Tall & Urban News

The COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center in Shenzhen has been completed, bringing to the area a 190,000-square-meter multi-tenant office complex and includes the headquarters for bot COFCO Group and Aviva-COFCO Life Insurance. Comprising two rectangular towers—rising to 200 and 180 meters—the development is distinguished by glass-enclosed rooftop atria, which create iconic silhouettes on the skyline and house flexible communal spaces. Positioned beside an urban greenbelt and park, the buildings are oriented to maximize views toward Qianhai Bay and integrate with their natural surroundings.

Designed by Goettsch Partners (GP), the complex draws inspiration from Shenzhen’s transformation from a fishing village to a global metropolis, mimicking the vertical layering of the city’s urban villages. The atria are clad in highly transparent cable walls that blur the boundary between inside and outside, linking the elevated headquarters to the human scale of the city below.

The atrium at the top of each tower serves as a dynamic, flexible space that unifies the building's headquarters floors. These feature interconnecting stairs, open corridors, and meeting rooms that encourage formal and informal collaboration among employees. The grand spaces can also host large company-wide events. 

An engineering innovation, the atrium’s cable wall system features outward-angled columns and horizontal cables reinforced by floor slabs, allowing the vertical cables to flex and absorb stress. This dynamic façade enhances stability, particularly under seismic conditions, and contributes to the building’s energy performance. Operable windows, double-laminated low-E glass, and ceramic frit coatings further support passive ventilation and minimize solar heat gain, reducing reliance on mechanical systems. A vertical air circulation strategy channels cool air from the ground upward through the atria, maintaining comfort in Shenzhen’s subtropical climate.

At the ground level, the development functions as a “sponge city,” using permeable surfaces and strategic landscaping to absorb rainfall and reduce flood risk. A sunken garden and extensive greenery reinforce the connection to nature while improving resilience and livability.

According to James Zheng, AIA, CEO of GP, the complex sets a new standard for urban headquarters in China by honoring Shenzhen’s past while expressing its global ambitions. As Travis Soberg, AIA, GP’s sustainable design director, notes, the project balances technical innovation and elegance, showcasing what close collaboration between designers and engineers can achieve. 

Learn more at Goettsch Partners.