Beijing’s eco-buildings start to take shape

While most eyes in Beijing were fixed on the recent connection between the two arms of Rem Koolhaas’s CCTV tower, workers connected the final bridge of the elegant Grand Moma, or “Linked Hybrid Building,” close to Dongzhimen subway. When the building, designed by US-based Steven Holl Architects and envisaged as a “city within a city”, is completed early next year, residents and visitors will be able to use the elevated walkways to move from tower to another in search of amenities like spas, cafes and lounges.

The entire complex is designed to house 2,500 people in 700 apartments, and will feature one of the world’s largest geothermal cooling and heating systems to regulate the temperature within the eight buildings. Dual pipes pump water from 100 meters below ground, circulating the liquid between the buildings’ concrete floors. The water circulation system will serve as a giant radiator in the winter and cooling system in the summer. There are no boilers to supply heat, and no electric air conditioners for cooling. At night fountains will give off steam, while a floating projector in the centre of the complex will project bits of the films showing at the local cinema onto the water and clouds of steam. The architects and developer are hoping these traits will also earn the building a coveted rating from LEED, the global green building standard from the US Green Building Council.

Images by Daniel Allen and We Make Money Not Art

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