Henderson Land overcomes construction challenges with city-first innovations in its development of The Henderson
- The new bauhinia-inspired landmark features an innovative curved glass facade system that protects against extreme weather conditions
- Situated within an area of tightly packed skyscrapers and metro tunnels, the building required cutting-edge construction techniques
[Sponsored article]
With Hong Kong being one of the world’s most intensely developed cities, adding a prominent new building to the central business district’s skyline is no mean feat. In doing so, Henderson Land has made its mark on one of the greatest commercial centres in the world. The architectural landmark symbolises the developer’s vision for future buildings and represents a world-class architectural achievement.
But taking pride of place among some of the world’s most impressive buildings has its challenges. Reaching skywards in a densely packed city, ensuring the building can withstand the region’s powerful typhoons and adhering to sustainable, green building standards all present a host of technical dilemmas.
The Henderson, a 36-storey super Grade A office tower in Central and Henderson Land’s jewel in the crown, has required high-tech solutions to overcome such challenges before reaching completion, scheduled for later this year.
A blooming facade
The Henderson’s organic shape is inspired by the bud of the Bauhinia blakeana flower, the symbol of Hong Kong; it is realised by using 4,000 curved glass panels for the facade – the first design of its kind in the city. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the team created numerous mock-ups before selecting a resilient four-ply architectural glass manufactured in Germany and Italy, each piece individually customised. The panels are built in frames in the factory, which then interlock with one another during installation in a unitised curtain wall system.
Weather-proofing the facade was especially challenging, given that it needed to be protected against Hong Kong’s super-typhoons. 2018’s catastrophic Typhoon Mangkhut caused an estimated HK$4.6 billion (US$600 million) in economic losses, including extensive damage to skyscrapers by wind-borne objects.
To ensure windows remain air- and watertight, and to protect against accidents, each glass panel is laminated inside and out with a security interlayer of SentryGlas Plus, so shattering it is just about impossible. Using heat-strengthened glass instead of fully tempered glass, the chance of extensive “butterfly cracking” occurring is also much lower, buying time for the maintenance team to replace compromised glass if necessary.
Resilient steel superstructure
The building boasts a large, column-free open plan and ultra-high clear headroom for all office floors, each enjoying plenty of natural light. Achieving this was also no easy feat. The long-span steel skeleton is supported by six mega-columns and a side core composite structure rather than the traditional central core office building design requiring more columns. This innovative structural design enables The Henderson’s unique blossom-like shape to be realised.
Top-down basement construction
Another technical breakthrough achieved by the developers was overcoming the locations’ space constraints and lack of ground-working area. Featuring a five-level basement, the site is adjacent to six MTR tunnels, with two on the Island Line and one on the Tsuen Wan Line just three metres away. The construction process had to be meticulous in terms of teamwork and communication, as well as design and strategy.
The Henderson has been constructed using a top-down method where the basement excavation work was carried out at the same time as the construction of the building’s superstructure.
More than 500 high-precision sensors were installed to monitor the stability of the MTR tunnels. Other strategies that helped streamline the process included augmented reality-enabled virtual construction plans, modular prefabrication of parts off-site and ensuring well-planned vertical transportation of materials and workers.
The Henderson is crowned by a rooftop banquet hall in the sky – the first of its kind in Hong Kong – designed as “a budding jewel” and built by Seele, the specialist facade contractor behind Apple’s crystal-like flagship stores. The tower’s sophisticated glass facade system culminates at the roof, swooping up to create an eight-metre-high glass ceiling that seemingly floats above the hall – providing shelter without blocking the panoramic views of the city.
Sustainable design
In keeping with the developer’s firm commitment to sustainability, The Henderson has adopted design strategies that keep carbon emissions low. For instance, the building is situated with a predominantly west-facing view overlooking Chater Garden, but this comes with unwanted solar heating in the afternoons. With tenant comfort in mind, The Henderson’s project management team came up with patented design solutions using rooftop solar panels to cool the perimeter of the building. Many of its innovations have attained awards in recognition of its green, health and smart innovations, including WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum certifications.
The facade’s glass panels are also all insulated with a 12mm air gap to reduce heat gain from the exterior, thus lowering the building’s air-conditioning load, especially during Hong Kong’s hot, humid summers; this also reduces carbon emissions. The glass is treated with two high-performance coatings to further reduce heat gain, block UV radiation and moderate the visible light and glare entering the room, as well as two anti-reflective coatings to heighten the quality of the city views, resulting in a more enjoyable environment for the building’s occupants and visitors alike.
According to the developer, The Henderson signals a new era in office development with innovation, sustainability and a people-centric design at its core, pointing the way towards the workplace of the future.
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