Plans for a twin towers development, which looks remarkably similar to the old World Trade Center of New York, have been unveiled for the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The Zhejiang Gate Towers will stand 280m high and have a floorspace of 125,000 sq m. Construction will start in 2017.
Lava, the German architect which designed the scheme, describes it as “an iconic entrance to the city” and says the “design of the two towers is based on the Chinese characters for ‘gate’”.
Its masterplan for the mixed-use development in Hangzhou consists of five buildings comprising offices, residential and retail. Besides the twin towers, a third 90m-high building and two pavilions are placed around a central public space, which is completely pedestrianised.
The Zhejiang Gate Towers will stand 280m high and have a floorspace of 125,000 sq m
The architect said it carried out “extensive view studies” so that the towers would be “recognisable as a twin structure”.
The facade is made up of long vertical fins wrapped around the buildings, which also closely resembles the former World Trade Centre.
Lava said the “fluid lines create zones within the tower elevations, while different colours of glass and varying depths of vertical fin elements generate refracted light effects animating the facade”.
Construction work has already begun on the pavilions, and the towers are set to start rising next year.
