Outokumpu creates special surface with an 800 tonnes stainless steel facade for Baosteels

Baosteel’s head office in Shanghai includes three buildings with a total façade area of some 48,000 square meters. In Guangzhou, the main building of Baosteel’s southern headquarters will be 140 meters tall. Both projects began last year and are expected to be completed in 2016.

Showcasing the experise
Says Austin Lu, Head of Outokumpu’s Asia-Pacific operations: “These buildings are a great opportunity not only for Baosteel to demonstrate its competence as a construction materials supplier, but also for Outokumpu to showcase its expertise in high-performance stainless steel. Both Baosteel and the architect are attaching great importance to the building materials used in these projects, striving to achieve a perfect balance between material performance, aesthetics and environmental sustainability.”

Both projects have been designed by the Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (PCPA), who are behind many world-famous landmarks including the World Financial Center in New York and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Aiming to encapsulate the proprietor’s core values through the architecture, PCPA has strict requirements regarding choice of materials and exterior appearance.

PCPA commented: “Ideally, the offices will be pleasing to the eye, environmentally sustainable and reduce light pollution. We understand well the advantages of using stainless steel as a base material for cladding. We also have very high standards for stainless steel quality. Bearing in mind these requirements, after several rounds of comparison we finally decided on the 316 L/Linen25 coil plate from SKS.”

Selecting the optimal material
The hot bands will be supplied by Baosteel Group and SKS will process 316L stainless steel into Linen 25 surface finish. The material was selected due to its superior combination of corrosion and wear resistance, strength, low maintenance and extra-long lifecycle. In addition, this surface finish evenly reflects light from all directions, resulting in reduced light pollution. Through these material properties, Baosteel will be able to achieve cost-efficient sustainability.

Says Austin Lu: “We are proud to be a part of the Baosteel head office project. For us, providing outstanding products is only half the goal. The ultimate mission is to work closely with customers and partners to fully apply and exploit our technical expertise and product advantages.”