The Jiushi Headquarters building in Shanghai, Foster and Partners first building on the Chinese mainland, completed in 2001, has been awarded one of the prestigious Lu Ban Prizes. Established in 1987, the prize is the Chinese construction industrys highest honour in recognition of quality construction. The prize, awarded annually, consists of a golden statue of Lu Ban, China's patron saint of carpentry. Born in 606 BC, Lu Ban was China's first woodworking master.
The 40-storey tower is the headquarters of the Jiushi Corporation, the Chinese company providing the inward investment for the next wave of development in the South Bund area of Shanghai, and is the first completed project by a British firm of architects in China. Occupying one of the most significant sites in Shanghai, the tower looks over the Huangpu River to the historical Bund and Pudong the new business district. These views govern the buildings structure its concrete core is positioned away from the river to create flexible curved floor-plates on the riverside, free of internal columns.
A triple-skin ventilated glazing system allows the tower to enjoy maximum daylight penetration without any attendant build-up of solar gain in the internal spaces. It is the first building in the city to employ such a system. The floor-plates step back at three points over the height of the tower to form terraces, which animate the facade and are ideally suited to conferences. At the top is a six-storey glazed winter garden unique in a city where most towers are capped by services installations.
