The 45-story Leeza SOHO tower provides flexible office space for small and medium-sized enterprises and is the center of the up-and-coming business district in Beijing’s Fengtai neighborhood, not far from the new international airport in the southwest of the Chinese capital.
Due to its proximity to the local railway station, the tower is, on the one hand, optimally connected to the city’s public transport network, while, on the other, a subway line runs directly beneath it, diagonally dissecting it on the fourth basement level. This had a lasting influence on the design of Leeza SOHO and is the reason why the building volume is divided into two halves, each with its own structural core with external columns and a steel tension ring following the tower’s curved outside structure.
The 194.15-meter-high atrium of Leeza SOHO is the tallest in the world and serves as a public space for the district. Rotating dynamically by 45 degrees, it divides the building over its full height into two halves that are connected by bridges.
The sculptural division brings natural light deep into the building and offers views both across the city and into the atrium. The void also acts as a thermal chimney that additionally regulates the indoor climate. Due to their rotation, the two halves of the tower shade the atrium and, in combination with the double-insulated, low-emissivity glazing, maintain a pleasant indoor climate.
