The project combines residential apartment towers, offices, and low-rise shops, with a maximum height of 100 meters above ground level, and on completion a total area exceeding 700,000m2. The towers, with a slender silhouette of 27.3 meters, form a ‘forest’. The plan resolves issues of lighting and outlook among the residential blocks by arranging the buildings at a 25 degree angle to the north-south axis. With ground level landscaping having a large number of sunken gardens, we have tried to create a landscape that has not yet been seen in Beijing. This project is in Beijing, located on a site in the Central Business District, 4.5km to the east of Tianenman Square. With its convenience by transportation, and in prospect of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the vicinity is littered with hi-rises feverishly under construction. This is a place that demonstrates the economic vigor of contemporary China. We have assumed that every unit can be used not only for residential functions, but also for SOHO office use. For this reason, spaces for common use are not simply those areas for residential common use, but include spaces with a high level of publicness in their use as “common living” spaces. This kind of SOHO concept provides brand recognition for the project’s developer in Beijing.
		Beijing Jian Wai SOHO (2000-) location: Chao Yang District, Beijing, China architects: Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, C+A, MIKAN, Beijing New Era Architectural Design, Beijing Dongfang Huatai Architectural & Engineering structural engineers: Structural Design PUS ONE mechanical engineers: Kankyo Engineering general contractors: China Construction First Division Construction Developing, Tianhua Jianzhu Jituan Gongsi site area: 122,775m2 building area: 34,823m2 (1st-7th phase) total floor area: 504,237m2 (1st-7th phase, above ground) shops: 62,908m2 offices: 105,788m2 dwellings: 326,607m2 SOHOs: 6,216m2 sports facilities: 916m2 others: 2,106m2 dwelling unit area: 68 - 311m2 structure: reinforced concrete, partly steel frame; 3 basements and 31 stories maximum height: 99,900mm type of dwelling: private, owned dwelling number of dwelling: 1,954 (1st-7th phase) projected completion date: 2005 back top