OMA has completed a new tower in Shenzhen, China, the 200-meter tall office tower has officially been opened to the public with multiple sky decks overlooking the city’s natural environment.

Named Prince Plaza, the project, led by OMA's Managing Partner David Gianotten and project architect Bauke Albada, is located at Shekou’s most prominent view corridor linking the Nanshan mountains and the Shenzhen Bay. 

Commissioned by CMSK (China Merchants Shekou Holdings), the tower is comprised of an ensemble of four bars with multiple sky decks, the tower offers ideal vantage points for both tenants and the public to enjoy vistas of the city, while responding to the scale of the existing urban fabric.

"Prince Plaza engages with Shekou’s dynamic context formed by its mountains and sea, industrial fabric from the early reform era, and recent skyscrapers," said David Gianotten. 

"Its three sky decks are important design features. They are public spaces for everyone to appreciate the area’s natural environment through the city’s main view corridor."

"They also break down the otherwise monolithic skyscraper to create an architecture respectable to buildings of distinctive scales in its surroundings," added Gianotten. 

The 200-meter tall office tower offers 60,000-square-metre office space. The tower's fluted façade, with extra wide glass panels, enable office tenants to visually connect with the mountains and the sea. 

Its sky decks are accessible to both tenants and the public, the tower's ceilings are highlighted by a hexagon-patterned facade inspired by hills and waves.

On the street level, there is a 40,000-square-metre podium mall and it occupies the full length of the orthogonal site to maximise street level retail frontage. 

"A prominent opening—marked by a similar façade as the sky decks—is created at the location through which the view corridor runs," said OMA. 

With a porous façade and a roof terrace, the podium mall is an extension of the existing commercial and recreational offerings in the area.

"No other urban area in Shenzhen has such close proximity to both the mountains and the sea, with a view corridor and many open spaces. We fully utilised these features in our design of Prince Plaza," said OMA Project Architect Bauke Albada.

Prince Plaza - Massing Concept. Image © OMA

Prince Plaza - Plan 1. Image © OMA

Prince Plaza - Plan 2. Image © OMA

The project was led by David Gianotten and Bauke Albada. The local design consultant was Huasen. The building facade was developed in collaboration with Arup.

Project facts

Status: Completed

Client: CMSK (China Merchants Shekou Holdings) 

Location: Shenzhen, China

Site: 18,985 m2

GFA: 106,500 m2

Program: Office: 66,500 m2, 

Retail: 40,000 m2

Partner-in-Charge: David Gianotten 

Project Architect: Bauke Albada

Competition team: Andreas Viglakis, Chee Yuen Choi, Lingxiu Chong, Luke Lu, Xu Yang, Yang Shi
with Max Bergman, Helen Chen, Tim Cheung, Vanessa Chik, Jocelyn Chiu, Ikki Kondo, Erick Kristanto, Charles Lai, Anthony Lam, Federico Letizia, Arthas Qian, Jue Qiu, Roberto Requejo, Ricky Suen.

Design team: Ka Tam, Saul Smeding, Vincent McIlduff, Wanyu He, Yin Ho, Yongwon Kwon, Xu Yang
with Daan Ooievaar, Jedidiah Lau, Jenny Ni Zhan, Kathleen Cayetano, Luke Lu, Mavis Wong, Paul Feeney, Slobodan Radoman, Thorben Bazlen, Vincent Kersten. 

Construction team: Ka Tam, Saul Smeding, Xu Yang, Yongwon Kwon
With: Christina Kuo, Hafsa Siddique, Joanna Gu, Mark Kanters, Yutian He

Collaborators

LDI & MEP: Huasen / Li Hongdi, Li Lian, Lian Xianrong, Liu Chong, Tan Lan, Zhong Yubo

Structure: RBS / Li Shengyong, Zhang Wenhua

Traffic: SUTPC / Jiang Jie, Shao Yuan

Commercial: World Union Properties / Ivy, Luo Yu, Zhang Lin

Façade: ARUP / Jason Paget, Lian Hongbo, Max Wu, Nina You, Robert Wu, Simon Wu

Interior: Benoy / Arnold Kee, Chris Lohan, Elaine Tao, Kai Chung Ng, Kali Chan, Keith Chau, Peter McCaffery, Sandy Tsui

Sustainability: Yuezhong / Songbo Shu, Yuanchang Yu

Landscape: Metrostudio / Ando Kraithera Lolurlert, Antonio Inglese, Lionella Biancon, Valentina Ticino, Zhang Fangfa

Metrostation integration: China Railway Tunnel Survey & Design Institute / Hu Jianguo

Lighting: CD+M / Patrick Yu, Sunny Kang, Ted Ferreira, Tony Pascocello, Patrick Yu

Models: OMA / RJ Models

Renderings: OMA / Silkroad

All images © Seth Powers, courtesy of OMA

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