Asia Financial Centre | Spacemen

Jinggong Group Co Ltd core businesses are in the steel structure engineering and construction industry (they are responsible for building a number of architectural landmark’s in China eg: Beijing’s National Stadium ‘Bird’s nest’, Beijing International Airport Terminal 3, and World Expo Shanghai Sunshine Valley Axis),  and with other key investments in equipment manufacturing, Shaoxing Rice Wine amongst other fields.

‘Asia Financial Centre’ represents the group’s first foray in the real estate business as a developer. The mixed-used tower consists of 31 floors of commercial offices half of which will eventually house Jinggong group’s head office and a host of their subsidiary investment companies. Thus it was crucial that the design reflected the core values and strengths of the company. As the tallest tower in the newly developed Minhang business hub in Shanghai, the developer worked closely with Spacemen to create the interior scheme for the entire office tower.

The brief was simple, to create a contemporary space that complimented the strong linear aesthetics of the building’s architectural language within a restrained palette of white, grey and black.

Inspired by the ancient Greek mythology Pandora’s Box, the central lobby core is at first glance a black box that is cracked open, with a two slits of white light forming the path which channels the circulation through to the inner lift lobby. Four different techniques were used to treat the stone finishes of the black box; polished, tumbled, bush hammered and sandblasted to create this raw and textured finish.

The tower’s occupants then transition from a space that is dark, lively and rich in textures that encourages swift and frantic movement to a more calming and serene space of pure white corian and brushed metal The purity of materials and light in the lift lobbies offset that of the main lobby to create a calming and inviting environment.

Inside the lift carriages you get a sensation of being suspended in time as you enter an infinite space of grey mirrors as you ascend to the upper floors.