MAD architects studio visit : sinosteel international plaza

earlier this month, designboom visited beijing's headquarters of MAD architects.


ma yansong, founder of MAD architects gave designboom a personal tour of the beijing based studio
image © designboom


ma showing us the project of the sinosteel international plaza in the binhai economic district in tianjin
(project of 2006 - under construction - scheduled to complete in 2012)
image © designboom

tianjin will be the third special economic zone in china,
after the city of shenzhen in the 1980's, and pudong district in shanghai in the 1990's.

sinosteel, china's nationalized steel giant, commissioned MAD to create two towers
within the binhai economic district in tianjin: an office tower of 358 metres,
and a 95 metre hotel (358,886 sqm in total; tower A 228,638 sqm /358; tower B 69,216 sqm / 95 m).


a view into the architecture studio of MAD
image © designboom


the model of the sinosteel towers is in the center, between the two models of absolute towers
image © designboom


the façade (right) is made up of five different sizes of hexagonal windows
image © designboom


close-up of the model
image © designboom

a hexagonal pattern on the façade, multiplying and growing across, creating an
ever-changing image of the building from each different perspective


ma explaining to us the facade structure development
image © designboom


the design concept combines shape, structure and cultural symbolism in one repeated motif:
hexagonal steel structure vs diagonal structure and transitions
image © designboom


the sinosteel international plaza project sheets are displayed in the office
image © designboom


the varied honeycomb also improves the building's energy efficiency
image © designboom

although the façade pattern at first appears random, it actually responds to the climatic
conditions of the site. by mapping the different air-flows and solar direction across the site,
and positioning the windows accordingly, it is possible to minimize heat loss in the winter
and heat gain in the summer.


rendering of street level entrance
image © designboom


the windows flow across the building in an irregular, naturally occurring pattern, like cells multiplying
image © designboom


the sinosteel international plaza rendering
image courtesy MAD architects


image courtesy MAD architects

the honeycomb also allows the building to be energy efficient. the pattern responds
to patterns of sun and wind on the building. by mapping the different air flows
and solar direction across the site, MAD were able to position different sized windows
accordingly, minimizing heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer.