Posts and Telecommunications Building, Xiamen, China

The aesthetic design for the sixty-six storey Posts and Telecommunications Building in Xiamen, China, is inspired by carrier waves, the fundamental building block of modern computer telecommunications. The design physically merges the concept of spiral frequency waves with the celebrated traditions of Xiamen as a garden city of arts and commerce through the introduction of three-storey-tall "sky gardens" which form a helical pattern along the cylindrical tower shaft. The functional and cost-effective design for the tower form is completed by a classic reinforced concrete perimeter framed-tube structural system that is particularly suited to the aggressive wind and seismic environment in this part of the world.