China Offshore Oil Corporation Headquarters (CNOOC)
Beijing
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Headquarters’ prow-like form references its occupant’s maritime business
CNOOC’s new headquarters plays a significant role in Beijing’s city fabric. Located at the Chaoyangmennei Dajie gateway, a prominent intersection on the city’s Second Ring Road, it provides a natural counterpoint to the massive Ministry of Foreign Affairs building directly across the intersection. To create an iconic form, Kohn Pedersen Fox’s design team drew inspiration from CNOOC’s core business of oil exploration. The building’s three-sided shape, an equilateral triangle in plan with rounded corners, resembles a ship’s prow. The tapering of the tower—narrow at the bottom and wider at the top—reinforces this concept.
Recalling the imagery of CNOOC’s offshore derricks, the tower’s upper floors perch on a series of columns that extend down into a bright and spacious lobby. Within the tower, the architects organized office and service spaces around a central atrium that rises through all floors. Large, funnel-like windows located on each side of the atrium capture and introduce daylight into the heart of the building via a series of sky gardens: lobby-like areas filled with plants. These central spaces serve as a “family room” for the company’s employees, providing light-filled areas where they can relax or hold impromptu meetings.
KPF positioned the tower such that its west elevation faces away from the intersection, creating a quieter space for an entry garden. Densely planted trees provide a further buffer from the noisy boulevards beyond. A three-story, L-shaped podium delineates a courtyard here; this volume contains the building’s more public uses, such as meeting rooms, restaurants, and exhibition areas. Entered through an over-sized gateway, which symbolically recalls the form of traditional Chinese courtyards, the western courtyard invites visitors to explore the building above.
Formal name of project:
China Offshore Oil Corporation Headquarters (CNOOC)
Location:
Beijing
Gross square footage:
1,000,000 sq. ft.
Owner:
China National Offshore Oil Corporation
Architect:
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
111 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10017
212-977-6500 tel.
212-956-2526 fax
www.kpf.com
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