Studio Gang has completed tower in Hawaii inspired by local sugar cane

Studio Gang, founded in Chicago in 1997, has completed in the center of Honolulu, Hawaii, a 41-story residential tower called Kō’ula, which in Hawaiian means “red sugar cane”, a local plan that has greatly influenced the concept and the shape of the building.

The studio, in fact, took the twisting structure of the plant and applied it to the facade, so that the windows of the tower could have maximized views of the ocean. In order to achieve this effect and open up at the same time the interior space, the studio used a structural system composed of wallumns – which allow the interior walls to serve as columns and provide also shade for the terraces.

The studio was also inspired by the form of lānai – covered verandas common in Hawaii – to develop a series of inset terraces that run up the building’s facade.

“The living spaces [whose interiors were designed in collaboration with Canadian design studio Yabu Pushelberg] subtly peel off from the building’s core towards the coastline to capture mauka-to-makai views, and each home extends outdoors onto spacious lānai that draw fresh air and natural light inside year-round”, said Studio Gang founding partner Jeanne Gang.