The scheme includes two office towers totalling 1,000,000ft2 on a 9-hectare site in Nansha, an urban district in Guangzhou, a large port city north-west of Hong Kong. The buildings form part of a government-led masterplan for a new business quarter on a point of land across the Jiaomen Waterway, south of Nansha’s CBD. This, in turn, is part of China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area urban integration initiative.
The towers – one bigger and one smaller – are composed of 5-storey ‘stacks’, with diagonally cut-out corner terraces. They sit atop two podiums that are connected to each other by an elevated, open-air public walkway, which forms the heart of the site. Footbridges from there connect to a public garden, the bus terminus, and the ferry and river taxi terminal. The ground plane is also given over to public use. The design responds to strict brief requirements that limit the buildings’ 3D envelope and require bridge crossings, vehicle entrances and massing setbacks in defined locations.
Sunlight and views also inform the design. External louvres on the east, west and south facades control solar glare, corner terraces provide views up and down the river, and rooftop gardens offer 360-degree vistas. The side cores maximise internal space and views, as well as natural light in the lift lobbies.
This is an exciting workplace scheme for China, as we've been able to integrate features such as outdoor tenant terraces, and public space in the heart of the development.
