Hong Kong – Nex Tower has been selected as a Best Green Development award winner in the 2019 MIPIM Asia Awards. The Best Green Development award honours projects that achieve high levels of sustainability.
Nex Tower is a 27-storey office building located in Manila’s resurgent business district of Makati. Designed with health, wellness, and connectivity top of mind, the tower sets a new precedent for responsible and sustainable development in the Philippines. Facing Ayala Avenue, a main commercial thoroughfare, the complex features a striking crystalline geometry that establishes a distinctive presence in a row of premier office buildings. The design of Nex Tower integrates nature and efficiency into a simple, iconic form.
The building is boldly sliced at the northeast corner to articulate views past the adjacent tower, down Ayala Avenue, and toward Ayala Triangle Gardens. The massing is also sliced at the western edge at street level to create a dramatic lobby cutting through the entire site and to connect the front pedestrian entrance to the rear drop-off. This quasi-public space serves as a catalyst for future development, and provides a benchmark for the future of design in the area.
By establishing a grand mid-block connection at the ground floor, from Ayala Avenue to De La Rosa Road, the building’s design contributes significantly to the public realm. The soaring lobby creates a sanctuary away from the busy streets of Makati. Visitors and tenants enter from either side of the building through a skylit atrium with tapered white marble surfaces. An 11-metre living wall recalls the Philippines’ lush scenery and evokes a sense of serenity within the bustling city.
Sustainability served as a key consideration in the design of Nex Tower, which has achieved LEED Platinum certification. The hydroponic wall, one of the largest of its kind in the Philippines, provides tenants and visitors with fresh air and access to greenery at a grand scale while paying homage to the country’s natural landscapes. Additionally, indirect natural daylight in the building lobby reduces the need for artificial lighting. High performance glazing, optimized HVAC strategies, and daylight-responsive lighting controls create a healthy and user-focused interior environment. The tower also features rainwater collecting tanks, as well three other landscaped outdoor spaces where building tenants can commune with nature, including the top floor roof garden.
