7 hip high-rise developments on the drawing board

Learn which AEC firms are behind these compelling high-rise buildings across the globe

1. Mixed-use Towers in Seoul awake the dancing dragons

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture designed Dancing

Dragons, a pair of landmark mixed-use towers, for the

new Yongsan International Business District in Seoul,

South Korea. Slender mini-towers cantilevered around a

central core make up the buildings, which include

residential, “officetel,” and retail elements.

The design aesthetic, including the building skin, includes

aspects of traditional Korean culture. In both buildings the

mini-tower cuts are clad in glass at the top and bottom,

making for dramatic skylights above the units at the

highest levels and a transparent floor beneath the units at

the lowest levels. The Building Team also includes

PositivEnergy Practice and Werner Sobek.

2. Super-tall skyscraper planned for capital of Guangxi Province

John Portman & Associates has been selected by

developer Guangxi Wei Zhuang Real Estate Co. to design

Tian Long Fortune Center, the first supertall skyscraper in

Nanning, China. With a height of 1,312 feet, the building

will provide new headquarters for member companies of

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and is

envisioned as a finance and trade center.

The upper portion of the tower will include an atrium hotel

with a fitness center, pool, executive club, and

restaurants. The building also will contain a public

observation complex, providing a 360-degree view.

3. Residential building will offer luxury in newly enlivened Boston neighborhood

Blake Middleton, FAIA, and Deborah Moelis of

Handel Architects designed Millennium Place, a

15-story residential building in Boston, located

on the corner of Avery and Washington Streets.

Developed by Millennium Partners, the building

will serve as the keystone of the Avery Street

Corridor, part of a new neighborhood recently

brought to life.

The 155-foot building consists of 256

residences, with one, two, and three

bedrooms, ranging in size from 750 sf to 2,400

sf. Residences are expected to range in price

from $550,000 to $2.8 million. Millennium

Place is slated for initial occupancy in fall

2013. Suffolk Construction is the builder.

4. Corporate HQ in the works in Xiaoshan District

A 52-story office building is currently in

development in the Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou,

China. Designed by Chicago’s Turner + DeCelles

for the Zhejiang Hengyi Group, the tower will

provide office space for ~2,000 employees. A

below-grade transit “superstation” will house

conference facilities, retail shops, and parking.

Approximately half of the office space will be held

for future growth but leased to tenants on an

interim basis. Also on the Building Team: BMP

Project Consulting (program manager) and Tongji

Architectural Design of Shanghai (local design

firm).

5. “Glass Waterfall” façade highlights design of Education First HQ

Phase one of the 10-story, 300,000-sf

headquarters for EF Education First, a

Cambridge, Mass.-based private education

company, is under way. Designed by Wingardh

Arkitektkontor AB of Sweden and Wilson

Architects, the facility will provide 230,000 sf

of office and educational space, a 65,000-sf

parking garage, a 14,000-sf restaurant, and

31,000 sf of ground- and mezzanine-level

public space.

In a design-build partnership, Skanska USA

Building will serve as contractor, while TG

Gallagher will provide HVAC, plumbing, and fire

protection services.

6. Fourth-tallest building in Vancouver under construction on a tight site

Westbank Projects Corp. commissioned BIG-Bjarke Ingels

Group to design a 49-story, 600-unit mixed-use tower in

downtown Vancouver. Beach and Howe tower combines

653,890 sf of residential, retail, and commercial space in

an urban complex at the entrance to the Granville Street

Bridge. In response to a constricted urban site, BIG

designed the tower to be inverted. The tower’s small

triangular base curves away from the bridge to allow light

and air to enter lower apartments.

Buro Happold engineering firm, working with the local

engineer of record, Glotman Simpson, designed a concrete

core with post-tensioned walls to protect against damage

in case of an earthquake and also to improve performance.

Other Building Team members: design firm Dialog, Cobalt

Engineering, planning and landscape architecture firm PFS,

and local architect James Cheng.

7. Downtown Dallas development will providemany tenant options

BOKA Powell, working with commercial real

estate development and investment firm KDC,

has created an adaptable design for the new

400,000-sf, Class A office tower at the Victory

Park mixed-use development in downtown

Dallas.

The 23-story building, with more than 14

floors of office space above an eight-story

parking structure, is designed to accommodate

a wide variety of floor plate sizes, ranging from

25,000 to 54,000 sf, to meet the needs of a

range of potential tenants. Construction is

expected to begin in the fall. KDC will pursue

LEED certification.

For more information about building projects

visit us at: