Industrial flues aren’t exactly a design feature most of the time. Rising up into the sky and emitting plumes of steam and gases, they’re more often associated with pollution than beauty. But the new “Tower of Light” by architecture firm Tonkin Liu breaks from those assumptions in more ways than one, enclosing the flues for a new low-carbon energy center within a decorative 131-foot-tall tower. Located in the city center of Manchester, England, the Tower of Light is made of laser-cut sheets of steel that grow more perforated as they stretch upward, achieving an effect that’s both futuristic and ethereal.

The tower’s unusual form derives from “Shell Lace Structure,” a biomimetic structural technique developed by Tonkin Liu in collaboration with engineers at Arup. This innovative technique uses digital design, engineering analysis, and advanced manufacturing tools to achieve complex organic shapes without compromising structural stability. The technique is inspired by the structures of mollusk shells, which gain their strength from optimized curvilinear geometry. Strategically placed perforations give the shell a lightweight quality while spreading loads in multiple directions. The Tower of Light is now the largest Shell Lace Structure ever built.
“The Shell Lace Structure technique represents an adaptive approach to architecture that allows for enhanced means of expression as well as additional opportunities to respond...