Tall & Urban News

A two-tower design by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) has won a competition for the future design of the China Telling Communications Buildings. The towers, designed to be linked by a shared podium landscape, form two floating cubes—intended to symbolize the different business sectors of the China Telling Corp.

Located west of the city center, within the bay area of Shenzhen, a new business district known as Super Bay City is being developed. The urban zoning plan for the area between the bay and the Beizhoushan Wetland Park specifies a high-density urban quarter. In the future, a broad north-south axis referred to as Central Park will link the oceanfront park with the wetlands to the north and include landscaping, plazas, and cultural facilities. In the block structure of the master plan, the China Telling Communications Buildings occupy the north-east corner plot at the interface between Central Park and the wetland park.

The urban zoning plan specifies high-rise buildings of up to 600 meters that decrease in height along the green axis towards the north. For China Telling Corp., which specializes in hardware and software services for smartphones and other mobile devices, gmp is developing two high-rise buildings with a shared base. The south tower will stand at 150 meters, while the north tower rises to 100 meters. By designing the high-rises in the form of stacked cubes, the architects are creating sky gardens and sky lobbies at various levels.

The podium building will feature smaller units and consist of several structures of different sizes. While the first floor parallel to the road will provide space for retail outlets, the second floor—designed as a gallery level—is designed as a public boulevard. Where this space opens out to the quarter, plazas are provided to contribute to a diverse experience of space. Creating an urban flair at the gallery level, plazas, alleys, and footpaths connect with Central Park and the neighboring plots via pedestrian bridges, defining a new urban space.

For more on this story, go to von Gerkan, Marg and Partners.