Urrgghh….I’m so tired. I will quickly finish writing this post about the company trip that I had just went to and then I will jump to the bed right away. I have just returned home early today from the trip (2am!), slept at 3am and then got to go to work at 9am. Huh…seriously exhausted from all the intense partying, dramas and lack of sleep during the entire trip.
However, it was still a fun get-together with colleagues (over 30 staff) and not to mention that I got to visit this beautiful island of Phuket in southern Thailand. Thailand is the fifth country I visited this year (after Australia, Japan, UAE and China) and it’s my first time visiting Phuket. Surprisingly, this is also my first company trip even though I am already in this company for almost 5 years.
Day 1 – 25th August 2023 (Friday)
Gathered early in the airport for breakfast and lunch before taking an afternoon flight (one and a half hour only) to Phuket. Checked in at the hotel (Holiday Inn Resort) which is located at the Patong Beach area. Joined most of the colleagues for dinner at Three Monkeys Restaurant before heading to the Bangla Road, Phuket’s entertainment hub filled with night clubs, lively music and happening street.
Went into one of the nightclubs and had some drinks with colleagues. This is the first time in my life that I drank that much (fortunately I was not drunk but was very dizzy though). Back to hotel via tuk-tuk ride and only got to sleep at around 3am.
Day 2 – 26th August 2023 (Saturday)
It was a lazy day for most of us after all the drinking and hangover last night. Went out for a walk around Patong Beach, streets and some shopping centers. It was so much quieter during the day. After the long walks, we stay in one of the prettier cafes in the vicinity just opposite the beach to quench our thirst, rest and chat for hours.
Right after sunset, we head to Chillva Market, a cool and trendy night market that offer impressive selection of food and fashion stalls. There are also many seating places with live music that made it such a vibrant market. Our colleagues brought us back to Bangla Road to chill in a bar (drinking again but less intensive this time…haha) until late night again. Back to hotel and slept at around 2am.
Day 3 – 27th August 2023 (Sunday)
After the breakfast in the hotel, I joined a small group on a half-day private tour around Phuket. The tour guide brought us to some famous places in the island. I recalled visited several viewpoints up above hills that offer spectacular panoramic views of the bays, the islands and the ocean.
The tour guide also brought us to visit Phuket’s Big Buddha, a giant Buddha statue on top of Nakkerd Hill. Before that, we also got to feed some bananas to an elephant along the route to the Big Buddha. I have just visited another Big Buddha last month in Hong Kong and here I am seeing another one.
After that, we made our way to visit Wat Chalong Temple. It is the largest and most revered Buddhist temple in Phuket. The tallest building on the temple grounds is a 60 meters tall stupa (chedi) sheltering a bone fragment of Lord Buddha.Â
We then went for a late lunch on a seafood restaurant by the sea before heading back to the hotel to rejoin with all of our colleagues for company’s team bonding session at the beach. We played some games (bosses were involved too). After that, we had a brief walk along the beach and then stayed for a short while at our hotel’s swimming pool for chit-chatting with colleagues as well.
In the end, we had seafood buffet at the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel as our company dinner. The night just couldn’t end with colleagues persuading as many people as possible to join them for ‘chilling’ session. Haha….I just followed along since it’s already the last night of the trip. Couldn’t escape a single night there without drinking. Haha. I just drank a glass of cocktail on that evening. Have had enough. I’m so glad that I can sleep a little earlier that night (around 1am).
Day 4 – 28th August 2023 (Monday)
After checking out at noon, me and some of my friends went to the Old Phuket Town to explore and buy some souvenirs. The area filled with historical shop/town houses immediately remind us of Penang or Malacca. There are also some hipster cafes, cool street arts and temples around the town. Before leaving the town, we managed to get a comfortable 1-hour foot and neck massage.
Went back to the hotel in the afternoon to rejoin with our whole group to make our way to the airport for flight back to Singapore in the evening. Only managed to reach home after midnight as stated earlier.
Phuket do lives up to its name as being a very popular tourist destination in Thailand. Worth a second visit since the island is so huge and there’s still so much more to see and experience from this island. Will certainly come back again to this place in future (and it’s quite near too especially from Malaysia; Phuket is actually just 13 hours drive away from KL).
I’m back from Bali and I’m grateful for have had a safe flight home (in my mind, still very saddened over the disappearance of plane MH370). There goes the end of my weekend spent at Bali, Indonesia for a company study trip this year. The trip was for us to discover and explore on beautiful architecture in Bali island, particularly from the villas and resorts there. We, in a group of five, reached Bali on Thursday’s night (20/3/2014).
On Friday (21/3/2014), we spent the morning touring around Seminyak town and the surrounding village to have us see how is Bali in first glance. We were amazed by countless vast paddy and also ‘kangkung’ fields (image above), and of course intrigued by the clean beach. In the afternoon, we started going around, looking for villas that are interesting from architectural point of view. We first stopped at C151 Smart Villas (first image below). And it was raining cats and dogs. After that, we stopped by at The Samaya Villas (second image below). Couldn’t get to see inside of villas (unless you purchase a unit to spend a night in but the cost is extremely high).
