New Skyscraper Signifies Lofty Ambitions For China

The Burj Khalifa’s status as the tallest man-made structure in the world is potentially under threat after plans were unveiled by a firm of British architects for the creation of a one-kilometre high set of towers in central China.

Though it stands 828 metres high in the heart of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa will be relatively dwarfed should the proposals get the go-ahead, with work pencilled in to commence on the newest addition to China’s growing skyline next year.

Created by Chetwood Architects, the self-sustaining towers won’t just look impressive, but they’ll also perform impressively too; the finished design will contain wind turbines, thermal chimneys, solar panels and rainwater harvesting facilities to aid efforts to lower pollution levels in the city, acting as smog filters.

Coming to a needle-like point, the pink-coloured towers are meant to represent two Chinese Phoenixes’, with a male Feng and female Huang, symbolic of the Chinese identity.

The architects have given an insight into the development: “Phoenix Towers will be an iconic landmark within an ambitious environmental master plan for Wuhan, the capital of central China.

“The 47-hectare site (the towers cover 7 hectares) on an island in a lake at the end of a 3km avenue within a dense city layout will provide long vistas. Arching bridge-like over the surrounding boulevards, each tower will have a unique personality and attributes: the Feng tower will lean towards the commercial zone, the Huang tower towards the cultural and recreational zone.”

If given the green light by the city’s mayor, the entire project will cost an estimated £1.2billion and is due for completion in 2018.

Upon being finalised it may not solely hold its title as the world’s tallest building’ for long as a structure of the exact same height is due to be constructed by 2019; the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.