Celebrating the relocation into a refurbished industrial building designed by the company
HONG KONG (Dec. 9, 2016) – AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, today celebrated the move of one of its offices into a refurbished industrial building in Shekou, Shenzhen. An opening ceremony was held with major business partners and local authorities attending. The new building was designed by AECOM, who turned an old industrial building into a state of the art office, an exemplary renewal project amidst the changing economy of the original industrial district.
“People should be placed at the centre of urban development and renewal,” said Sean Chiao, President of AECOM Asia Pacific. “We are extremely pleased to have been involved with a number of people-centric projects that contribute to delivering a better world. Moving into a new home where importance is placed on community development is emotionally exciting and intellectually fulfilling.”
The new AECOM office is situated at Sail Plaza, which was previously an industrial building. AECOM’s design team undertook to create a low-profile solution that retained some of the original features, such as the rectangular block and the atrium.
Inside the AECOM office, our own architects made good use of the 15m floor to ceiling space, inserting a mezzanine layer to create a vertical interaction among colleagues beside the horizontal layout of the office. The use of wood added warmth to the cold steel window frames. There is plenty of open common space indoors for casual conversation and employee activities while a landscaped patio of more than 900 sqm and verandah provide additional amenity.
“To turn this industrial building into a high end office tower, we created a “cut through” the centre of the block,” said Wang Yimin, AECOM South China Vice President for Architecture. “This immediately converted the “dark core” into a bright one, bringing natural sunlight and a welcoming ambience into the ground floor lobby. We also retained the 15m headroom facilitating natural light and created a layout of 20 individual units on each floor of 4,000 sqm to allow maximum flexibility for potential tenants.”
As part of China’s Economic Development Focus Policy, Shekou was identified as an industrial centre in the early 1980s and attracted significant manufacturing investment.
In response to the city of Shenzhen’s maturation and changing economy, the city put together a strategy to renew Shekou from the industrial model of economic development into a modern benchmark for community development.
“Building structures are physical carriers of a city’s history,” said Ian Chung, AECOM Senior Vice President and Regional Executive, China. “We have completed a variety of city renewal projects in China with this ethos in mind. We will take this philosophy forward to ensure the development of a city stays connected with its history and in doing so continue to make this world a better place.”
About AECOM
AECOM is built to deliver a better world. We design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations in more than 150 countries. As a fully integrated firm, we connect knowledge and experience across our global network of experts to help clients solve their most complex challenges. From high-performance buildings and infrastructure, to resilient communities and environments, to stable and secure nations, our work is transformative, differentiated and vital. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM had revenue of approximately $17.4 billion during fiscal year 2016. See how we deliver what others can only imagine at aecom.com and @AECOM.
AECOM Media Contact:
Karina Lam 林慧玲
Karina.Lam@aecom.com
+852 3922 9190