Creating multiple "firsts" in the construction of super high-rise buildings in Shanghai, with the 370-meter office building structure of Xujiahui Center capped

On the morning of September 19th, with the last batch of concrete pouring, the 370-meter B office building of Xujiahui Center completed its structural topping out, marking another milestone in the Xujiahui Center ITC project located in the core area of the Xujiahui commercial district.

As a regional landmark carrying high-energy business formats, Xujiahui Center covers multiple business formats such as commercial, office, hotel, cinema, and public leisure, serving as a hub and connecting with a well connected transportation network. With the synchronous promotion of the "One Ring, One Line" Xujiahui Aerial Corridor Project in Xuhui District, Xujiahui Center will connect with other commercial entities in the commercial district through aerial pedestrian walkways in the future, driving the improvement of consumption level and the development of building economy in Xujiahui area, and building a new type of urban living hub with functional aggregation.

With the rapid progress of the Xujiahui Center ITC project construction, a new chapter in the development of the "Greater Xujiahui" region is fully underway.

Renderings of Xujiahui Center ITC Project

Late night construction grabs "golden 5 hours"

The Xujiahui Center ITC project consists of four plots, including Huashan Road, Gongcheng Road, Yishan Road, and Hongqiao Road. The total construction area of the main plot of Hongqiao Road exceeds 700000 square meters, including two super high-rise main buildings, namely the 220 meter high A office building and the 370 meter high B office building, as well as a 15 story hotel, a 7-story podium, and an underground space as deep as 6 floors. It is a benchmark project for Xujiahui to leverage the functions of the Shanghai Central Activity Area and create a world-class commercial district.

The 370-meter tower structure of Building B in Xujiahui Center has been capped, providing favorable conditions for subsequent tower crown construction, curtain wall and floodlight installation, and helping to accelerate project construction.

"Tower construction has overcome multiple difficulties and challenges." Zhao Hequan, Assistant General Manager of the Second Management Company of Shanghai Construction Engineering General Contracting Department and Project Manager of Xujiahui Center, introduced that the construction of Xujiahui Center has applied Shanghai Construction Engineering's new generation integrated building machine, which integrates the sixth generation steel platform system "Intelligent Control Integrated Steel Platform Formwork and Large Construction Machinery Integrated Building Equipment" independently developed and designed by Shanghai Construction Engineering. It also integrates large tower cranes, intelligent fabric systems, safety monitoring platforms, and data monitoring platforms, with three major characteristics of intelligence, high integration, and high bearing capacity.

Xujiahui Center Building B Office Building Security Monitoring Integration Platform

Among them, the safety monitoring integration platform is designed to meet the safety monitoring needs of super high-rise buildings. It integrates smart construction sites, hydraulic lifting systems, and fabric feeder systems as modules and integrates them into the construction safety monitoring integration platform. It can monitor the integrated building equipment in real time. Once problems are found, an alarm program is immediately activated to ensure the safety of the system during use and climbing. In addition, Xujiahui Center also adopts intelligent construction technology, covering various aspects such as 3D modeling, material processing, and installation construction. It leverages the advantages of Shanghai Construction Engineering Group's full industry chain integration to carry out integrated construction of tower crowns, curtain walls, mechanical and electrical systems, and interior decoration for super high-rise buildings.

Ultra deep foundation pit and rail crossing "brush past"

As of now, more than 10000 people have participated in the construction of the Xujiahui Center, with up to 3000 builders simultaneously working on site at its peak. As the high point of the current Shanghai Puxi skyline and a super large complex urban complex, Xujiahui Center has the characteristics of high construction difficulty, high operating standards, and unique technology. To this end, Shanghai Construction Engineering borrowed the idea of large-scale continuous manufacturing of modern industrial standard products and organized large-scale and continuous industrial operations under the condition of incomplete controllable construction period in Xujiahui Center.

Zhao Hequan introduced that Shanghai belongs to soft soil geology, and the underground space depth of general commercial buildings does not exceed 4 floors underground. But the 370-meter-high B office building in Xujiahui Center has a foundation pit area of nearly 60000 square meters, with the deepest excavation bottom plate reaching 37.5 meters underground, equivalent to the height of a 12 story building. The area and depth of the foundation pit have broken the record for underground space construction in Shanghai, and have been called "super deep, super difficult, and super fast" in the foundation pit construction of super high-rise buildings throughout history in Shanghai.

