three interconnected towers shape zaha hadid architects' taikang financial center in wuhan

The foundations and below-ground works of the new Taikang Financial Center by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and CABR were completed this week in Wuhan, China. Composed of three interconnected towers, the 266,000-square-meter development is commissioned by the Taikang Insurance Group, the largest provider of insurance, asset management, health, and elderly care in China. Once complete, the towers will ‘accommodate teams of leading professionals collaborating with civic, academic and corporate institutions to develop effective systems and networks that will provide a new ecosystem of support for people of all ages across China,‘ writes ZHA. Construction is expected to complete in 2025. 

Informed by Wuhan’s position as a central hub of information and transport networks, ZHA and CABR  completed the Taikang Financial Centre design as a circular composition of three interconnected buildings within the Hankou Riverside Business District’s urban masterplan — integrating the Yangtze River Park and wetlands to the east as well as the city’s new Central Park to the south. These new public parks are integral to Wuhan’s sponge city program that enables the natural storage and infiltration of rainwater to slow its release and aid flood prevention while facilitating its reuse.

With an adjacent station on Line 1 of the city’s metro network, the center’s Tower One (52 floors) faces the city, Tower Two (47 floors) faces the river, and Tower Three (50 floors) offers views of the park. Shops and restaurants at the ground and lobby levels surround the garden courtyard that extends vertically as an urban canyon between the three towers. Further public spaces and amenities are located on sky bridges connecting the towers at higher floors, including the rooftop garden terrace providing panoramic views across the city and Yangtze River valley.

Incorporating offices, apartments, hotel, shopping, and dining amenities with cultural and recreational facilities, the center will house over 20,000 people daily, an integrated vertical community alongside the city’s new Central Park and riverfront wetlands. Moving upwards from the shared central courtyards at ground level to the center’s sky bridge terraces and rooftop gardens surrounding its central canyon, the design creates a kaleidoscope of the city in a series of interwoven public spaces over many levels.

Targeting LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council, the circular composition of the Taikang Financial Centre’sCentre’s three towers provides self-shading throughout the day. In addition, external fins with tapered profiles extend from each glazing mullion for additional façade shading while maintaining unobstructed city views.

The center’scenter’s high-performance envelope ensures natural daylight throughout each floor while reducing heating and cooling requirements. MEP systems have also been designed to reduce emissions and energy consumption via smart monitoring and control systems using high-efficiency pumps, fans, boilers, chillers, and waste heat recovery from the exhaust air. Lastly, water consumption is reduced with low flow-rate fixtures and the planting of native, drought-tolerant vegetation while the development’sdevelopment’s rainwater management system sits within the district’sdistrict’s sponge city program.