MAD Architecture Firm has unveiled its design for the “Cloud” building at Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters, located on Plot 04, which is currently under construction.
The Tencent Shenzhen Headquarters Park is situated on the eastern side of Dachan Bay Island in Qianhai, Bao’an District, Shenzhen. It spans five plots, covering approximately 80.90 hectares, with a total construction area of around 2 million square meters. Tencent aims to develop a low-carbon, sustainable, and user-friendly technology park here, meeting the Green Building and Barrier-Free standards.
MAD is responsible for the Plot 04 East section of Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters, which covers approximately 72,000 square meters of land and has a total construction area of about 412,000 square meters. This includes two towers, three interconnected cloud buildings, and a standalone water droplet building. The building heights gradually decrease from the landward side to the sea, creating a dynamic urban skyline. Upon completion, the East District will provide Tencent employees with a mobile, interconnected, garden-style office environment.
The three central cloud buildings serve multiple functions, including meeting areas, exhibition spaces, and offices. They are also designed as hubs for knowledge sharing and creative inspiration.
The design elevates the base of the cloud towers, making them appear to float above the ground in a fluid, dynamic form. This creates an open urban grey space beneath, offering diverse, all-weather public activity areas and outdoor exhibition venues for the park. These interconnected grey spaces form a visual corridor extending from the park’s interior to the bay, while also enhancing shading and ventilation across the site.
The base of the cloud buildings features transparent ultra-high ribbed glass, visually blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.
The cloud buildings are connected via steel truss aerial bridges, which themselves serve as communal spaces for sea views and social interaction.
The Southern Cloud Tower is designed to accommodate diverse uses such as publishing, exhibitions, conferences, and social exchanges. The cloud living room is suspended in the air by four core tubes, with two layers of tall circular ribbed glass maximizing views of the sea. Immersed in this space, visitors are surrounded by the natural bay backdrop and the vibrant urban life of Shenzhen, sparking boundless imagination and creativity.
The central and northern cloud buildings primarily serve as office spaces, each featuring an open landscape atrium. The central cloud building’s atrium connects to a sunken garden and is fully open, doubling as a public space while creating a distinctive circular facade. The northern cloud tower’s atrium is topped with a semi-open, shell-shaped ETFE skylight. These two differently shaped courtyards enrich the spatial experience and improve shading, ventilation, and energy efficiency, offering employees a more comfortable working environment.
Beneath the three cloud towers, the elevated park grounds create garden green spaces and plazas. These areas separate pedestrian zones from vehicular traffic, enabling orderly movement within the park. They also connect the grey spaces, the western office building, and the TOD cluster at Jianwan Middle Station, forming a multi-nodal, interconnected small-city complex that offers diverse urban living environments.
The “Cloud” building at Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters, Plot 04, is progressing steadily and is scheduled for completion and occupancy in 2025.
△ Construction Process Diagram
△ Construction Process Diagram
△ Construction Process Diagram
Project Drawings
△ Base schematic diagram
△ Axonometric diagram
△ Analysis chart
△ Section diagram
△ Structural schematic diagram
Project Information
Type: Office Park
Total land area: approximately 72,000 square meters
Total construction area: approximately 412,000 square meters
Lead Partners: Ma Yansong, Party Masses, Yokosuke Hayano
Lead Vice Partner: Li Jian
Competition Teams: Antoine Muller, Wang Shuobin, Ma Yiran, Yin Jianfeng, Claudia Hertrich, Jose Maria Urbiola, Reinier Simons, Fu Xiaoyi, Zhu Yuhao, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Zhou Haimeng, Li Hui
Design Team: Xu Chen, Liu Hailun, Fu Xiaoyi, Jose Maria Urbiola, Antoine Muller, Liu Zifan, Rozita KaShirtseva, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Yoshio Fukumori, Yin Jianfeng, Chen Hongbin, Yang Wenzhi, Zeng Hantao, Song Minzhe, Sun Yingna, Li Jiaqi, Tan Miao, Yu Lin, Zhao Guijia, Wu Qiaoling, Hou Jinghui, Sun Feifei, Wang Ruipeng, Feng Xuhui, Li Lingfeng, Zhang Kai, Zhou Qinyuan, Cheng Xiangju, Du Jie, Na Kyung Eun, Gan Mengjia, Xiao Yuhan, Cao Xi, Zhuang Fan, Chen Hao, Claudia Hertrich, Reinier Simons, He Shunpeng
Owner: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
Class A Design Institute: Shenzhen Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd.
General Contractor: China Construction Fourth Engineering Bureau Sixth Construction Co., Ltd.
Project Management: Kaidisi Construction Engineering Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Structural Consultant: Jin Jin Architectural Engineering Design (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
Curtain Wall Consultant: Warner Engineering Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
Interior Consultant: MAD Architecture Firm, Woods Berg Architectural Design Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant: Lighting Planners Associates Inc. & Lighting Planners Associates (S) Pte. Ltd., China Urban Planning and Design Institute
Landscape Consultant: SWA Group
Identification Consultant: Shanghai Baiyu Creative Design Co., Ltd.
Transportation Consultant: Lin Tongyan International Engineering Consulting (China) Co., Ltd.
Acoustic Consultant: Gangqing Engineering Consultant (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Business Consultant: Shenzhen Runchuang Commercial Operation Management Co., Ltd.
Mechanical and Electrical Consultant: Kejin
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