This digital rendering of Rolex’s new building shows how the designers intend to integrate nature and architecture.Photo: Harwood International
What looks like a twisted stack of Jenga blocks is actually a rendering of Rolex’s new seven-story building in Dallas. Groundbreaking for the project was earlier this week.
Developer Harwood International constructed the original Rolex Building in 1984 and now has teamed up with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to design the new structure.
The building will be composed of staggered floor plates that create the visual of the tower being twisted. Kuma plans to have a series of planted terraces on every floor and a tree-filled garden on the roof.
“Environment is an essential concept for the modern experience, incorporating both natural and urban surroundings,” Kuma told Dezeen Magazine. “This landscape-building idea applied to The Rolex Building will result in a beautiful urban-organic icon that will fundamentally change the Dallas cityscape.”
Kuma’s partner, landscape architect Sadafumi Uchiyama, will design the gardens, which will include stone walls, reflecting pools and cascading waterfalls.
The construction will be next door to the original Rolex Building in Uptown. The building is expected to open in late 2016 and will be 136,857 square feet, with 56,422 square feet being used for offices.
“This development will set a new standard for work life in the U.S.,” said Gabriel Barbier-Mueller, founder and CEO of Harwood International. “We intend on creating an office that will feature a unique blend of innovative architecture and gardens that Dallas has never seen before.”
