Ma Yansong/MAD Architects has unveiled the project and construction update for Tencent’s new headquarters in Shenzhen, a new campus for one of the leaders in internet and technology services that, thanks to MAD’s deep understanding of tackling complex challenges and its future-focused approach, will generate an environment that fosters vitality and collaboration.

Currently under construction and expected to be in use by 2025, Tencent’s new headquarters is designed to facilitate collaboration and dialogue and features a diverse program of exhibitions, discussions and activities that are facilitated by the morphology of the buildings that comprise it, which integrate with the surrounding terrain and urban landscape, creating open and attractive spaces for public use.

The project for Tencent's Shenzhen by Ma Yansong / MAD Architects headquarters covers approximately 72,000 square meters and includes, in response to the company's goal of creating a low-carbon, human-centred technology park, two biomorphic office towers and a series of interconnected buildings that enhance the city's evolving skyline, including public spaces and their connection to the various green spaces and lush plazas that separate pedestrian areas from traffic.

Constructed from transparent, frameless glass, the lower part of the buildings seeks to create a perfect harmony between indoor and outdoor spaces, thus integrating the ground level with the surroundings. In addition, by improving shading and ventilation through strategic placement of materials, the project contributes to environmental health and site comfort, improving the spatial experience of users and promoting energy efficiency.

  Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD. Photograph by Ma Yansong / MAD

Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD. Photograph by Ma Yansong / MAD.

Ma Yansong / MAD Architects has unveiled the design and construction update for Tencent's new Shenzhen Headquarters.

Tencent, one of the global leaders in internet and technology services, is developing its new headquarters campus on five parcels spanning over 80 hectares east of Da Chan Bay Island in Qianhai, Bao'an District, Shenzhen. The campus will have a total floor area of approximately 2 million square meters.

The campus occupies five parcels, spanning over 80 hectares with a total floor area of approximately 2 million square meters. MAD's Lot 04 East design responds to Tencent's goal of creating a low-carbon and human-centred technology park, aiming to set a benchmark for sustainability and accessibility. The company is striving to meet the highest standards of ecological responsibility and accessibility, which meet the Samsung Green Building and Barrier-Free Samsung Standards.

MAD's design for LOT 04 East of Tencent's Shenzhen headquarters covers approximately 72,000 square meters with a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 412,000 square meters. The project includes two biomorphic office towers, three interconnected buildings, and a raindrop-shaped building. The layout transitions smoothly from land to sea, enhancing Shenzhen's evolving skyline.

En construcción la Sede de Tencent por Ma Yansong / MAD. Fotografía por Ma Yansong / MAD

Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD. Rendering by Ma Yansong / MAD.

The ground floors of these buildings are elevated, giving them a floating appearance and enhancing the sense of movement and fluidity. The bottom of the buildings is designed with transparent, ultra-high frameless glass, creating a seamless harmony between indoor and outdoor spaces. This design encourages social interaction, preserves views, and enhances the overall site experience. Additionally, it integrates the ground level with the surrounding environment, creating open spaces for public use.

These elevated ground floors integrate with the surrounding land and streetscape, creating open, inviting spaces for public use. This design enriches the park with protected, sea-facing areas ideal for outdoor exhibitions and gatherings. By enhancing shading and ventilation through strategic placement and materials, the design significantly contributes to the site’s environmental health and comfort. Steel truss sky bridges connect the buildings, creating communal spaces that encourage employee interaction and well-being, with sea views and areas for contemplation and discussion.

The southernmost building is designed to facilitate collaboration and dialogue, accommodating a diverse program of exhibitions, discussions, and activities, including product launches, conferences, and collaborative events. The building’s main event space features a two-story, cylindrical design with frameless glass, offering panoramic views of Shenzhen’s natural and built surroundings.

Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD. Rendering by Ma Yansong / MAD.
Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD. Rendering by Ma Yansong / MAD.

The central and northern buildings are dedicated office spaces, each featuring distinctive open landscape atriums. The central building has a fully open atrium connected to a sunken garden, serving as a public space and forming a circular facade. The northern building’s atrium is topped with a semi-open, shell-shaped ETFE skylight. These varied atrium designs enhance the spatial experience for users and contribute significantly to shading, ventilation, and energy efficiency.

Below the three interconnected buildings, the design raises the park ground to create lush garden spaces and plazas, separating pedestrian areas from roadways without disrupting traffic flow. This layout ensures smooth connectivity between green spaces, office buildings, and surrounding transit-oriented developments, forming a diverse, integrated urban complex that offers multi-level spaces to the community.

MAD’s deep understanding of addressing complex design challenges and future-focused approach, Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters aims to create a campus environment that encourages vibrancy and collaboration.

More information

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Architects
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Ma Yansong / MAD Architects.
Executive Architects.- Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design And Research Co., Ltd.

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Project team
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Principal Partners in Charge.- Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano.
Competition Team.- Antoine Muller, Wang Shuobin, Ma Yiran, Yin Jianfeng, Claudia Hertrich, Jose Maria Urbiola, Reinier Simons, Fu Xiaoyi, Zhu Yuhao, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Zhou Haimeng, Li Hui.
Design Team.- Liu Hailun, Fu Xiaoyi, Zeng Hantao, Sun Yingna, Liu Zifan, Song Minzhe, Zhao Guijia, Jose Maria Urbiola, Tan Miao, Rozita Kashirtseva, Li Jiaqi, Antoine Muller, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Yu Lin, Feng Xuhui, Zhang Kai, Wu Qiaoling, Yang Wenzhi, Chen Hongbin, Hou Jinghui, Sun Feifei, Wang Ruipeng, Yoshio Fukumori, Li Lingfeng, Yin Jianfeng, Zhou Qinyuan, Cheng Xiangju, Du Jie, Na Kyung Eun.

