Tall & Urban News

Technology company Tencent has revealed a collection of projects currently under 
construction at its new campus in Shenzhen’s Qianhai bay, including the MVRDV-designed Tencent P5. Comprising 11 apartment high-rises that have structurally topped out and are arranged around four courtyards, as well as an adjacent kindergarten, the design embraces the company's employees with a neighborhood designed with egalitarianism and community in mind.

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The Tencent campus is the centerpiece of the tech-focused development that is rapidly coming to define Qianhai bay, to the west of Shenzhen. The campus masterplan designed by NBBJ occupies a narrow peninsula at the mouth of the bay, providing the conditions for a large yet relatively self-contained campus following cutting-edge smart city ideas.

Located at the northern end of the campus, MVRDV’s design emphasises equality in which all units are identical in size and layout, with each providing a balcony or bay window to its occupant. These apartment modules combine to create four clusters of apartment blocks, each arranged around a green courtyard. The buildings are terraced, supporting communal green spaces that can be accessed by all residents. The buildings rise up from 57 meters to 100 meters in height, positioned in a way that preserves views from the apartments towards the sea to the west and the bay to the east.

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With its many public spaces and amenities, the project provides ample opportunities for residents to connect with their neighbors and form friendships. At ground level, the courtyards offer residents large green spaces to relax in, as part of a green corridor that extends throughout the NBBJ masterplan. Two pedestrian streets cut through the site, supplementing these outdoor spaces with spaces for sports facilities and leisure amenities. Inside, the ground level of the buildings hosts a variety of shared amenities for residents. Large, multi-floor breakout spaces puncture the towers’ façades at a variety of levels, allowing residents to gather with others who live in the same part of the building and breaking the development into a number of smaller “neighborhoods."

The fifth block on the site is home to a kindergarten for the families of Tencent employees. This building also takes a courtyard configuration, composed of a series of blocks connected by corridors and walkways. The courtyard, along with the spaces between the blocks, provide safe and shaded playing spaces for the children, while the blocks themselves feature rooftop gardens.

The design takes advantage of a number of the masterplan’s smart city features to ensure sustainability. For example, the basement level connects to a campus-wide network of automated vehicles, which can be used not only for personal transit but also for deliveries. The design aims to achieve a three-star Green Building label, China’s highest sustainability certification.

The construction of the Tencent Residential Complex started in early 2022, and is planned for completion in 2024. The design also marks a continuation of MVRDV’s engagement with the Tencent campus; in 2019, the firm’s campus design proposal – with a design shaped like a continuous undulating mountain range with a waterfront park winding its way around the base – was a finalist in the campus masterplan competition.