An emblem of contemporary Shenzhen

Shenzhen’s Houhai Downtown District has undergone tremendous growth, emerging as a hub for technology startups and corporations. The new headquarters for global telecommunications company Hytera is among the neighborhood’s most prominent recent developments. Facing two major municipal parks, the 43-story tower enhances the public realm with an elevated podium featuring a grand civic space.

Hytera’s headquarters serve as both a gateway and a destination between the Nanshan Houhai Downtown District’s parks. The entire podium rises dramatically above the street, introducing a shaded, rain-protected outdoor room with retail. To make this elevation possible, the structure—a product of SOM’s integrated design and engineering team—meets the ground in select locations to welcome pedestrians into the site. The three-dimensional truss table is equipped with triangular steel columns that descend from the tower structure above in a crisscross pattern. This motif is echoed from the top of the podium at the building’s northern end.

The podium and tower coalesce as two intersecting rectangular blocks—one horizontal and one vertical—to distinguish the offices above from the amenities below. The podium features retail, conference rooms, and event spaces, while a landscaped roof terrace offers sweeping views of Shenzhen Bay. The top of the podium also includes a “jewel box” structure: a two-story, glass-enclosed space for conferences and other large gatherings.

Integrating architecture, structure, and workplace

The office tower occupies less than half of the site’s footprint. Its core is set toward the building’s western edge to open unmitigated views of the parks and the bay toward the east. The tower’s structure—a triangulated steel truss cage—gives the building a bold architectural expression. The tower’s elevators rise within this truss system, offering workers a glimpse of the city as they move between floors. Red terracotta clads the innermost end of the structure to infuse natural finishes into the workplace.

Office tenants enter the office lobby through several expansive openings between the columns, which touch the ground in V-shaped bracing. In addition to the terracotta cladding by the elevators, the lobby’s ceilings are designed as a series of perforated mesh panels that promote airflow, which recurs throughout much of the building. The interior design, inspired by Hytera’s branding, provides a glimpse of the steel beams at every level, along with signage composed of glass-enclosed LED panels to put innovation and technology on display. That same concept is replicated at the top of the building, where an antenna signifies the company’s role in radio manufacturing on the skyline.

Reinventing the curtain wall

The facade design resolves multiple challenges simultaneously, giving the building a dynamic visual identity while also supplying interiors with natural ventilation. Its configuration of glass represents a modern take on the traditional curtain wall. Glass panes appear to pop out of the facade, with sills that protrude from the building’s steel mullions. The result is a series of varied reflections cascading across the exterior throughout the day. The glass panes are operable to bring fresh air into the workspaces, a feature—conceived as part of LEED Gold and Green Building Two Star certification targets—that works in tandem with the building’s natural lighting to create a bright and flexible working environment for the next generation of high-tech talent.