AS+GG won an international design competition for South HeXi Yuzui Financial District Tower (Runmao Tower), a 500-meter-tall tower that will anchor a new financial district in Nanjing, enhancing the city’s already iconic skyline. The eight-sided tower features an open-air observatory at the top with stunning 360-degree views of the city. The tower was designed to reach LEED-Gold certification by reducing the cooling loads, heating loads, lighting loads, and plug loads, and installing a high-performance façade.
The solid, polished-aluminum model 1:500 scale model of Runmao Tower was engineered entirely inhouse by our master model make Nick Berchtold. AS+GG’s model shop differs from other architecture firms’ capabilities. As the center of our offices’ creativity and innovation, we test forms, materials, and fabrication techniques to sculpt 3D representations of each of our projects – whether required by the scope or not – which reduces the cost and time that occurs in contracting out this service. We work with an array of premium equipment including a four-axis CNC Milling Machine, thermal formers, 3d printers, laser engravers, waterjet cutters, and a fully equipped woodworking shop that can produce museum quality presentation models.
Runmao Tower’s solid polished aluminum model was milled using both three- and four-axis CNC Machines. Polished aluminum creates a raw, pure form that is honest in its materiality and elegantly reflects color and light. To create the model, the form is designed first in Rhino and then the digital model is handed to Nick who refines and dissects the form into mill-able pieces. Using CAM software, he then mills each piece and reassembles it to form the model. Pieces are held together using screws and magnets to create a seamless form. This model has 55 hidden screws, 48 hidden magnets, 60 individual milled aluminum components, and one milled black Corian component for the road surface.
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