Four projects by Zaha Hadid Architects are shortlisted for the 2021 WAN Awards; Leeza SOHO, Beijing in the ‘Commercial’ category; One Thousand Museum, Miami in the ‘Residential’ category; Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah in the ‘Leisure’ category; and The Henderson, Hong Kong in the ‘Future Project – Commercial’ category. The award is organised by World Architecture News to promote imaginative and innovative work of talented architects and interior designers.
Leeza SOHO’s site is diagonally dissected by an underground subway service tunnel at the intersection of five new lines currently under construction on Beijing’s Subway network. Straddling this tunnel, the tower’s design divides its volume into two halves enclosed by a single facade.
Photo © Hufton+Crow 
Photo © Hufton+Crow
The space between these two halves extends the full height of the tower, creating the world’s tallest atrium at 194m which rotates as the tower rises to realign the upper floors with Lize road to the north.
One Thousand Museum’s 62-storey concrete exoskeleton – a web of flowing lines integrating structural support with lateral bracing – reads from top to bottom as one continuous frame. Columns at its base fan out as the tower rises to meet at the corners, forming a rigid tube highly resistant to Miami’s demanding wind loads; its curved supports creating hurricane resistant diagonal bracketing. “The design expresses a fluidity that is both structural and architectural,” explains project director Chris Lepine.
Photo © Hufton+Crow 
Photo © Hufton+Crow
“The structure gets thicker and thinner as required, bringing a continuity between the architecture and engineering.” The design incorporates GFRC form-work which remains in place as construction progresses up the tower. This permanent concrete form-work also provides the architectural finish that requires minimal maintenance.
The Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar was inaugurated in May 2019 by hosting the 2019 Amir Cup Final. Passive design principles along with detailed computer modelling and wind tunnel testing were employed to maximise the effectiveness of the enclosure for player and spectator comfort.
Photo © Hufton+Crow 
Photo © Hufton+Crow
Reflecting Al Wakrah’s maritime heritage, the stadium’s design incorporates local cultural references combined with practical responses to climate, context; functional requirements. Al Janoub’s 40,000 seating capacity for the World Cup will be reduced to 20,000 seats after 2022 – optimum capacity as home ground to the local Al Wakrah Sport Club professional team.
The Henderson in Hong Kong for Henderson Land replaces a multi-storey car park to create an urban oasis adjacent to Chater Garden between Central and Admiralty MTR stations. Sheltering new civic plazas enveloped by nature, the 36-storey design reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom. Known as the Hong Kong orchid tree, the ‘Bauhinia x blakeana’ was first propagated in the city’s botanic gardens above the Murray Road site and its flowering bud features on Hong Kong’s flag.
Image © Zaha Hadid Architects 
Image © Zaha Hadid Architects
The Henderson’s Sky Garden is an outdoor recreational space with running track and an aquaponics planting network that acts as an effective biological air-purifying filter by consuming contaminants. The design has achieved LEED Platinum and WELL Platinum pre-certification together with the highest 3-Star rating of China’s Green Building Rating Program. 4-ply, double-laminated, double-curved insulated glass facades are designed to withstand the region’s powerful summer typhoons.
Air quality monitoring systems will control natural ventilation which can be supplemented with dehumidification and filtration when required, as well as detect the degree of occupancy in any interior and automatically adjust indoor air temperature, humidity and fresh air volume – learning to accurately predict daily occupancy trends to increase efficiencies and reduce energy consumption. Construction of The Henderson began last year with its procurement targeting embodied carbon reductions and the use of recycled materials. Source and images Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.