International News Center
Shanghai, China  |  2000

The International News Center comprises a 55,000 square meter mixed-use commercial center in central Shanghai. The program calls for 15,000 square meters of offices for the People’s Daily and a five-star hotel in a 275-meter tower above a retail podium.
The tower’s tapering profile would terminate the axis of a major avenue with a strong visual marker for the area and have a visible presence on the skyline. The program is stacked so that the People’s Daily offices occupy the larger floor plates above the retail podium, and the hotel floors take advantage of panoramic views from the upper floors.

The metronome-shape of the tower is a simple, yet strong, identity for the People’s Daily and a defining landmark in Shanghai. The building forms are reinforced by state-of-the-art exterior skin technology. A unitized curtain wall system consisting of matte-finished stainless steel, titanium, and transparent low-e vision glass, encloses the composite steel and concrete structure which in turn is stabilized by a central concrete sheer-resistant core. The efficient central core encloses vertical building systems, high-speed data transmission services, and low and high-rise elevator banks serving both the office and hotel portions of the building.