Firm： Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Type： Commercial › Office

YEAR： 2013

"Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)'s design for the 71-story-tall Pearl River Tower (PRT) in Guangzhou, China, was selected as the winner of a design competition in 2005. The 1,020-feet (309-meter) tall high performance building has since been completed and is one of the most energy efficient super-tall buildings constructed. Both its siting and the evocative, curvilinear geometry are performance driven, exemplifying a 21st century tower that responds to local climactic conditions and global energy concerns. The generally rectangular floorplates have been rotated slightly from Guangzhou's orthogonal city grid in order to maximize utilization of prevailing winds and better capture solar energy through the strategic positioning of photovoltaic technologies.

Recognized around the world as a breakthrough in advanced, interdisciplinary design applications, the tower includes the following high performance, sustainable design features:

' Exterior façade

' Wind turbines

' Integrated photovoltaics

' Radiant cooling coupled with underfloor air ventilation

' Daylight responsive controls

' Daylight reflectors

' Vertical transportation

' High efficiency chiller system

' High efficiency lighting

'Only great clients can achieve a truly great building. The ambitious vision and persistent insistence on excellence of former chairman Jin Cheng Xiang and director Zhi Ming Ye encouraged the dozens of SOM architectural designers, structural engineers and mechanical engineers who worked on the Pearl River Tower to produce this living monument to human ingenuity,' said SOM Managing Partner Richard Tomlinson.

For most of its 76-year history, SOM has been a pioneer in high-efficiency environmentally sensitive architecture and urban design, always striving to do more using less and making buildings and places that are beautiful to see and uplifting to experience.

'The collaboration of Pearl River Tower Properties Co., Ltd. and SOM during these past seven years has been gratifying for us. Together hundreds have collaborated in friendship and respect to create something we could all be proud of. Together we have created an iconic landmark that represents a major step forward in high-performance sustainable design that challenges the world to do better in the future,' said Director Zhi."