zaha hadid: galaxy soho completed

‘galaxy SOHO’ by zaha hadid, beijing, china image © designboom

designboom attended the inauguration of the ‘galaxy SOHO’ by zaha hadid architects, a new 330,000 square meter commercial icon in the city of beijing – (see designboom’s coverage of the structure nearing completion here). composed of five independent concrete volumes wrapped in insulated aluminum panels and connected by a series of stretched bridges, the fluid vernacular eliminates all corners in an integrated seamless structure. taking cues from the chinese architecture, pockets of intimate courtyards create quiet internal spaces, found also in the interior providing smaller private areas during the conceptual phase. the first three floors are allocated to retail and entertainment functions, followed by the office clusters stacked on top, and bars, cafes and restaurants reigning at the highest level, offering panoramic views of the greatest avenues in the city.

bridges connect the spherical masses video © zaha hadid

bridges connect the spherical masses image © designboom

image © designboom

the individual volumes are linked by stretched bridges image © designboom

view down onto the promenades connecting the individual towers image © designboom

the structure is clad in 3mm aluminium image © designboom

image © designboom

the sinuous lines of the structure offer formal connection points between the towers image © designboom

worm’s-eye view images © iwan baan

exterior views of the office and retail areas image © designboom

one of the entrances into the ‘galaxy soho’ image © designboom

D-2 tower display board on ground floor image © designboom

linear lighting elements in the ceiling illuminate the space while also visually guiding visitors image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

the first three floors of the ‘galaxy soho’ are dedicated retail office and entertainment spaces image © designboom

elevators and means of traffic flow through the building image © designboom

lighting details highlight the flow of escalators throughout and add visual interest image © designboom

image © designboom

commercial spaces image © designboom

connecting hallway image © designboom

workspace with windows facing out image © designboom

image © designboom

green roof feature image © designboom

bird’s-eye view of the glass ceiling at night image © designboom

image © iwan baan

from certain angles the curving structure appears very abstracted image © iwan baan

images © iwan baan

general view of the ‘galaxy soho’ by night image © designboom

model image © designboom

model indicating the relation of the four volumes image © designboom

image © designboom

project info:

design: zaha hadid with patrik schumacher architect: zaha hadid architects project director: satoshi ohashi associate: cristiano ceccato project architect: yoshi uchiyama project team: stephan wurster, michael hill, samer chamoun, eugene leung, rita lee, lillie liu, rolando, rodriguez-leal, wen tao, tom wuenschmann, seung-ho yeo, shuojiong zhang, michael grau, shu hashimoto, shao-wei huang, chikara inamura, lydia kim, yasuko kobayashi, wang lin, yereem park, local design institute, biad beijing institute of architecture & design plot area: 46,965 m2 total floor area: 332,857 m2 above ground: 4 towers 15 floors (12 office floors and 3 retail floors) max height: 67 meters below ground: b1 floor retail and b2, b3 parking (1275 cars), mep, retail floors, b1f,1f,2f,3f (90,000 m2) materials skin: 3mm aluminium exterior cladding, insulated glass, stone materials interiors: glass, terrazzo, grg, stainless steel, gypsum, board painted structure: standard concrete structure (8.4m spans) floor to floor heights: retail floors 5.4m, office floors 3.5m