Experience The Humanistic Revamp Of This Futuristic Workplace

2024 Best of Year Winner For Extra-Large Corporate Office

Alibaba DAMO Nanhu Industry Park, a world-class scientific center and corporate campus, integrates workplace and an R&D institute; inhabitants of the 5.4 million-square-foot complex push the boundaries of fields such as quantum computing. Though the Hangzhou, China, facility by Matrix Design embodies cutting-edge technology, the firm avoided a purely futuristic aesthetic, instead designing the public areas with a humanistic sensibility inspired by the idyllic setting—framed by mountains and a lake—and the communal spatial logic of ancient Chinese architecture and traditional settlements. Interior volumes expand and extend somewhat organically, like a tree’s branches—a configuration intended to stimulate creativity and promote development. Looping stairways, undulating ceilings, and other curvaceous elements reference the nearby water and celebrate the building’s relationship to its surroundings, while space age-y glowing planes are supplemented by abundant natural light.

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PROJECT TEAM: WANG GUAN; LIU JIANHUI; WANG ZHAOBAO.