Poly International Plaza is an innovative office, retail, and exhibition center development located in the Guangzhou trade district. Sited along the Pearl River and adjacent to historic Pazhou Temple Park, the project presents a precedent toward integrating development with its site and context, embracing the place of garden and sustainability in the society’s rapid move toward modernization. The site plan forms a series of gardens and plazas. A major North-South promenade along the west boundary provides connections to an offsite hotel development and convention hall and a diagonal spatial arrangement enhances visual connections to the Pagoda Park south of the site and the Pearl River north of the site. The complete design seeks to integrate the southern Chinese landscape traditions with a modern sensitivity toward local context, climate, flora and SOM’s modern architecture. Tall, continuous tree canopies in combination with water features help to moderate the climate in providing shade and capturing cooling breezes for exterior spaces.
Poly Dawangjing Office Complex
SWA’s landscape design for the Poly Dawangjing Office Building Complex draws on fluidity, suggesting pebbles (the development’s three towers) set within the intersection of two waterway corridors. The landscape forms of the drop-off courts, central arrival plaza, and planting areas are also characteristic of this fluvial influence. Broad ribbons of riparian ve...
Electronic Arts
The plan for the Electronic Arts corporate campus included nine office buildings, a commons building (including a cafeteria, health center, and fitness center), a theater, a parking structure, and a childcare center. The computer game software company’s offices support a grand lawn quad. The quad not only provides a campus focus but also serves as a stor...
Tencent Dachanwan Netizen Campus
Tencent Dachanwan, in the Qianhai Bay area, will be a model of science and technology that leads the future. Our vision is to provide common ground for nurturing creativity, innovation, and performance by connecting people in non-work environments. Our approach combines indoor and outdoor experience into a stimulating and complementary whole.
Tencent is...
Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters
Founding SWA partner Peter Walker collaborated with architects SOM on site analysis, planning, and landscape development for this hugely influential corporate headquarters, which remains notable for its unique integration of landscape, architecture, and environmental stewardship. The 425-acre site was chosen by the design team with George Weyerhaeuser for its ...