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Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open

2019-11-18T20:06:00-05:00

At a total investment of 24 billion yuan (S$4.65 billion), the 1.12 million square metre (sq m) Raffles City Chongqing is Singapore’s largest single development in China. In addition to the 235,000 sq m retail podium, the integrated development comprises the 201 unit Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence, 380 room InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel, 150,000 sq m of Grade A office space and 1,400 luxury residential apartments.

After reaching structural completion only a few months ago, the Safdie Architects-designed $3.4 billion Raffles City Chongqing megadevelopment recently celebrated its phased opening. An earlier September soft opening of the enormous five-story shopping mall reportedly attracted a whopping 900,000 people in one weekend, according to the Singapore-based developer CapitaLand.

View this post on Instagram Located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, Raffles City Chongqing is sited upon the historic Chaotianmen Gate, originally built in 314 BC. Integrated with a transportation hub, it includes a subway station, bus interchange, ferry terminal and cruise center—continuing the site’s long history as one of the busiest docks in China. #Chongqing #capitaland #rafflescitychongqing #safdiearchitects #chaotianmen #moshesafdie
A post shared by Safdie Architects (@safdiearchitects) on Jul 23, 2019 at 1:50pm PDT

A record-setting sky bridge, similar to but bigger a...

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

2019-02-25T14:37:00-05:00

It has been exactly one year since the enormous eight-tower Raffles City Chongqing development announced that it set the world record for the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers when it successfully hoisted the three middle segments of the ensemble's signature '9th horizontal skyscraper' into place.

Raffles City Chongqing - Aerial view of The Crystal sky bridge. Video via CapitaLand on YouTube.

Like a Marina Bay Sands on steroids, 'The Crystal' sky bridge—also designed by Safdie Architects—measures 300 meters in length, 32.5 meters in width, 26.5 meters in height, and links six of the eight skyscrapers 250 meters high up in the Chongqing sky.

The two 350-meter high supertall skyscrapers are now Chongqing’s tallest buildings and among the tallest towers in China. Image: CapitaLand.

"Upon Raffles City Chongqing’s structural completion, we are now focusing on the interior fit-out works, including transplanting trees to enliven The Crystal sky bridge, which will feature t...

Next to the Gherkin, a Tulip-shaped tower designed by Foster + Partners could soon rise

2018-11-19T14:10:00-05:00

British firm Foster + Partners have proposed plans for a Tulip-shaped tower that would rise beside their London landmark, the Gherkin. The new skyscraper, which at 305-meters high would become the city's second-tallest building, is conceived as a state-of-the-art cultural and educational resource by the architects.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Also described as 'a classroom in the sky,' the future landmark will include an educational facility for local schoolchildren, with 20,000 free visits offered per year. In addition, the Tulip will have viewing galleries as well as bars and restaurants offering panoramic views of the city.

Visitors will have a variety of noteworthy ways to move about the 12-story observation tower, choosing between sky bridges, internal glass slides and/or a gondola pod ride.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Announcing the plans, Norman Foster described the project as "in the spirit of London as a progressive, forward-t...

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

2018-02-26T13:57:00-05:00

Construction of The Conservatory sky bridge has given Raffles City Chongqing the title of development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers. [...] Designed by Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing also consists of a 350-m supertall skyscraper, which currently holds two records for being China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

If you thought Marina Bay Sands' sky bridge in Singapore was pretty impressive, hold your breath now for its younger, bigger sibling, Raffles City Chongqing, currently growing towards the sky in Central China.

Also designed by Safdie Architects, the 1.12 million sqm megadevelopment's centerpiece are four 250-tall skyscrapers holding up an enormous 300m-long and 30m-wide curved sky bridge—taller (of course) than its Singapore inspiration and now also holding the world record as the development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers.

Image: CapitaLand

To make the project further stand out, the developers also threw in a couple of supertall 350m-tall apartment towers—one of which already topped out and took the title of China's tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

"Hoisting the three middle steel segments of The Conservatory—each weighing up to 1,100 tons—to the designated height of 250 m marks a world firs...

Construction of SHoP's 29th-floor skybridge pool nearing completion

2016-04-21T17:50:00-04:00

Workers have almost completed mounting the copper paneling on the American Copper Buildings (née 626 First Avenue), the new tilting, two-towered development on Manhattan’s East Side, but their most striking feature—a three-story, 100-foot-long skybridge—is still open to the elements. [...] The skybridge itself, though, is designed to be the showstopper. The architects placed a 75-foot lap pool on the bridge, so residents can swim 300 feet in the air [...].

↑ Interior rendering of the skybridge pool area on the 29th floor.

↑ Exterior rendering of the SHoP-designed towers with the skybridge spanning the 27th to 29th floors. (Image: JDS Development; via bloomberg.com)

↑ JDS Developers hope to have the towers completed in 2017.

Images via the developer's website and bloomberg.com.

London's oligarch-transformation continues with a "sky pool"

2015-08-20T18:46:00-04:00

For the overseas investor who has it all, what better trophy to add to the portfolio of properties you will never visit than an apartment with its own “sky pool”? London may already have a fairytale Sky Garden, but now Irish developer Ballymore plans to introduce a “world first” all-glass swimming pool bridge between two apartment blocks in Nine Elms, allowing its residents to float 10 storeys up in the air. -Oliver Wainwright

Archinect - News

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing​ now (partially) open

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

Next to the Gherkin, a Tulip-shaped tower designed by Foster + Partners could soon rise

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

Construction of SHoP's 29th-floor skybridge pool nearing completion

London's oligarch-transformation continues with a "sky pool"

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open