One essential aspect of the modern office tower is the efficient, open plan found on each level. An office building which attempts sculptural exuberance risks undermining this tried and true logic.

However, simple extruded rectangular boxes lack the iconic presence corporations seek as well as the spatial interest that occupants appreciate. The Ordos Office Complex employs an economical formal idea, avoiding sculptural excess by deploying a hot and cool approach. A neutral skin and efficient floor plans are intensified by spatial incidents deep within the building as well as social spaces that multiple tenants can share.

The Ordos Office Complex represents a new permutation of the “horizontal skyscraper” idea. It is as if a single office tower were cut into four buildings, with their lobbies arrayed horizontally across the site. Because of the topography of the site, this new horizontal datum is suspended in midair.

Ordos Office Complex

• Architect: Preston Scott Cohen
• CATEGORY: Commercial
• PROJECT NAME: Ordos Office Complex
• LOCATION: Dongsheng District, Ordos, China
• CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS: Steel frame; glass and aluminum curtain wall, stone and tile plazas and elevated terraces
• FUNDING SOURCE: Local government / private developer partnership
• SCHEDULE: Design 2010, construction 2011
• SQUARE FOOTAGE: 232,000 square feet
• PROJECTED COST: 5,000 RMB / m2 (interior and landscape not included)
• Software used: Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper for the stairs

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