WSP has provided MEP and vertical transportation engineering consultancy services from the conceptual stage right through to construction completion for one of the world’s largest, most iconic developments under construction. It comprises eight skyscrapers, two of which, at 350m high, are Chongqing’s tallest buildings, with the other six rising to 250 metres. Four of these latter towers are connected by a 300-metre-long skybridge, often referred to as the ‘horizontal skyscraper’, (It’s almost as long as The Shard is tall), called ‘Crystal’.
The eight skyscrapers, containing 150,000m2 of office space, about 1,400 residential apartments and a luxury hotel, rise from the greenery of a roof-top park above a super-size (235,000m2) shopping mall housed in the six-storey podium. The Crystal, which was opened in May 2020, contains multiple dining and event spaces, a hotel lobby, and a members-only clubhouse with an infinity pool. At the end is a vertigo-inducing, glass-bottomed observation deck for visitors to enjoy the views of the rivers merging at Chongqing’s Chaotianmen area, one of the oldest parts of the city, 250 metres below.