China’s Shanghai Tower only just became the country’s tallest skyscraper, but it looks like it might not be long before it loses that designation. bKL Architecture recently submitted plans for the H700 Shenzhen Tower, and the firm says it will be over 100 meters higher than Shanghai Tower.
Standing 632 meters high, Shanghai Tower is not only the tallest skyscraper in China, but also the second-tallest building worldwide, behind only Dubai’s 829.9-meter Burj Khalifa. If approved, the H700 Shenzhen Tower will stand comfortably between the two at 739 meters.
bKL Architecture says the tower will be composed of “three transforming design components: the shape, the structure, and the sky gardens.” Renderings released so far give a good idea of shape and structure — and what the building will look like when it’s lit up at night — but personally we can’t wait to see what the sky gardens will look like.
The H700 Shenzhen Tower will be located in Shenzhen’s Luoho District, and bKL Architecture sees it becoming “a technical expression of the developing region.” It will be surrounded by a plaza featuring retail, civic and institutional buildings, and will apparently be in good company — Shenzhen Kingkey Group, its developer, has another tall tower planned for an adjacent site, and intends to connect the two with an overpass.
In total, over a hundred urban renewal projects are now in the pipeline in the Luoho District — the area forms a gateway between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and is growing rapidly.
Plans for the H700 Shenzhen Tower still need to be approved by the Luoho District’s government, and we’ll be watching closely to see whether the building gets the okay. If similar skyscrapers are any indication, it may be some time before it’s built — the Burj Khalifa took over five years to build, and Shanghai Tower took nearly a decade.
