In 2017, Shanghai’s representative promenade gained one of the world’s most unique facades. The Bund Finance Centre’s moving façade elements encircle the building over the course of several minutes, while the rest of the complex’s buildings form a new gateway to the old city. Two visionary UK-based studios are responsible for this unique project: Foster Partners and Heatherwick Studio.
European representation
For the Chinese, the 19th century was a time of decline and humiliation. This situation was exploited by the European powers, who made Shanghai an overseas centre of trade. Along the Huangpu Jiang River, impressive subsidiaries of Western companies began to spring up. In this way, the Bund promenade became a modern and impressive area filled with buildings in many historic and modernist styles.
The revolution in China halted the development of the representative promenade, and it was not until the 1990s that new resources were brought to Shanghai. An increasingly open China made Shanghai a global financial centre. Over time, the historic promenade became overgrown with skyscrapers and innovative office buildings like the Bund Finance Centre.
Dancing bronze
Architects from Foster Partners and Heatherwick Studio have teamed up to design a unique office complex that will revitalise the waterfront. It could also be said that the revamped promenade is the business gateway to the old town. The two skyscrapers tucked deep into the city rise to 180 m. However, next to the river itself, the remaining office buildings of the complex retain the human scale of the area. The Bund development has added more than 420,000 sq m of usable space and new pedestrianised streets. The Bund Finance Centre has made room for boutiques, restaurants, shops, a hotel, a cultural centre and, above all, a new public space.
Colours and materials play an important role in the design. The polished bronze combines well with the stone walls. However, the most outstanding example of the complex’s stunning aesthetics is the Fosun Foundation building (cultural centre). The four-storey building is a theatre building, event space and conference centre for the foundation.
The building impresses with its interesting volume, which seems to float on a retractable base. A metal facade encircles the building along three tracks. The bronze tubes are made of magnesium alloy and vary in length between two and sixteen metres. The difference in the length of the tubes creates original undulating patterns, behind which a wide terrace hides. The slowly rotating elements are meant to resemble traditional Chinese veils or the fringes of a theatre curtain. There are 675 such tubes in total, and a full rotation takes about 14 minutes. The intricate rotating mechanism was developed in collaboration with Shanghai’s Tongji University.
The Bund Finance Centre is one of the most interesting examples of successful revitalisation. Shanghai has gained a lot of office space, but also a public square for ordinary residents. A pleasant and aesthetically pleasing development by the river restores the promenade to its former glory. Of course, it is the intriguing façade of the cultural centre that has won the most praise.
Photo source: Foster Partners
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