Shenzhen is undergoing an unprecedented surge in urban growth. This boom has brought with it a renewed sense of ambition in reimagining how urban planning and architecture can help shape a progressive future for the city. The public realm has emerged as a subject of great experimentation—how pedestrians occupy, move across, and access buildings through a circulation network that now commonly exists not only at grade, but also above and below.

Hytera Houhai Headquarters Tower represents a bold vision in this new era of the city—one that will both create a lasting icon on the skyline, and offer a compelling civic space. The building will become the new headquarters for Hytera, China’s leading radio and communication systems manufacturer. Located within the Nanshan Houhai Downtown District, the tower will face two major municipal parks, with direct views and frontage towards Shenzhen Bay. The project is conceived as a simple arrangement of two rectangular blocks: one horizontal and one vertical. The horizontal block, an elevated podium, floats above a grand civic plaza that visually anchors the tower. This plaza creates a gateway across the avenue to the nearby parks, while offering pedestrian access to retail spaces in the podium and concourses below grade that connect the neighborhood. The top of the podium is rendered as a block-long garden with sweeping views towards the bay. Within this garden, two crystalline volumes will house a multi-function space and a signature restaurant.

The vertical block, the main tower, employs a unique side-core layout in order to maximize the flexibility of large office floor plates and to prioritize views east towards Shenzhen Bay. A diagrid structural system provides the necessary rigidity for the tower, while creating a distinctive architectural expression for this new landmark in Shenzhen.