Shanghai Magnolia Tower | Taipingqiao Corporate Avenue Skyscraper

Client: Shui On Land

Magnolia Tower is an 86‑storey, 360 m office landmark proposed for Shanghai’s former French Concession, invited by Shui On Land as the culminating phase of the 52‑hectare Taipingqiao Redevelopment that also includes Xintiandi, new residential and office districts, hotels and an urban park.
To mediate between the tower and the surrounding three‑ to four‑storey lilong fabric, the scheme introduces a generous urban square that absorbs the change of scale and creates a strong civic foreground, while the tower itself is organised around a compact core with double‑deck lifts, perimeter structure and column‑free floor plates to maximise net‑to‑gross efficiency and flexibility.
Floor plate sizes and subdivision options are tuned to anticipated patterns in the Shanghai office market, and despite the tower’s complex curvature, the façade geometry is rationalised into an economical family of modules.
At the base, a public exhibition gallery interwoven with the office lobby creates visual and physical cross‑links, complemented by an outdoor amphitheatre in the undercroft and underground connections to public transport. Metaphorm partnered with HOK New York for the project. Engineers: Arup, Yolles, and HH Angus.