Sky Ladder

Project

Haikou Duty Free Shopping City

Client

China Duty Free Group

Creative

Wētā Workshop

Build

Dafeng Industry

Location

Haikou, Hainan, China

Opened

October, 2022

Role on the project

Lead Design & Art Direction

A giant, golden tree wraps around a 40m long escalator, transporting visitors into a dazzling, kaleidoscopic ride from the first floor all the way to the fourth. From the outside, the metallic clad sculpture appears heavy and solid as it punctures through the atrium volume, while the interior surprises visitors with reflective facets of shifting light and colour, synced with a cinematic soundscape to accompany the ascension to the top.

The Sky Ladder also includes 3 interactive points which activate different light and sound sequences as visitors approach the escalator and pass through the different points. Above the Sky Ladder, 12 Dancing Petals of colourful steel mesh are suspended, each appearing to be frozen mid-flight, while glowing light orbs nestle amongst them.

DESIGN PROCESS

A laser scan of a tree trunk informed the initial volume of the sculpture. This model was then digital sculpted to articulate branches protruding from the main trunk. To accentuate the strong upward direction of the sculpture, the openings at the beginning and end flare outwards to create the sense of speed and acceleration. Through digital retopology, the massing model is transformed into a Voronoi skin which imitates the cell-like pattern of tree bark, eventually becoming the panels that clad the sculpture.

Careful composition of the Sky Ladder panels allows for views out of the escalator at different points. The final pattern is used to inform the creation of the Sky Ladder structure through computational design by Dafeng. Polycarbonate panels that make up the skin of the sculpture are covered in a metallic film on the exterior and colourful dichroic film on the interior surfaces.