zaha hadid architects reinterprets hong kong orchid tree for '2 murray road' tower

zaha hadid architects (ZHA) has revealed plans to replace a multi-storey car park in hong kong’s central business district with a new 190 meter (623 ft) tower. titled ‘2 murray road’, the design reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a bauhinia bud about to blossom. known as the ‘hong kong orchid tree’, the bauhinia x blakeana was first propagated in the city’s botanic gardens above the murray road site and its flowering bud features on hong kong’s flag.

image by arqui9 | video by cosmoscube

designed for henderson land, the project is situated at the east-west / north-south junction of hong kong’s network of elevated pedestrian walkways — connecting directly with surrounding gardens, shops and restaurants as well as the offices of leading financial and civic institutions. ZHA has elevated the building’s base above the ground to shelter courtyards and gardens that result in new civic plazas enveloped by nature.

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the distinctive façade is comprised of 4-ply, double-laminated, double-curved insulated glass units, which are designed to withstand the region’s powerful summer typhoons. the façade effectively insulates the building and reduces its cooling load as well as build resilience. the craftsmanship and precision of the curved glass façade also helps to blur the boundary between the building’s interiors and the surrounding gardens and city beyond.

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a high-tensile steel structure provides very wide span (up to 26m/85ft) of naturally lit, column-free, grade A office space with a 5 meter floor-to-floor height giving maximum flexibility. a large double-height foyer at ground level welcomes staff and visitors with its interplay of natural light, planting and organic forms leading up to the second floor public lobby on the city’s elevated walkway network.

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meanwhile, the sky garden serves as an outdoor recreational space with a running track and an aquaponics planting network that acts as a biological air-purifying filter by consuming contaminants. the banqueting hall at the top of the tower — capable of hosting a variety of public and corporate events — offers panoramic views of the city skyline.

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the building’s smart management system creates a contactless pathway for all occupants from the street to their workstation that eliminates direct contact with communal surfaces and includes AI-assisted lift controls. using a mobile phone, contactless smart card or biometric recognition, occupants can enter the building and pass security, call lifts to their office floor and access other zones such as lounge areas and washrooms.

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hybrid ventilation is controlled by the building’s automated management system and enables all office levels to be naturally ventilated. this natural ventilation can be supplemented when required with mechanical dehumidification and filtration to further enhance the indoor environment and air quality. the building’s air quality monitoring system will detect the degree of occupancy in any interior and automatically adjust indoor air temperature, humidity and fresh air volume to meet demand. these smart systems learn to accurately predict daily occupancy trends to optimize energy demand, ensuring increased efficiencies with lower energy consumption.

two weather stations installed at street level and roof level will monitor real-time outdoor conditions to inform occupants of outdoor air quality. the stations are also connected to the building’s automated management system to adjust the tower’s hybrid ventilation as required, ensuring the optimum supply of high quality outdoor air. the redevelopment also incorporates a solar responsive ventilator (SRV) along the western perimeter of each floor to enhance the comfort of occupants. powered by photovoltaics, the low speed, silent SRV creates a channel of air that has the ability to adjust solar radiative heat to the perimeter zone for further comfort.

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the architects says that a 26% reduction in electricity demand will be achieved with the use of smart chiller plant optimization, high-efficiency HVAC equipment and daylight sensors that reduce artificial lighting during periods of sufficient natural light. a top-down construction method is employed to accelerate the redevelopment program on-site by implementing deep basement and above-ground construction at the same time.

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image by arqui9

project info:

name: 2 murray road
location: hong kong
height: 190m (36 levels including ground, 5 below ground) / 623 ft
floor area: 43,200 sqm / 4,013 sqf
site coverage: 65% developed

client: henderson land
architect: zaha hadid architects (ZHA)
design: patrik schumacher
ZHA project directors: jim heverin, sara klomps, chris lepine
ZHA project manager: simon yu
ZHA façade lead: kaloyan erevinov
ZHA head of interiors: kar-hwa ho
ZHA project team: brandon gehrke, bidisha sinha, carlos michel-medina, edgar payan, eddie can, fernando alvarenga, hazel wu, inês fontoura, irena predalic, janet cheung, karoly markos, kelvin ma, kylie chan, magda smolinska, melodie leung, michael sims, muriel boselli, nailu chen, oliver bray, paulo flores, tim yeung, torsten broeder, yun zhang
ZHA competition team: edgar payan, adrian yiu, brandon gehrke, carlota boyer, eddie can, fernando alvarenga, irena predalic, karoly markos, lorena espaillat bencosme, maria tsironi, michail desyllas, nailu chen, paulo flores, philip siedler, saman dadgostar, torsten broeder, uli blum

local architect & AP: ronald lu & partners (hong kong)
building services engineering: WSP (asia)
structural & geotechnical engineering: LERA consulting structural engineers (steel); c m wong & associates; eckersley o’callaghan asia (footbridges & banquet hall)
facade engineering: group 5F; meinhardt facade technology (hong kong)
lighting consultant: LichtVision; speirs + major (landscape & media façade) landscaping: PWP landscape architecture; earthasia
quantity surveyor: rider levett bucknall
sustainability & civil engineering: arup
traffic consultant: MVA (hong kong)
acoustic consultant: shen milsom & wilke
vibration consultant: c.f. ng and associates
AV / IV / specialist media consultant: ptarmigan integration limited security consultant: UCS hong kong
signage & wayfinding consultant: atelier pacific