PEI Architects adds a new geometric gateway to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone

2024-08-21T12:57:00-04:00

The latest addition to Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone from PEI Architects, a two-tower scheme defined by double-laminated insulated glazing units (or IGUs) facades is moving forward.

The pair of angular 40-story towers are designed to house a hotel and office component and “separated by a taut vertical void but bound by a singular point to create a unique expression of a traditional arch structure,” according to the firm's press announcement. Two offset pyramids, a "gesture of outreach and cooperation", unite atriums at the uppermost levels. The project's total square footage will come out to just under 2 million square feet once completed. A new full-scale retrospective of I.M. Pei's influence is currently on view at the M+ museum in Hong Kong.

All images courtesy PEI Architects

PEI adds rhythm to the Toronto skyline with new 2221 Yonge Street design

2024-07-30T20:39:00-04:00

The latest addition to Toronto’s skyline, PEI Architects’ 2221 Yonge Street tower, is now open after a 2022 completion. New images of the 56-story design reveal the presence of cantilevered wraparound balconies leading down to a six-story podium with a grand porte-cochère and sloped garden, a facade concept which PEI’s principal Li Chung (Sandi) Pei explains as a "unique design feature, rather than as appendages to a large glassy mass." Quadrangle Architects were included on the project team for the 435,000-square-foot high-rise that includes 566 total residential suites.

It will be joined nearby by Hariri Pontarini Architects' record-breaking Pinnacle One Yonge and the proposed 55 Yonge project from Quadrangle and PARTISANS.

Photo: Kerun Ip, courtesy of PEI Architects

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PEI Architects adds a new geometric gateway to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone

PEI adds rhythm to the Toronto skyline with new 2221 Yonge Street design