This proposed 36 story, 1,200,000 sf office tower was meant as the flagship development for the new Caoton ecologic district 13 kilometers from Xi’an, one of China’s oldest cities, and now one of its 13 megacities. Because of its location in an ecologic district, sustainability was a key factor in its design.

The major sustainable design feature is a full height glass enclosed atrium on the south façade which serves as a convective stack to remove heat build-up through natural ventilation. Similar to a double skin Trombe wall, the vented atrium is 40 feet wide at the bottom and tapers to 5 feet at the top; its structure provides solar shading and indirect day lighting as well as interior landscaping.

Other energy saving and environmentally sensitive features include geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, storm water retention and reuse, and self-cleaning and pollution eating aluminum panels with an integrated thin film photovoltaic coating.

The building program called for a café and a swimming pool on the first floor, restaurants on the second floor, a gym on the third floor, and rentable offices on the upper floors.

Completed: 2011
Architect: Lohan Anderson