Büro Ole Scheeren has revealed plans for an extraordinary new project named the Tencent Helix. Taking the form of four connected twisting towers, the ambitious development will serve as the new global headquarters of tech giant Tencent in Shenzhen, China.
Tencent Helix is part of a burgeoning new district in Shenzhen that Büro Ole Scheeren says is comparable in size and shape to Midtown Manhattan. Indeed, the building itself will be massive too and, to put its size into perspective, its 500,000 sq m (roughly 5.3 million sq ft) of floorspace will be almost twice that of Apple Park in California.
The four towers will reach varying heights, with the tallest topping out at a maximum of 153 m (501 ft), making it a bona fide skyscraper, while their exteriors will be finished in intricate prismatic glazed panels, ensuring lots of daylight permeates within. The individual towers will be arranged around a large lush central garden area named the Vortex Garden, which will provide staff with the opportunity to enjoy some green space and fresh air. Underneath this, inside the actual building, will be the so-called Vortex Incubator, which will host multiple recreational spaces and will be naturally illuminated with a skylight.
"The design of Tencent Helix is a symbol of the company's meteoric growth, expressed in the curvature of a structure that ascends with a rotating gradient toward the sky," explained Büro Ole Scheeren. "Its form emerges from the spiraling movement of a vortex, with swirling architectural forms fusing creativity and technology in a highly engaging space. The building's dynamic, spiraling movement is anchored at its core with the Vortex Incubator, nodding to the origin of Tencent's technology universe and evoking the DNA of life.
"The Vortex Incubator – the collective heart of the HQ – is a dynamic space that connects the four office towers of varying heights and flexible floorplans into a social ecosystem of activities. Hosting Tencent's academy, extensive recreational spaces and a health club, a conference center and collaborative offices, this space acts as an interface for staff across different sectors to meet, collaborate and communicate on three-dimensionally interconnected, large-scale floors designed for interactive use."
We've no word yet on when the Tencent Helix is expected to be completed but a project of this size is sure to be a multi-year endeavor. Büro Ole Scheeren has excellent form for designing unusual buildings in China and studio head Ole Scheeren was responsible for creating Shanghai's famous CCTV with Rem Koolhaas.
Source: Büro Ole Scheeren