Tower for battery manufacturer to combine office and research space
Büro Ole Scheeren has unveiled the design of its latest office scheme in Shenzhen, a 120m-tall global headquarters tower for a Chinese battery manufacturer.
Known as the KDL Portal, the building will serve as the head office of KeDaLi Industries (KDL), which makes precision-engineered structural components for vehicle batteries and robotics.
Founded in 1996, KDL is one of the largest vehicle battery manufacturers in the world with 18 production sites in China and export markets in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.
Its new headquarters, which is currently under construction and set to complete in 2027, is conceived as an “innovation hub” that brings all of the company’s operations, including research and development functions, together under one roof.
The building will combine office space, research laboratories, short-stay apartments, a lecture hall and exhibition space within a single “precisely organised” structure, Büro Ole Scheeren said.
These spaces have been arranged as a series of “stacked and shifting” volumes articulated by “portals” which curve outwards from the building’s main facades, creating open terraces with panoramic views across Shenzhen.
The portals will also contain the bulk of the building’s social and circulation spaces, freeing up large flexible floorplates in the tower’s interior with direct views to the glass facades.
“Rather than a closed, singular object, KDL Portal forms a highly integrated system of workspaces, circulation and shared environments,” Büro Ole Scheeren founder Ole Scheeren said.
“It is an architecture measured not only in terms of function and efficiency, but also by openness, encounter and collective experience – an approach shaped by years of working within one of the world’s rapidly evolving cities and by a commitment to technical prowess and performance.”
KDL chairman Li Jianli added that the building will “embody the precision, reliability, and continuous innovation that define KDL’s approach to highly integrated manufacturing. Ole Scheeren’s design captures these values with remarkable clarity.”
The project is the latest huge office scheme in Shenzhen designed by Büro Ole Scheeren. In the past three years the practice has also worked on the giant, spiralling headquarters for tech group Tencent, a museum of art for the same client, and a twin-tower headquarters for online retailer JD.com.
No comments yet