SOM to Design the Greenland Group Suzhou Center in Wujiang, China

The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has won an international competition to design Greenland Group Suzhou Center, a 358-meter supertall landmark tower, in Wujiang, China. This is SOM Chicago’s sixth project with the Greenland Group.

Project Description from the Architects:

The atrium is a key design feature of the building. It maximizes daylight penetration, facilitates mixed mode ventilation in the lobbies and public spaces, and acts as a fresh air supply source for the tower. The building is oriented to harness both the stack effect and prevailing winds via the east and west façades of the atrium.

Major high performance energy saving strategies include a high performance façade, utilizing cooler outside air at higher levels for natural ventilation of the atrium, natural light harvesting using daylight responsive controls, lighting energy optimization using efficient fixtures and occupant controls, energy recovery systems, demand controlled ventilation, and an onsite energy center with combined heat and power plant to capitalize on the overall load diversity of the development.

Luke Leung, SOM Director of Sustainable and MEP Engineering, adds, “The design of the Greenland Group Suzhou Center utilizes an atrium as the ‘lung’ of the building to provide ventilation and will incorporate a series of high efficiency measures with the objective to achieve a 60% savings in energy consumption compared to a conventional US high rise and a 60% reduction in potable water use.”

SOM Managing Partner Jeffrey McCarthy states, “This exciting new commission embodies SOM’s interdisciplinary commitment to elegant high performance design. The Greenland Group Suzhou Center is designed not only for efficiency of construction and operation, but to make a strong skyline statement about Wujiang and its bright future.”

The Greenland Group Suzhou Center is SOM Chicago’s sixth project with the Greenland Group. The firm’s work began with Zifeng Tower, formerly Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, in Nanjing, China and was completed in 2009. Five additional supertall projects designed by Wimer for the Greenland Group are the 56-story Zhengzhou Greenland Plaza in Zhengzhou, China, the 59-story Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza, Parcel A in Nanchang, China, the 56-story Nanchang Zifeng Tower in Nanchang, China and the 55-story Greenland Dawangjing Supertall Project in Dawangjing, China.