Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), along with China World Trade Center Co. Ltd. Recently celebrated the grand opening of the China World Trade Tower, an 81-story, mixed use building set in Beijing’s Central Business District. The tower, which was designed by SOM and contains office, meeting, restaurants, and the China World Summit Wing hotel, now stands as Beijing’s tallest structure and marks the completion of the third and most recent phase of the China World Trade Center development. The opening comes in connection with the 20th Anniversary of the China World Trade Center, which originally opened August 30, 1990.

“SOM is proud to take Beijing’s skyline to a new height with the completion of the China World Trade Tower,” said Brian Lee, design architect and partner, SOM. “The business of China connects to the rest of the world, so we sought a design that further connected Beijing to the China World Trade Center. Not only does the Tower emphatically mark the Central Business District but the development also provides citizens of Beijing with quality buildings and open space for business, shopping, hospitality, culture, education and enjoyment in a high density urbane environment.”

Taking its place among some of the tallest structures in the world, the tower stands 330 meters tall. Its crystalline walls are layered with fritted glass and metal fins that serve as vertical sunshades and maximize daylighting for the interior of the building. Architects say this design also includes LED lights on the exterior of the structure, which, when combined with the undulating glass walls, results in a glistening quality to the tower in the Beijing daylight and a striking luminosity when lighted at night.

The project is also LEED gold registered.