Abstract
The Guangzhou International Finance Centre (IFC) is a landmark building that symbolizes the emerging international strength of Guangzhou, China's third largest city. It is also one of the dual iconic towers along the main axis of Guangzhou Zhujiang New Town. Arup adopted a total engineering approach in embracing sustainability and aiming at high efficiency solutions based on performance-based design principles covering structures, building services, fire engineering, vertical transportation, and façade performance to constitute an efficient and cost-effective overall building design. Through dynamic integration of architectural and engineering principles, Guangzhou IFC represents a pioneering supertall building in China. It adopts a diagrid exoskeleton structural form that is clearly expressed through the building's façade and gives the building its distinctive character. The aerodynamic shape of the building not only presents the aesthetic quality of elegant simplicity, but also reduces the effects of wind, thereby reducing the size and weight of the structure. State-of-the-art advanced engineering methods, such as optimization techniques and nonlinear finite element modelling, were applied in parallel with large-scale experimental programs to achieve an efficient and high-performance design taking into account the constructability and cost-effectiveness for a project of this scale.