Tower with Photovoltaic Facade Wins Building of the Year

John Hill
1. 2月 2016
FKI Tower facade detail (Photo: Namgoong Sun © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)
FKI Tower in context (Photo: Namgoong Sun © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)

FKI Tower bested the other projects featured as Building of the Week last year, in which the theme focused on buildings overseas designed by US architects and the inverse: buildings in North America designed by foreign architects. Chicago's AS+GG designed the 50-story, 240-meter tower for Seoul's Yeoido District, which mandated that new large-scale commercial buildings generate at least 5% of their energy onsite. In response, the architects covered the glass tower in a high-performance envelope with a "rippled" profile that provides sunshade and is integrated with photovoltaic (PV) panels. It is an ingenious solution to the mandate and a valuable precedent for building sustainable towers, and we're glad our readers rewarded the design with their votes.

FKI Tower: Typical office floor atrium (Photo: Namgoong Sun © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)

Known for the 1-kilometer-tall Jeddah Tower under construction in Saudi Arabia, AS+GG has been at the forefront of designing energy-efficient, sustainable tall buildings since its founding in 2006. In addition to the curtain wall with PV panels (selectively located on the tower's four sides according to exposure and other factors), FKI Tower incorporates a number of planted atrium terraces that serve the office workers and a podium at the base with public amenities. The rippled facade, atria and podium add up to an architectural icon for Seoul.

FKI Tower: Rooftop garden and PV array (Photo: Namgoong Sun © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)

Read the original Building of the Week feature on FKI Tower here.

FKI Tower: Exterior wall detail diagram (Drawing: © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)

Runners-Up

JW Marriott Hotel, Carlos Zapata Studio (Photo: Courtesy of Carlos Zapata Studio)

Second Place (16% of votes): JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, by Carlos Zapata Studio
 

MUZEIKO – America for Bulgaria Children’s Museum, Lee H. Skolnick Architecture and Design Partnership (Photo: Roland Halbe)

Tied for Third Place (11% of votes): MUZEIKO – America for Bulgaria Children’s Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria, by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture and Design Partnership
 

Vitra, Studio Libeskind (Photo: Ana Mello)

Tied for Third Place (11% of votes): Vitra in São Paulo, Brazil, by Studio Libeskind
 

Congratulations to the winner and runners-up, and thanks to everybody who voted for the Building of the Year 2015. We'd like to also thank our partner Vectorworks for making the Building of the Week and Building of the Year possible.

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