Shanghai Tower designed by Gensler breaks ground today in Shanghai to complete a trio of new super-tall towers revolutionising China’s architectural record.

Shanghai Tower will join and rise above the recently appraised ‘Best Tall Building Overall’ by the CTBUH, Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Tower in the Luijiazui Finance and Trade Zone as China’s first ever super-tall district.

The tower, commissioned by Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co., Ltd, will be the tallest in China with the highest open air observation deck in the world.

Consisting of office space, a luxury hotel, retail and cultural venues the building will also hold connections to the Shanghai Metro and three floors of parking below ground level.

Shanghai Tower is organized as nine cylindrical buildings stacked one atop another. The inner layer of the double-skin façade encloses the stacked buildings, while a triangular exterior layer creates the second skin, or building envelope, which gently rotates as it rises. The spaces between the two façade layers create nine atrium sky gardens.