陆家嘴金融广场丨中国上海丨SOM

Comprising five towers connected by walkable plazas and public spaces, this major commercial development is unusual for its multi-building, human-scaled approach—a contrast to the typical Shanghai superblock.

An urban-scale development creates civic value

Lujiazui Capital Plaza is located near the endpoint of Century Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Shanghai’s Pudong financial district. Seeking to connect the dense financial district to the north with Century Plaza to the south, a cultural district of parks and museums, SOM took an urbanistic approach to planning the development. With five buildings arranged around a network of plazas and public spaces, the site planning strategy reflects a deep attention to the public realm. The design invites pedestrians in, with routes that cross through the site to provide links between surrounding districts and to nearby transit stations.

178,000 square meters of office space are distributed across five buildings of varied heights and scales. The smaller building footprints create a unique offering within the Shanghai commercial office market, with the flexibility for tenants to lease spaces ranging from a single floor to an entire building. Open, column-free floor plans that allow for flexible office layouts or multi-suite configurations, while the building cores are offset to optimize views of Century Avenue and Century Park.

Inspired by classical Chinese garden design, the landscaped plaza at the center of the development is both a ceremonial entrance to the development and a welcoming public gathering space. These thoughtfully shaded outdoor spaces offer a quality of civic space rarely found in new developments in Pudong.

High-performance facade system

The five buildings are unified, aesthetically, by a distinctive facade system. Taking inspiration from traditional masonry and wood screen structures, the facade design is a deep, three-dimensional lattice that shades the building interiors from the sun while allowing for daylight and views. Composed of a series of staggered, tapered fins and projecting spandrel covers, the steel-and-glass facade expresses a strong, powerful geometry. Calibrated to the site and climate, the lattice is oriented to protect from solar heat gain throughout the day. As a result, no blinds or window treatments are needed—and the buildings’ cooling needs are reduced by up to 33 percent.