By late afternoon, we managed to go further down to Uluwatu to take a look at Villa Alila Uluwatu (image below). Out of many villas I have researched before this trip, this is the most appealing to me. And I am impressed once I reached there (despite going through very unconvincing narrow and lengthy road down inside to reach the villa). It perfectly engages the setting, had many details for us to study, and also a great design overall. I think I would write a post later on, highlighting on this Villa Alila Uluwatu alone. At night, we had a great seafood dinner at the famous Jimbaran Bay beach.
On Saturday (22/3/2014), we went to Nusa Dua, a huge guarded area dedicated only for hotels, resorts, villas, tourist accommodations, etc. I believed the security there has been tighten very much due to the past bombing not long ago. The villas we checked in there were Amanusa (first image below) and also The Bale (second image below). It’s kind off poetic to take the steps up to the villas at The Bale. Would be very nice at night (couldn’t see it). In the afternoon, we spent few hours shopping for souvenirs at Kuta and also checking out the famous Kuta Beach (third image below) and its nearby Hard Rock Cafe.
Finally, it’s Sunday (23/3/2014), the last day of the study trip. We toured around small narrow roads within Seminyak in hope of finding more beautifully-designed villas. We dropped by at W Retreat and Spa Hotel (a luxurious hotel) (first image below). Besides that, we had also discovered that there are many ‘hidden treasures’ there as we stumbled upon various interesting structures (homes, small villas, etc) at way inside, far from the main road. After that, we checked out a newly built residential project called Terrace 8 (second image below). Interesting design of the terrace houses (it’s actually bungalow-sized). And before we left to Denpasar International Airport for our flight home, we had a brief stop at the Beachwalk Kuta (open-air shopping mall) besides Sheraton Hotel (third image below).
We reached KL at night, and there goes the end of the trip. Had learnt quite a lot. A great thanks to the company (my employer) for treating us for this trip. Eventhough we couldn’t manage to go to several popular tourist destinations (like Tanah Lot temple) but I will leave that for future as I wish to visit Bali once again soon, but next time not as an architect, but as a full-time tourist. It would be great to relax and enjoy there.
the upcoming supertall skyscraper, the current second world tallest building that is under construction (just behind the 818m Burj Dubai), is going to be at the famous Lujiazui District, Pudong of Shanghai, China
Shanghai is seen as the most futuristic city in whole China, with superb economic growth and boom, not to mention the country of China that is one of the super nation in the Earth, with great economic development, especially in cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, etc.
The Shanghai Tower or called as the Shanghai Center will be located right beside the famous Shanghai World Financial Center (current second world tallest completed building, 492m) and Jin Mao Tower (421m), in the area straight axis to the Oriental Pearl Tower (468m).
The tower will be 632m (2073 feet) high with 128 floors. The design is to be based on modernism, sustainability and appropriateness of the form to the built environment of the city.
Construction is now on-going, not affected by recent global economic downturn, and foundation work is started earlier, right after the Shanghai World Financial Center is opened to public, showing;
“One skyscraper completed, another one is going up, in a continuous way, in a city like this, Shanghai.”
The final design of the building will be this: by Marshall Strabala from Gensler. (architecture firm)
Famous architecture companies all around the world and even from local submitted numerous designs for the client and government to approve…
and finally, final design is out and construction began…there are so many different and awesome designs from famous architects, and so, the competition is really great!
Here, are the pictures of different designs for competition of design of Shanghai Tower submitted by different architectural companies all around the world…
By Skidmore, Owings and Merill:
By Kohn Pederson Fox:
Norman Foster:
Gensler:
Various designs by China architects:
(This is pretty bad, who designed such thing here?)
another picture of the design above:
the picture and the design above are great! really awesome and fantastic!
another view of the same design:
so many pictures of great renderings by experts of architects…
What the architect, Marshall Strabala said about the sustainability of the building:
The top of the office building will have a wind farm of 54 vertical-axis wind turbines generating 540,000 kwh of electricity per year—enough to power up to 400 homes. There will also be systems to collect rainwater and condensation. These and other sustainability elements will be computer-controlled and linked through a variety of enterprise and application software that will be controlled by the building’s owner, Shanghai Tower & Construction.
The winning design is chosen in June 2008. The groundbreaking was held on 29th November 2008 and the construction is to be completed in year 2014. (Long way to go, so just wait!)
Design
The design is to be like a coiled dragon, based on the designer.
The tower will be organized as nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other, enclosed by the glass façade’s inner layer.Between that and the outer layer, which twists as it rises, nine indoor gardens at different levels will provide public space for Shanghai residents. Both layers of the façade will be transparent, and retail and event spaces will be provided at the tower’s base.The tower will feature the world’s highest non-enclosed observation deck.
