Office Tower — Concept

The site sits on the seam between two scales: a six-storey residential fabric to the north, and a wide boulevard to the south with a high-density commercial axis behind it. The first question was not which of the two to side with, but what kind of transition to build between them.

Zoning fixed the total floor area, while a skyline study capped the height. That meant the massing could not simply rise: every square metre gained would be borrowed from open space at ground level.

A single block put the residential fabric to the north in shadow for most of the day. The programme was split into two volumes, with a half-open courtyard between them that lets people pass from the boulevard through to the back street.

The split is not a formal preference; it is the outcome of the shadow study. The gap between the volumes also became the building public face: at ground level it reads as a passage rather than a lobby door.

The south-west facade takes direct light through the afternoon, and with a high glazing ratio the cooling load climbed quickly. Instead of horizontal brise-soleil, vertical fins running the full floor height were used.

Fin depth is not constant across the facade; it steps according to the angle of incidence. From outside the resulting rhythm may read as a decorative texture, but its origin is entirely performance. From inside it gives light that shifts through the day without ever going harsh.