Designed by architectural practice OMA Stedebouw BV, the 36-storey, new headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV) features a highly unusual shape, which has been described as a ‘three-dimensional cranked loop.’
Consisting of 540,000 square metre of space, the building is formed by two leaning towers measuring 234 and 194 metres tall respectively, which are bent 90° at the top and bottom to form a continuous tube.
An irregular grid is featured on the building’s surface, which provides primary support to the structure. The grid on its surface provides a visible expression of the forces travelling through the tube structure. The smaller the diagonal pattern, the stronger is the load and the greater the support. Providing an extra level of safety, the braced tube structure also provides the building the required robustness to withstand the likely seismic activity in the area.
The building combines administrative functions with news, broadcasting, studios and programme production. It enables the state-run television broadcaster to reach a new level of global broadcasting, expanding its current operation of 13 channels to over 200 on completion.
Dedicated to honouring the best global construction projects and the companies that designed and built them throughout the entire world, the awards focus on safety, innovations, challenges, design and construction quality. The award presentation ceremony was held in New York on 6 June 2013 as part of the ENR Global Construction Summit.
