Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower

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Located in the city of Guangzhou, China, Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower [1] will be the tallest communication and observation tower in the world after its completion in 2009, surpassing the CN Tower.

The tower will reach 610 m in height and is hoped will attract 10,000 visitors daily.

The Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower is designed by Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of the dutch practise; Information Based Architecture with Arup as the engineers.[www.iba-bv.com]

Spatially the tower reads like a series of mini-buildings hung within the super-structure, with ‘mega spaces’ in between.

The form, volume and structure are generated by two ellipses, one at foundation level and the other at an imaginary horizontal plane just above 450 metres. The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms the characterizing ‘waist-line ’of the tower, and a densification of material. This means that the lattice structure, which at the bottom of the tower is porous and spacious, becomes denser at waist level. The waist itself is tightened, like a twisted rope; Further up the tower the lattice opens again, accentuated here by the tapering of the structural column-tubes.

The design emphasizes the outdoor and physical experience for the visitor. The waist of the tower contains a 180m long open-air skywalk where visitors can physically climb the tower and experience the tower’s structure and narrow waist-line from close by. There are outdoor gardens set within the structure, and at the top at +450m, a large open-air observation landscape opens up magnificent views over the city.

The interior of the tower will be subdivided into programmatic zones with various functions including: TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, shops and 4D cinemas.

A deck at the base of the tower hides the giant building’s functional workings. All infrastructural connections – metro and bus stations, and a pedestrian link to the northern embankment of the river – are met underground. This level supports other facilities as well, including a museum, a food court, extensive commercial space, a 600-vehicle parking area for cars and tourist coaches. The entrance operates on two levels, one a continuation of the landscape above ground, the other connected to the mass-transit and underground-parking facilities. Slow-speed panoramic and enclosed high-speed double-decker lifts serve both entrance levels.

The intermediate zone, from +80m up to +170m, consist of facilities like a 4D cinema, a play-hall area, restaurants, coffee shops and outdoor gardens with teahouses. An open-air staircase, the Skywalk, starts at the height of +170 metres and spirals almost 200 metres higher, all the way through the waist.

The top zone of the building begins above the stairway, housing various technical functions as well as a two-storey rotating restaurant, a damper and the upper observation levels. From the upper observation levels it is possible to ascend even higher, via a further set of the stairs, to a terraced observation square rising above the tower’s top ring, high above the booming city of Guangzhou.

Mark Hemel; ’ We wanted to offer the city, something simple but complex, a new form that would be in tune with the contemporary times and that would challenge the current building technologies. Where most historical skyscrapers were bearing male characteristics; being angular, simplistic, heavy and based on repetition, we defined our tower to have the identity of a female; smooth, curved, slender, gracious and incorporating an extreme diversity of spaces and floor-plan sizes.’

Since the groundbreaking ceremony in November 2005 the foundation (24 x 4m diameter piles) has been completed, and the steel structure is being assembled.

The tower is due to be completed at the end of 2009, in order to be fully operational for the 2010 Asian Games.

This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures.
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change as building construction begins and new information becomes available.

**Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower**
Technical Data

Structural height	610 m (2,001 ft) (est.)
Height to tip	610 m (2,001 ft) (est.)
Height to roof	454 m (1,489 ft) (est.)
Height to top floor	(? ft) (est.)
Floors (Above ground)	37
Floors (Under ground)	2
Groundbreaking	november 2005
Topout	2009 (est.)
Opening	2010
Gross floor area	114,054 m²
Companies
Developer	-
Architect	Mark Hemel, Barbara Kuit; Information Based Architecture
Engineer Contractor	Arup