ULI has released a case study on One Museum Place, a 250-meter-tall (820 feet) premium office tower with a six-story lifestyle podium located in downtown Shanghai. Developed by U.S.-based developer Hines, the mixed use project opened in March 2018, and has since won a number of green building certifications including LEED Platinum for Core and Shell and industry accolades including 2022 ULI Asia Pacific Excellence Award. Located next to Shanghai Natural History Museum and Sculpture Garden, One Museum Place is considered one of the city’s premium buildings.
When Hines acquired the project in August 2013, the project was already under construction with much of the basement already built. Wishing to optimize the use of the land and upgrade the building standards, Hines undertook a major design change, working with its architect, Gensler. The main tower’s use was changed from a combination of retail, office, hotel, and residential, to office only, and the shape of the main tower became rectangular, instead of pentagonal. Also, instead of the office tower sitting on top of a retail podium, the office tower and the retail pavilion were separated. The task of significantly altering the design was further complicated by a tight deadline for completing the building in line with the completion of the adjacent subway line and station.
Hines skillfully made use of new technologies such as BIM for modifying the building design, titling the curtain wall by three degrees to reduce sun reflection for the surrounding areas, and achieving RESET certification for real-time monitoring of indoor air quality with use of IoT sensors. In addition, the building features many sustainability features such as ice-storage air condition system, intelligent LED lighting system, and VAV A/C system. Special attention was given to landscaping of the outdoor area. The many subway ventilations shafts, instead of becoming eyesores, were made into parts of attractive landscaping features such as water falls and benches. The outdoor area on the east side of the building provides many quiet and relaxing places for building tenants and visitors and helps connect the building’s tenants with the neighboring community.
One Museum Place is a showcase of thoughtful architecture and landscape design, use of innovative design and construction technologies, and collaboration among the developer and its consultants.
