The Crystal Corridor of the multifunctional complex Raffles City in Chongqing, also known as “Crystal” or the first horizontal skyscraper in China, was officially opened on May 30, 2020.
It is a closed sky bridge connecting four high–rise buildings of this complex – towers T2 (No. 3), T5 (No. 4), T3 South (No. 1 South) and T4 South (No. 2 South). Towering 250 meters above the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialingjiang rivers, the “Crystal” is 300 meters long, 32.5 meters wide and 26.5 meters high. Made in the form of a glass and steel tube, the skyscraper has an elliptical cross-section. The structure of the building is designed in the form of an accordion, giving strength to its outer walls, which is especially important, because Chongqing is a seismic zone.
Covering an area of about 10,000 square meters, “Crystal” consists of several functional areas: an observation deck “Exploration Deck” with a glass bottom, which is accessed through an open-air recreation area, and a swimming pool surrounded by trees. The rest of the skyscraper includes gardens, bars, restaurants, a clubhouse for local residents and the lobby of the InterContinental Hotel. Being an important part of the crystal skyscraper, the Exploration Deck platform integrates geo-urbanism and the future of science fiction into the theme of modern architecture, forming a unique vertical layout of the landscape.
The construction of Crystal, the last of the nine Raffles City skyscrapers and the only horizontal one, was carried out by CapitaLand Group, one of the largest diversified real estate groups in Asia with headquarters in Singapore. Upon completion of the construction of the complex, the company was rewarded with the honorary China Tall Building Innovation Award. It is also the largest project of the city of Chongqing, which has received preliminary LEED-CS (gold level) certification from the United States Green Building Council, which recognizes best-in-class construction strategies and practices.
“The successful completion of Raffles City (Chongqing) represents a new milestone in CapitaLand’s track record of building well-designed and integrated spaces,” comments Lucas Loch, president of CapitaLand Group in China, “it demonstrates our multifaceted capabilities to create a vertically planned urban area on the river bank, organically integrated with a large a transport hub, including a ferry crossing, metro and bus stations.”
Resembling powerful sails, the complex was designed by the world-famous architect Moshe Safdi, who drew inspiration from the millennial culture of water transport in local region. Thus, all nine towers not only symbolize the rapid growth of the architecture of the city of Chongqing, but also pay tribute to its noble past as a historical shopping center.
The author of the article Kartushina Varvara Sergeevna