Archinect - News

Fire erupts in a 42-story skyscraper in Changsha, China

2022-09-16T17:14:00-04:00

A skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha was seriously damaged after a fire engulfed the 42-storey building. The fire in the China Telecom building was reported at 3.48pm. Thirty-six fire engines and 280 firefighters from 17 stations were sent to the blaze, according to the Hunan Fire Department. By 5pm the fire had been extinguished but firefighters continued rescue efforts.

Frightening videos are circulating on social media and appear to show the 22-year-old building almost completely burnt through its facade, although the extent of internal structural damage is not clear. It is also unknown what caused the fire, but the incident should highlight the safety concerns inherent in China’s recent decision to ban all construction of any structure totaling more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) in height following decades of unfettered tall building.

Although it opened as the city's record-holder, the 160-meter (525-foot) tall structure is now only the 46th tallest in Changsha, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

China-Telecom building in Changsha burns to the ground in 20 mins. pic.twitter.com/Xbrn73WAFw
— Dave (@davecoughlan80) September 16, 2022

No fatalities have been reported, although some initial sources indicated concern that deaths from the incident could have numbered in the hundreds.

HENN’s massive new Zoomlion headquarters breaks ground in China

2022-05-19T12:29:00-04:00

The latest in a lineage of corporate headquarters designs that dates to 1965 is officially underway in China’s Hunan Province, the product of a multi-year collaboration between HENN and the heavy manufacturing giant Zoomlion.

The Z-shaped design includes a museum, data center, and even sports facilities for workers of new the 311,000-square-meter (3.34-million-square-foot) industrial park. Project leader Hua Qiao described its form as an “immense, cut stone floating above its natural surroundings.”

Once realized in 2023, the Zoomlion headquarters will eventually join HENN's Zalando BHQ-Z project that recently topped out in Berlin in its growing portfolio of major corporate designs.

Image courtesy HENN

Per the architects, the new park “balances the client’s production needs with a sensitivity to its rural context, the geometric Headquarters blends into the hilly and densely wooded Changsha green-corridor. Made from white concrete, the classic ar...

10-story apartment building in Changsha, China erected in 28 hours

2021-06-22T20:26:00-04:00

Chinese manufacturing company Broad Group has constructed a 10-story apartment building in just over a day.

Called the Living Building, the structure is located in the company’s headquarters location of Changsha, China. A timelapse released by Broad Group shows the apartment block being erected in just 28 hours and 45 minutes with the help of three cranes and a large team of workers.

Video via Broad Group on YouTube.

Broad Group specializes in manufacturing a range of air conditioning, heating, and prefabricated structural units. As stated in the project’s publicity video, the company has been developing factory-made steel buildings since 2009. Additionally, Broad Group claims that this is the world’s shortest construction period.

The Living Building was constructed using modular units that were made off-site in a factory. It was designed to be easy to transport and install. The structure is made of pure stainless steel, with each module sized at forty feet long, eight feet wide,...

NEXT Architects design a swooping "Mobius strip" bridge for Changsha, China

2016-10-26T13:39:00-04:00

The Dutch-Chinese firm NEXT Architects has a well-deserved reputation for designing eye-catching bridges. Their latest project, a bright red, Mobius strip-like pedestrian bridge for the Chinese city of Changsha, is set to become another jewel in their portfolio.

Credit: Julien Lanoo

185 metres long and 24 metres tall, the “Lucky Knot” bridge will span the Dragon King Harbour River in Changsha’s ‘New Lake District’ development. The bridge will offer views of the nearby Meixi Lake and the mountain range that surrounds the city.

Credit: Julien Lanoo

“The shape of the Lucky Knot was inspired by the principle of the Mobius ring, as well as by the Chinese knotting art. In the ancient decorative Chinese folk art, the knot symbolises luck and prosperity,” states John van de Water, partner at NEXT architects Beijing.

Additional images in the gallery.

More bridges:

Construction stalled on 'world's tallest building', so locals made its foundation into a fish farm

2015-07-14T13:39:00-04:00

work stalled after concerns from regulators over the safety of the skyscraper and its environmental impact and funding. With no progress on the project in sight, villagers nearby have started to raise fish in its 2.6-hectare water-filled foundations [...] One villager started to raise fish in March and has invested over 20,000 yuan in his business. “I raise fish on the construction site. It is not in secret, neither have I ever been stopped”

Construction on the would-be world's tallest building, known as Sky City in Changsha, China, began in 2013, under leadership of Broad Sustainable Building. Sky City made headlines not only for its proposed record-breaking height, but for the speed at which it was to be completed – Broad Sustainable Building promised that using a signature method of pre-fabrication techniques, Sky City would be built in just nine months. Now way past that due date, Sky City's vacant foundations have been repurposed by local villagers as a fish farm.

Broad Sustainable Building, part of The Broad Group, is known for pushing tall, rapidly built structures in China – it previously built a 30-story hotel in 15 days, and "Mini Sky City", a 57-story tower built in 19 days. More about The Broad Group's prefabrication techniques can be found here and here.

How the "Chinese Steve Jobs" is trying to build the ideal city

2015-06-16T13:30:00-04:00

He has a vision of a future where his company makes a third of the world's buildings – all modular, all steel, and all green. “The biggest problem we face in the world right now isn't terrorism or world war. It's climate change,” he says.

A fascinating profile of Zhang Yue, the man behind Mini Sky City, a 57-story tower built in 19 days. Yue's company, the Broad Sustainable Group, was able to construct at such speeds by assembling prefab parts at the rate of 3-storeys a day. Now, Yue's set his sights on on building the full-size Sky City – a 220-story tower where residents would live and work – in seven months. That height would make it taller than Dubai's Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building.

Watch a timelapse of the Mini Sky City building process below:

Chinese prefab company builds a 57-story skyscraper in just 19 days

2015-04-30T14:07:00-04:00

A Chinese construction company is claiming to be the world’s fastest builder after erecting a 57-storey skyscraper in 19 working days in central China. Broad Sustainable Building, a prefab construction firm, put up the rectangular, glass and steel Mini Sky City in the Hunan provincial capital of Changsha, assembling three floors a day using a modular method [...]. The company now has ambitions to assemble the world’s tallest skyscraper, at 220 floors, in only three months.

30-story building built in 15 days

2012-01-10T14:24:00-05:00

What can you accomplish in 360 hours? The Chinese sustainable building company, Broad Group, has yet attempted another impossible feat, building a 30-story tall hotel prototype in 360 hours, after building a 15-story building in a week earlier in 2011.