Lujizaui-Itochu Development Building

This commission is the result of an international design competition which included four architects from Japan, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S. Sydness Architects won the design competition and completed the construction documents for the tower. The thirty-four story building is a response to the configuration of the site and to its location on a prominent corner in the center of the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone. The tower’s plan is two semi-circles which are shifted along the diameter to fit snugly within the property lines. The building is then modified in deference to standard office modules and building products and has a serrated edge on a shifting 1.2-meter module. The undulating perimeter curtain wall of flamed and polished granite is accented by granite vertical ribs which rise up the tower to a stepped top that echoes the plan against the sky. The lower floors are clad with horizontal stone mullions and gray vision glass and spandrel glass. A large plaza facing southwest leads to a recessed circular glazed entry. Three levels below grade contain a parking garage and mechanical equipment. The owners are the Lujiazui Development Company of Shanghai, and a Japanese multi-national company, Itochu.