Director of Design Marshall Strabala of Gensler told E-Architect.co.uk architectural news website that Shanghai Tower will represent “China’s dynamic future.” “It will be an impressive building where China looks ahead to both the future of this bustling and ever-changing metropolis, but also to the future of the dynamic Chinese spirit. There will be no other such unique and well-conceived tower in the world,” said Strabala.
Sustainability
The design of the glass façade is described to be able to reduce wind loads on the building by 24%, meaning less construction materials are needed, and the twisting feature will collect rainwater to be used for the tower’s air conditioning and heating systems. Wind turbines will generate power for the building. According to E-Architect.co.uk, it will be the first super-tall (300 meters or taller) double-skin building in the world, acting much like a “thermos bottle,” says Strabala, to insulate it and save energy.
The owners of the future Shanghai Tower hope to be awarded certifications from the China Green Building Committee and the U.S. Green Building Council for the building’s sustainable design.
More info here:
Site Location: Luijiazui Finance and Trade Zone, Pudong district, Shanghai, China
Area: 30,370 square meters
Podium
Height: 38 meters
Stories: 5 stories high
Area: 44,000 square meters
Program: Luxury retail, office, hotel lobbies, bank, restaurant, conference, meeting and banquet functions. Lower levels will house retail, parking, service and MEP functions.
Site and Context
• Shanghai Tower is sited in the Luijiazui Finance and Trade Zone of Pudong, a major financial and commercial hub of China. Eighteen years ago, Luijiazui was predominantly farmland. Today, it is set to become a premiere global financial center.
• Shanghai Tower completes a trio of buildings that form China’s first super-tall district. While the Jin Mao Tower pays homage to China’s past and the Shanghai World Financial Center signifies China’s recent economic success, Shanghai Tower signifies the boundless possibilities of China’s future.
• The tower is situated in a public park with an open civic plaza.
Tower Composition
• As a new Shanghai skyline icon, Shanghai Tower presents a constantly changing façade from all directions.
• The building’s form is a metaphor for the spirit and philosophy of China. Referencing the spiral as a symbol of the cosmos in Chinese culture, the tower’s form symbolizes China’s connection with the world, space and time. Additionally, the tower’s triangular plan relates to the site’s harmonious trio of buildings.
• Shanghai Tower is organized internally as a series of nine cylindrical buildings stacked one atop the other, with nine atria encircling them. The inner layer of the tower’s doubleskin façade encloses the vertically arranged interior buildings, while a triangular exterior layer creates the second skin or building envelope. The spaces between the building’s external façade and its internal façade create the atria.
• With sky gardens lining the building’s perimeter, Shanghai Tower is literally wrapped in public spaces. Both interior and exterior skins are transparent, establishing a visual connection between the tower’s interior spaces and Shanghai’s urban fabric. At night the building’s glowing translucent form further joins city and tower.
• As plazas and civic squares create gathering spaces in traditional cities, the nine atria offer gathering spaces within Shanghai Tower.
• On the ground level, retail and event spaces in tandem with abundant entrances on the site further the physical and visual connections between the tower and city.
Sustainable Highlights
• The twisting, asymmetrical shape of the tower reduces wind loads on the building by 24 percent, reducing the structural load on the building.
• Innovative skin technology is one of many sustainable design and renewable energy systems in the tower. The circular inner glass skin uses 14 percent less glass than a square building of the same area, and minimizes energy consumption.
• The double–skin façade’s vertical atria create thermal buffer zones. It also improves indoor air quality while creating desirable places for people to linger. These public amenity floors also reduce the number of vertical trips each building occupant mustmake.
• The building’s spiraling parapet collects rainwater, which is used for the tower’s heating and air conditioning systems. The spiral shape facilitates vortex shedding and creates an asymmetrical surface to reduce wind loads on the building. Wind turbines located directly beneath the parapet generate on-site power.
• Shanghai Tower’s owners aim to register for a high level of building certification from the China Green Building Committee and the US Green Building Council.
Tower Pinnacle
• The tower’s pinnacle features the world’s highest non-enclosed observation deck.
Global Collaboration
• The core Shanghai Tower design team is located in Gensler’s Shanghai office and includes more than 80 design professionals from Shanghai and abroad.
• To design an innovative tower that met the client’s sustainability and performance goals, Gensler called on talent from its global network, including the firm’s offices in Shanghai, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
The construction site: (all three supertalls next to each other, great idea)
The plan of the three supertalls:
Design development:
The detail interior and exterior:
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Finally,
A new cool video from Gensler (the architecture firm) on the tower:
The recent situation of the construction site:
For more info regarding the updates on the tower especially on its construction, can go to www.skyscraperpage.com and go to its supertall constructions forum.
Do you like this building? It’s architecture, it’s design, it’s sustainability concepts, it’s location, it’s main idea, it’s form, or even it’s height? Feel free to reply here too…
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 