Scandinavian firm Henning Larsen is collaborating with four Chinese studios to design a two-square-mile business district for Shenzhen.
Henning Larsen won a competition in collaboration with Chinese consortiums Shenzhen Cube Architecture and Swooding Architects, plus the Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen and Why Art Projects SL.
Named Shenzhen Bay Headquarters City, the masterplan aims to create a new district on the waterfront that would become the new centre of the city in southeast China.
Henning Larsen is designing a new city centre for Shenzhen
The district, which will contain offices and three signature towers, is being created to attract companies to move their headquarters to the city. The architects will now collaborate with the government to refine the proposal. "Our design aims to make Shenzhen the waterfront city it should always have been," said Claude Godefroy, design director of Henning Larsen's Hong Kong office.
The proposal aims to recentre the city on the waterfront
Alongside offices, the development will contain conference facilities and cultural venues, the largest of which will be located on the waterfront.
"To create an attractive waterfront we brought commercial and cultural facilities meters away from the seashore, so citizens will finally be able to enjoy the atmosphere of Shenzhen Bay in an activated urban environment, like in Sydney, Singapore or Copenhagen."

Henning Larsen also proposes creating a series of c...