Ground breaking of RSHP’s latest high-rise celebrated in Shanghai

On Monday 4 January, Ben Warner, Managing Director at RSHP Shanghai joined our client China Resources Land, their business partners Beisheng and Wande, and senior city leaders and officials for the ground breaking ceremony for RSHP’s latest high-rise tower in China, the CR Land Centre. As one of the first group of major building projects in the Jing’An district of Shanghai in 2021, the building represents a significant addition to the area’s urban renewal.

At 180m tall (39 floors), the tower will create a recognisable landmark on the Shanghai skyline whilst responding sensitively to its surroundings at ground level, particularly its spatial relationship to the adjacent Zhang Gardens which contains historical Shikumen houses arranged along narrow laneways which capture the spirit of Shanghai at the turn of the century.

A new urban pedestrianised piazza will link each of the Zhang Garden lanes to the new building thereby revitalising the urban infrastructure establishing seamless permeability and a successful well-balanced relationship between old and new.

The tower will house retail at ground level; an elevated office lobby at approximately 15 metres above the ground; a core of highly efficient, flexible office floorplates; and an impressive gathering space in the crown, alongside green roof gardens with panoramic views across the city.

The site is strategically positioned adjacent to a major transportation interchange connecting it to 3 Metro lines. The integration of the building at basement level to the adjacent station’s concourse will provide a direct internal route for people to circulate from the station to the internal retail environment in the building above.

Sustainable architectural principles employed in the project include biophilic design, effective use of natural light and solar shading, reduced environmental impact and efficient resources management.

“This project represents the successful collaboration between many teams who have all worked so hard over the last years to create a building of outstanding beauty. It seeks to respect the scale of the historical Jing’An district and the Zhang Gardens by breaking the facades down into horizontal segments, thereby reducing the vertical mass of the building. At ground level, it picks up the materiality and textures of the Zhang Gardens by incorporating sympathetic colour and reducing scale.”

Ben Warner, Managing Director Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Shanghai.