Year: 2017
Location: Beijing, China
Program: 48.000 m2 renewal office and retail
Collaboration: Kokaistudios
Client: COFCO
Status: Built
Awards: AD100 Awards: Office Design
COFCO Plaza is located on Jianguomen, Beijing’s most important and institutional avenue that crosses Tiananmen Square in front of the Forbidden City, and was built in the 1990s in post-modern style.
Our approach to refurbishment was to consider the building as heritage and try to express the original concept that had been muffled in the past in a few areas. The change from shopping mall to offices was achieved with surgical architectural interventions.
Our attention was focused on the lower volume connecting the two office towers, which originally served as a mall: this renovation is manifested outdoors with a new facade and indoor by reshaping the main void to a clean square. Special attention was given to the design of a sculptural spiral staircase, which becomes the highlight of the main atrium connecting the ground floor to the basements in a continuous stroke.










