OPPO, China’s largest smartphone company, will soon have a new headquarters space courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group. The new OPPO R&D Headquarters will be located in the heart of Yuhang District, Hangzhou, between a natural lake, an urban center, and a 10,000-sm park. The OPPO R&D Headquarters tower, also known as O-Tower, will include 1.7 million sf of office space and 732,000 sf of retail space. It will act as a new landmark and gateway to the Future Sci-Tech City and Hangzhou itself.
O-Tower’s design translates a traditional office slab with the perfect depth for access to daylight into a cylindrical courtyard building that is compact but also provides large, contiguous floor area. The southern edge of the building will be pushed down to the ground to minimize the external surge area of the more solar exposed facade while maximizing views out from the inward facade, which is self-shaded from solar gain by the geometry of the tower. The facade will be wrapped with adaptive facade louvers that are oriented according to sun angles and building geometry to reduce solar gain by up to 52%.
A series of triple-height void spaces and interconnected terraces under the sloping O roof will provide casual and physical connectivity between floors as well as biophilic social spaces and shortcuts for all OPPO staff.
A publicly accessible courtyard will rest at the heart of O-Tower and become an urban living room for the city. The courtyard will transition from a mineral hardscape at the center into a lush, green landscape as it extends out toward the waterfront. The space will provide fresh air, retain water, and support a biodiverse public realm that connects to the daily life of the city.
The ground floor will be open with an interconnected public space that leads visitors and staff through lobbies, exhibition spaces, or out to the park. The first three floors will be reserved for public programming and include exhibition space, conference centers, a canteen, and an incubator for external workshops. On the upper floors, a dedicated OPPO canteen as well as executive and VIP lounges will overlook Hangzhou’s wetlands alongside the triple-height interconnected atria under the O-ring facade. All of the building’s floors will integrate workspaces with biophilia and social spaces.
Flexible floor plates will range from spacious and large floors suitable for R&D departments and social projects to smaller, more traditional floors for administration and executive functions.
The design for the O-Tower has been developed by BIG in collaboration with ZIAD (Local Design Institute), Co-Create Golden Technique Project Management (Client Project Managers), RBS (Structural Engineers), RFR (Façade Consultants), WSP (Traffic, MEP, VT Consultant), BPI (Lighting designer), Savills (Programming consultant), TFP (Foodservice planner), and UAD (Traffic evaluation agency).
Related Stories
Building Team | May 6, 2022
Atlanta’s largest adaptive reuse project features cross laminated timber
Global real estate investment and management firm Jamestown recently started construction on more than 700,000 sf of new live, work, and shop space at Ponce City Market.
Mixed-Use | Apr 26, 2022
Downtown Phoenix to get hundreds of residential and student housing units
In fast-growing Phoenix, Arizona, a transit-oriented development called Central Station will sit adjacent to Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus.
Mixed-Use | Apr 22, 2022
San Francisco replaces a waterfront parking lot with a new neighborhood
A parking lot on San Francisco’s waterfront is transforming into Mission Rock—a new neighborhood featuring rental units, offices, parks, open spaces, retail, and parking.
Wood | Apr 13, 2022
Mass timber: Multifamily’s next big building system
Mass timber construction experts offer advice on how to use prefabricated wood systems to help you reach for the heights with your next apartment or condominium project.
Office Buildings | Apr 11, 2022
SOM-designed office tower aims to promote health and wellness
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) recently completed work on 800 Fulton Market, a new mixed-use office building in Chicago’s historic Fulton Market/West Loop neighborhood.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 29, 2022
Here’s why the U.S. needs more ‘TOD’ housing
Transit-oriented developments help address the housing affordability issue that many cities and suburbs are facing.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 24, 2022
First new, mixed-use high-rise in Detroit’s central business district in nearly 30 years opens
City Club Apartments completed two multifamily projects in 2021 in downtown Detroit including the first new, mixed-use high-rise in Detroit’s central business district in nearly 30 years.
Office Buildings | Feb 23, 2022
The Beam on Farmer, Arizona’s first mass timber, multi-story office building tops out
The Beam on Farmer, Arizona’s first mass timber, multi-story office building, topped out on Feb. 10, 2022.
Mixed-Use | Feb 9, 2022
David Chipperfield Architects to design Schützenstraße mixed-use development in Munich
The firm recently won a competition for the project.
Mixed-Use | Jan 13, 2022
Details unveiled for Atlanta’s Campus 244 mixed-use development
S9 Architecture is designing the project.