OMA has housed the Tencent Beijing Headquarters in China within a giant glass building that is punctured by geometric insets and has interiors that mimic a small city.
Located at the edge of Zhonguancun Software Park in Beijing, the seven-storey office was designed to accommodate Chinese technology company Tencent's thousands of employees, without resorting to building a skyscraper.
Tencent Beijing Headquarters in Zhonguancun Software Park
Tencent Beijing Headquarters is described by OMA as a city, divided into nine independent zones across its seven vast floors. Each floor measures 180 metres in length and width.
To reduce the building's visual impact, its form is softened by the removal of its corners, which mark entrance points, and large geometric insets that are lined with brushed metal. Metallic insets puncture the facade
"Instead of seeking soaring heights to host the expansion of the digital workforce, OMA designed a square-shaped floating volume of merely seven floors that stretches out horizontally," explained the studio.
"Tencent Headquarters is a city in a singular building ? the campus allows for unique manipulations not possible within the limits of typical traditional offices."
The insets help soften the building's form
Like in a city masterplan, a connection to the outdoors plays a key role in OMA's design of Tencent Beijing Headquarters. This is achieved in part with three triangular courtyards that plummet through its centre to bring in...