The sixth generation steel platform of Building B office building

So, construction techniques such as ultra deep ground walls and ultra deep construction piles were first applied in this project. The entire project foundation pit is divided into 26 sub pits, which are excavated step by step according to the distance, proximity, depth, and shallowness near the subway. The entire foundation pit project took three years to complete, starting from the Spring Festival in 2018 and ending at the end of 2020. A major challenge in the construction of super large and ultra deep foundation pits is the complex underground pipeline and rail transit network in Xujiahui. The rail transit lines 9 and 11 pass through the Xujiahui center underground. The special geographical environment makes it necessary to strictly control the excavation deformation of the foundation pit during construction, in order to ensure the safe use of surrounding municipal pipelines and buildings, as well as the safe operation of rail transit stations and section tunnels.

"Some of the podiums in Xujiahui Center are built on top of the Metro Line 9, and the construction of each foundation pit and sub pit can only be completed within just 5 hours of the subway's daily shutdown." Zhao Hequan told reporters that this means that each sub pit, from excavation, cushion layer, steel reinforcement binding, formwork to concrete pouring, must be completed within the "golden 5 hours" between late night and sunrise, and the closest space below the foundation pit to Metro Line 9 is not more than 5 meters. "In order to prevent the subway tunnel from lifting up, the excavation of the foundation pit must be backfilled at any time by 'digging and pressing one block' to ensure the safe operation of the subway tunnel."

Office space enters the 3.0 era

Sun Hung Kai Properties has developed multiple landmark commercial and integrated projects in Shanghai, from IFC International Financial Center, IAPM, to Xujiahui Center ITC. Dong Zihao, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Development Co., Ltd., stated in an interview with reporters that with the development of the times, office needs have also undergone multiple iterations.

Sun Hung Kai Properties has developed multiple landmark commercial and integrated projects in Shanghai, from IFC International Financial Center, IAPM, to Xujiahui Center ITC. Dong Zihao, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Development Co., Ltd., stated in an interview with reporters that with the development of the times, office needs have also undergone multiple iterations.

"Before the 1990s, office tasks were all done manually; after the 1990s, computers were everywhere, posing new requirements for the power system of office buildings; today in 2023, people have completely different needs for the office environment." said Dong Zihao. After the epidemic, work from home and remote "cloud work" have emerged. Even when people come to the office, they are not heading straight to their workstations, but tend to seek more indoor and outdoor spaces, and engage in more extensive and diverse interpersonal communication with colleagues and clients. "Office buildings are no longer just places where people work."

Therefore, the third phase of the ongoing Xujiahui Center ITC project will showcase a new vision of the "Office 3.0 Era". A more humanized and personalized workspace will be showcased in ITC Phase III, from the entire building's WiFi network, ITC Club services, to intelligently adjustable workstation lighting, music, and air conditioning.

It is reported that the entire ITC project in Xujiahui Center has an office space of 370000 square meters. The completed and delivered first and second phase office buildings, as well as the third phase A office building, have attracted large multinational enterprises such as Marriott, Nagase Trading, Taiping Life Insurance, and Adidas China headquarters to settle in. Sun Hung Kai stated that after the completion of the Phase III B office building, it will continue to introduce a high-quality tenant portfolio in order to lead future market investment and development directions, and improve the overall regional quality of Xujiahui.

200000 square meters flagship mall to be completed next year

The commercial layout of Xujiahui Center has always been of great concern. It is reported that the flagship shopping mall with a main plot area of over 200000 square meters on Hongqiao Road is expected to be completed in 2024. After completion, it will directly connect to rail transit stations, gather high-end fashion brands and trendy first stores, and create an all-weather shopping environment.

The commercial layout of Xujiahui Center has always been of great concern. It is reported that the flagship shopping mall with a main plot area of over 200000 square meters on Hongqiao Road is expected to be completed in 2024. After completion, it will directly connect to rail transit stations, gather high-end fashion brands and trendy first stores, and create an all-weather shopping environment.

Dong Zihao stated that the developed e-commerce system and logistics network have led to two successful models in Shanghai's physical shopping malls: high-end luxury and all-weather experiential consumption. Especially for shopping malls with a "sales oriented" model, being able to allow a family to eat, drink, play and consume for a whole day can be considered a success of the business model. Therefore, the close integration of shopping malls and rail transit is particularly important. At this point, Ganghui Henglong Plaza, located one street away from Xujiahui Center, also has significant advantages. The answer to whether two luxury shopping malls compete or prosper together is obvious.

"For commercial districts, doing well in individual shopping malls is not enough. Only when everyone is doing well can the commercial district become more prosperous," said Dong Zihao. At present, the Xujiahui Center has joined the "One Ring, One Line" construction plan of the Xujiahui commercial district. Through the Xujiahui air corridor, it connects with surrounding commercial buildings and cultural landscapes such as Xujiahui Academy, allowing people to come to Xujiahui and have a comprehensive leisure experience.