Last week, we celebrated the grand opening of the Ningbo Center—now the tallest building in Ningbo and across China’s Zhejiang Province. SOM Managing Partner Xuan Fu and Principal Inho Rhee joined clients, city officials, and representatives from Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) for the ceremony, which included the presentation of a CTBUH certification recognizing the 409-meter skyscraper as the province’s tallest. The tower and its podium form the 250,000-square-meter Ningbo Center complex, which brings together Grade-A office space, the city’s first Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and a range of retail and leisure offerings—establishing the site as a vibrant social and economic hub for residents, travelers, and businesses. “The Ningbo Center Tower design is the intersection of high-performance engineering, evocative form-making, and rational programmatic function,” said Fu. “SOM’s interdisciplinary approach delivered a unique, ultra-efficient structural system that complements the tower’s form and minimizes material use.” MORE → bit.ly/43Ddvwt Images: Ningbo Center Development Co. ltd (fb)

Construction is officially underway on Temple University’s new Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for Arts and Communication. Scheduled for completion in fall 2027, the project will bring the Klein College of Media and Communications and the Center for Performing and Cinematic Arts (CPCA) together under one roof for the first time. These programs—previously housed in multiple buildings—will now share a 200,000-square-foot home that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and supports new possibilities for academic and community programming. “The building acts as a bridge between the Klein College and CPCA, tying together these two academic communities and displaying the creativity of students through its great sheets of glass," said SOM Partner Colin Koop. "It activates the public realm—connecting the surrounding community to the Temple University campus and creating an artistic anchor to Broad Street.” The project broke ground today at the University. Read about the new media and performance hub below. MORE → bit.ly/4jWsTtS Images: © SOM | ATCHAIN (fb)