Foster + Partners has designed the new CITIC Bank headquarters to stand in Hangzhou's Qianjing central business district.
Perhaps as a result of the modest height of only 99 metres and 20 storeys, a size that means the building will not stand out on the skyline and will likely be quickly enveloped by surrounding taller projects, the design is an extremely distinctive piece of work.
The exterior of the building is dictated by a gold-coloured structural frame with a web of primary and secondary cross bracing that allows it to be nipped in at the sides creating an interesting building profile. The facades will be highly transparent glazing that will reveal office workers buzzing around inside animating the facades in the process.
It will feature office floors set around a central atrium that rises from the base of the building all the way to the top with that expanding into skygardens that will occupy much of the highest floor. One particular advantage of this is to eliminate deep-plan offices and allow the occupiers of the building to have views of natural daylight no matter which way their desks are facing, something that Foster + Partners have long been doing in their designs.
Unfortunately, for now the CITIC Bank Building is just a proposal and has yet to be approved by the planning authorities but if it does get the green light, it should make an interesting counterpoint to Stephen Holl's twin towers that will stand nearby.