Global architecture and design studio Woods Bagot and Chinese company Sunshine Insurance recently celebrated the topping out of the new Sunshine Insurance Financial Centre in Beijing. The 205-m-high building is located on the East Third Ring Road and Guanghua Road, adjacent to the iconic China Media Group headquarters and China World Trade Centre.

The 42-storey development provides offices, multi-functional event space and business amenities spanning 90,000 sq m. Scheduled for completion in November 2020, the project is targeting a LEED gold rating.

According to Woods Bagot, Sunshine Insurance’s ground-level podium takes inspiration from a lotus flower with a bulbous form and an open ceiling that highlights plantings in the garden, challenging the conventional square footprint common to most towers in the central business district (CBD). The tower reaches skyward from a regular square base on the ground level and gradually ascends to an oval shape on top.

The shape of the building rotates upward to create maximum long-distance view for the upper level offices and a 360-degree response to its surroundings. The tower’s facade follows the route of the sun, on which the sunbeam is cast and reflected throughout the day.

“The unique design strategy resolves the site’s limitation as we attempt to maximise the project’s value given a compact site area with other office towers nearby. As a result, we offer this one-of-a-kind commercial building to the stakeholders and the future Beijing CBD community,” said Jean Weng, Woods Bagot’s China director.

“This is such an important milestone the team has achieved. This project is very different from other commercial office towers we did in the past. Not only because of its prime location, but the design of the building also fits in the overall dynamic of the CBD urban environment.” 

Images: Woods Bagot