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Collaborators
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Project Management.- Arcadis Shanghai Limited
Structural Consultant.- Meinhardt (Shenzhen) Ltd.
Curtain Wall Consultant.- SuP Ingenieure GmbH, Shenzhen Fangda Building Technology Group Co., Ltd., China Construction Buer Curtain Wall & Decoration Co., Ltd.
Interior Design.- MAD Architects, Woods Bagot Architectural Design Consultants (Beijing) Co Ltd., Shenzhen Jiang & Associates Creative Design, China Academy of Building Research
Lighting Consultant.- Lighting Planners Associates Inc. & Lighting Planners Associates (S) Pte. Ltd., China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (CAUPD)
Landscape Consultant.- SWA Group, Shenzhen Hope Design Co., Ltd.
Signage Consultant.- Brand U Creative Studio Shanghai Co.
Transportation Consultant.- T. Y. Lin International Engineering Consulting (China) Co. Ltd.
Acoustic Consultant.- GRANDY Engineering Consultants (Shanghai) Ltd.
Commercial Consultant.- Shenzhen Champion Retail Operation Management Co., Ltd.
MEP Consultant.- WSP Engineering Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
Green Building Consultant.- AtkinsRéalis
LID Consultant.- Shenzhen Institute of Building Research Co., Ltd.
BIM Consultant.- Shenzhen Jiarui Construction Information Technology Co., Ltd.

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Client
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Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

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Area
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Site Area.- Approximately 72,000 sqm.
Building Area.- Approximately 412,000 sqm.

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Dates
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2020 – 2025.

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Location
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Shenzhen, China.

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Photography
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Rendering
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Ma Yansong is a Beijing-born architect (1975) recognized as an important voice in a new generation of architects. He graduated from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. Ma attended Yale University after receiving the American Institute of Architects Scholarship for Advanced Architecture Research in 2001 and holds a master's degree in Architecture from Yale. 

He shares his knowledge as an adjunct professor at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tsinghua University, and the University of Southern California. Ma Yansong's journey is a continuous narrative unfolding, exploring innovation and pushing the boundaries of what we perceive as the built environment.

Since the founding of MAD in 2004, his works in architecture and art have been widely published and exhibited. Ma Yansong was awarded the 2006 Architecture League Young Architects Award. In 2008 he was selected as one of the twenty most influential Young Architects today by ICON magazine and Fast Company named him one of the ten most creative people in architecture in 2009. In 2010 he became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship.

“I work with emotion and with the context. When I design a building, I close my eyes and feel as if I saw a virtual world which lays half way between the city, the nature and the land. It goes from large scale to small scale. Many things travel in front of my eyes; I feel them and try to find the way to express my feelings. The language I use is the least important of it all. It does not matter whether they are straight lines, curves... I only intend for people to feel the same or to find something unexpected” says Ma Yansong. “MAD is an attitude, a posture towards architecture, towards society. Through our work we want people to be inspired by a place through local nature, time and space”, he states.

Photograph by Daniel J.Allen

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mad is a Beijing-based architecture design office dedicated to creating innovative projects. Founded by Ma Yansong in 2004, MAD Architects is led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano. It is committed to developing futuristic, organic, technologically advanced designs that embody a contemporary interpretation of the Eastern affinity for nature. With a vision for the city of the future based on the spiritual and emotional needs of residents, MAD endeavours to create a balance between humanity, the city, and the environment.

MAD's projects encompass urban planning, urban complexes, municipal buildings, museums, theatres, concert halls, and housing, as well as art and design. Their projects are located in China, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. In 2006, MAD won the design competition for the Absolute Towers in Mississauga, Canada. Through this, MAD became the first Chinese architecture firm to build a significant high-rise project abroad. In 2014, MAD was selected as the principal designer for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, USA, becoming the first China-based architecture firm to design an overseas cultural landmark. MAD’s signature cultural projects include Ordos Museum (2011, China), Harbin Opera House (2015, China), Tunnel of Light (2018, Japan), China Philharmonic Concert Hall (under construction), Yiwu Grand Theater (under construction), FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam (under construction), Cloudscape of Haikou (2021, China), and Shenzhen Bay Culture Square (under construction). Other urban projects include the Clover House kindergarten (2015, Japan), Chaoyang Park Plaza (2017, China), China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre (2021, China), Jiaxing Train Station (under construction), Quzhou Sports Campus (under construction), and Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center (under construction), among others.

While practising architecture, MAD documents and discusses its reflections on architecture, culture, and arts through publications, architectural exhibitions, as well as academic lectures and presentations. MAD’s publications include Mad Dinner, Bright City, MA YANSONG: From (Global) Modernity to (Local) Tradition, Shanshui City, and MAD X. MAD has organized and participated in several contemporary art and design exhibitions, including MAD X, a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in 2019; Shanshui City, at UCCA in 2014; Feelings are Facts, a spatial experience exhibition with artist Ólafur Eliasson at UCCA in 2010; and MAD in China, a solo exhibition at the Danish Architectural Center, Copenhagen in 2007. MAD has participated in significant exhibitions at several iterations of the Venice Architecture Biennale and Milan Design Week. MAD has also participated in exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Copenhagen), and MAXXI (Rome). An array of MAD’s architecture models have been acquired by the Centre Pompidou and M+ Museum (Hong Kong) as part of their permanent collections.

MAD has offices in Beijing (China), Jiaxing (China), Los Angeles (USA), and Rome (Italy).

Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano and Qun Dand.

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Published on: July 27, 2024
Cite: "Under Construction The Tencent's Headquarters by Ma Yansong / MAD" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/under-construction-tencents-headquarters-ma-yansong-mad> ISSN 1139-6415
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