Guangzhou International Finance Center

Following an international design competition, WilkinsonEyre was selected to design this 440m tower in Guangzhou, one of China's tallest buildings. With 103 storeys, the tower has a mixture of uses including office space and a luxury Four Seasons hotel with a top-floor restaurant and bar. At ground level, the tower connects with a substantial podium complex containing a luxury brand retail mall, conference centre and high-quality serviced apartments.

The tower and podium connect below ground to further retail spaces and a transport hub, with a retail loop encouraging connections to a landscaped central axis. The tower's tapering, crystalline form acts as a landmark on Guangzhou Zhujiang New Town's main axis, linking the commercial district in the north with the Pearl River to the south.

The tower employs a diagrid structure, the world's tallest, visually expressed through the building's transparent envelope. Its triangular plan responds to the need for efficient internal space layouts and excellent environmental performance.

As a global brand, Four Seasons demanded spectacular accommodation of the highest quality, so WilkinsonEyre created a 33-storey hotel atrium, clad in sparkling glass, which is tall enough to house London's St Paul's Cathedral.

The building was named the 2011 Best Tall Building Asia/Australasia by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. In 2012, the tower was awarded the RIBA Lubetkin Prize, for the best building by a British architect outside of the UK.