A symbol for Tianjin Located in the historic heart of Tianjin, the Global Financial Center embodies the city’s international prominence as a gateway to China. Across the Hai River from the city’s high-speed rail and transit hub, the 337-meter tower provides a point of reference at the city center. The Center contains 240,000 square meters … Continued
The distinctive Nanjing Keyne Centre anchors the entrance to Hexi District, an emerging commercial and civic hub in Nanjing. Driven by sustainability concerns, the tower’s faceted form is an evolution of integrated architectural, structural, and mechanical systems. A double-skin curtain wall enables the building to respond to the city’s extreme heat during summer. The cavity … Continued
An outdoor transformation The 17-acre Millennium Park master plan guided the transformation of a once-blighted site in the heart of downtown Chicago into an expansive green roof for the entire city to enjoy. The park opened to the public in 2004, marking the completion of Daniel Burnham’s 100-year vision for the site. SOM designed the … Continued
Built in the 1950s to provide housing for military families after World War II, the Parkmerced neighborhood in San Francisco has declined in recent years. SOM’s redevelopment plan represents a remarkable opportunity to transform this large, aging housing complex and its surrounding area into a vibrant, sustainable community. In addition to new energy-efficient residential buildings, … Continued
This scheme addresses one of the largest remaining undeveloped tracts in downtown Chicago. Hemmed in by busy, multilevel streets, the 28-acre former freight yard was never considered ideal for development, and its fate remained in limbo for decades. Rather than focusing outward, SOM’s plan places a six-acre park in the center of the development and … Continued
The Distrito La Perla Master Plan envisions the transformation of an underutilized site in Guadalajara—a dormant Kodak manufacturing facility—into the city’s next vibrant, mixed-use destination. The facility was built in the 1960s as a secure, self-sustaining precinct on the periphery of Guadalajara, with little connection to the farmlands that originally surrounded it. As the city … Continued
Arena Tower represents the second phase of SOM’s master plan for Baltimore Wharf. The sinuous tower is a beacon for the 2.7-hectare site located immediately south of Canary Wharf, and for the wider Isle of Dogs district. The 45-story building comprises 366 residential units in a mix of layouts and configurations. All apartment floors feature … Continued
A step toward the future As the first building erected at the World Trade Center site since September 11, 2001, and with the site’s master plan then still in the works, 7 World Trade Center established a vision for the future of the district. It set a new benchmark for environmental performance as one of … Continued
A new chapter for Detroit Building on a ten-year initiative led by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, SOM developed a framework plan for Detroit’s East Riverfront District, which lies adjacent to one of the world’s busiest international border crossings along the Detroit River. The framework plan is designed to preserve more riverfront land for public use, … Continued
The Cathedral of Christ the Light resonates as a place of worship and instills a sense of solace, spiritual renewal, and respite from the secular world — a sanctuary in the broadest sense of the word. Located in downtown Oakland, and composed of a 1,350-seat sanctuary with side chapels, a baptistery, and dependencies, the cathedral … Continued