Of all the components that make
up Leeza Soho, its façade is
arguably the most visually
significant,” says Satoshi. “While
the building’s structure keeps it
standing and MEP ensures its daily
functioning, the tower’s façade
envelops all components together
in a fluid, cohesive whole.” The
design team, therefore, committed
great effort to the research and
development of the façade.
The first challenge was to find the
most suitable material. The design
team initially rationalised the digital
3D model of the building by dividing
the overall shape into individual
panels with reasonable
dimensions. They then optimised
the different panels using an
algorithm that searches for shape
similarities within the façade to a
tolerable degree—minimising the
number of different façade panels
required, preserving the original
curvature quality of the design,
while maintain an acceptable level
of fabrication and economic feasibility.

During the first round of façade mock-up exercise, different fabricators were
invited to build façade mock-ups with different cladding materials—
aluminium, form steel, glass-reinforced concrete (GRC), and fibre-reinforced
polymer (FRP). These mock-ups were tested based on their material’s ability
to express smooth curvilinear geometry, maintain clean edges, and preserve
accuracy that is faithful to the original design model.
While FRP, GRC and form steel were all capable of maintaining the
characteristics of the original 3D design, only aluminium could deliver the
building within reasonable time frame, effort, and budget. The material is
durable, and the technology is well established in China. Thus, Leeza Soho
became an aluminium-clad building.

The structural system

LEEZA SOHO is a complicated connected twin-tower structure. The plan of
a single tower is spiral-up layout on the atrium side. The single tower is an
arc-shaped frame-core wall structural system. There are four ellipse rings
made of bridges and middle trusses between the two towers. The four rings
make the two towers become an entire structure. The structure is composed
of two complecated dissymmetry towers, which are connected by steel
bridges of 9-38 m long. The structure is 191.5 m high. The three structural
concepts are compared. One is a 'resistance' concept by the braces on the
faç ade of the single tower. The second concept is 'dredge'. Some columns
are used to support the gravity of the suspended structure directly. The third
concept is 'hoop'. Bridges and waist trusses are set between the two towers
like hoops. These hoops will make the two towers become an entire structure.
The strucutre will have a good seismic performance. The effects of the
connection between the two towers are introduced. The adopted structural
system and the calculation results are summarized, which can provide
usefule reference to similar seismic design of complicated super tall
buildings beyond code limit.
QUALITY AND ACCURACY
In the second round of mock-ups, various well-established façade
companies from all over China were invited to deliver mock-ups made of
aluminium panels with the best overall geometric accuracy and installation
quality. The design team was also looking for the best connection bracket
and transfer bracket details, for accurate installation and easy adjustments.
Each individual panels are given individual bar code identification to assist
with on-site tracking. The designs are created digitally using 3D building
information modelling and sent directly to the fabricator. From the first panel
to the last, the digital information of every single panel is tracked from the
factory for quality and accuracy purposes.
References
https://sourceable.net/zaha-hadid-de...allest-atrium/
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worlds-lar...

https://www.archdaily.com/.../zaha-hadid-architects-releases-images-of-
leeza-soho-tow...

https://www.researchgate.net/.../300052988_Research_on_structural_syste
m_of_LEEZA...

https://archinect.com/.../stunning-construction-photos-of-zaha-hadid-
architects-leeza-s...