The newly completed GMC is located in the prestigious district of Pazhou, sharing the neighbourhood with some of Guangzhou’s renown landmarks and tenants such as R&F Centre, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, CTF Financial Centre, Convention & Exhibition Centre, key attractions and museums.
GMC, together with Pearl River New City and Guangzhou International Financial City, will come together as the prominent triplex which forms the ‘One River and Three Cities’ Guangzhou CBD plate, the most active and bustling economic area in Southern China. As a part of a dynamic and interactive programme, Pazhou will be built into an ‘internet innovation cluster’ with dual-core power and digital exhibitions which looks forward to the development and value of the area.
The project will become a monument for this futuristic area of high-tech research and enterprises, making it an iconic address for company headquarters. Inspired by the notion of the Pearl River nurturing Guangzhou, the architectural design manifests itself in the form of a natural crystal to pay homage to the city’s essential body of water.
GMC is a magnificent 173m A‑grade office tower with a 3‑storey retail podium. Resonating with the neighboring parks in the area, Benoy targets to redefine a high-end tower typology which integrates green design to implement synergy within the building’s vicinity to make for an ideal office space for domestic and international corporate tenants.
Design Concept
The design concept of GMC was inspired by the crystal SPAR. It is believed that the crystal gathers the essence of heaven and earth to bring a harmonious balance which in turn brings fortune and luck. The tall commercial buildings symbolize its reach to heaven, while the Pearl River and green spaces represent the earth. The crystal texture is represented in the glass wall, while the top-down edges and the deriving line of the building imitates the formation of crystals which refracts light, both day and night.
The main corner of the tower is chamfered, exposing the main entrance at the major intersection. On the west, the entrance faces the greenery; the same chamfering is used to separate the diagonal corners, giving off an appearance of a taller and more slender silhouette. At the same time, the platform for greenery also acts as a cooling system which can help absorb the heat emitted from the operations of the building itself. The crown of the tower is tilted to further highlight the unique shape of raw crystallisation.
The design establishes a connection between the building and the community, and the softened corners of the entrances not only distinguish the commercial blocks, but also encourages recreational and social interactions. The angled design increases the field of view at the junctions, giving a more spacious feel to the city grid.
Standing at 173 metres, with a total of 33 floors, the project is divided into 2 main areas, namely the low zone (4 – 21 floor) and the high zone (23 – 33 floors); while the low zone is home to state-of-the-art offices, the high zone features duplex workspaces, which is a rare boutique design in the Guangzhou CBD.
Significance to the Community
The exterior design also injects greenery into the spatial environment, allowing visitors to enjoy the public space. Introducing green spaces throughout the design balances the soft edge of the development which faces onto the green belt and the hardscape of the building. The project has already obtained LEED gold pre-certification and has also won the National Green Building Two-Star certification.
GMC is set to be an iconic landmark in the CBD area and will offer a unique experiential retail, dining, and prime office location to the public. This new project will attract and retain the best talent and entrepreneurship for work and life in the district of Pazhou.
Project Overview
Scope of Services: Architecture (Full scope)
Category: Office
Tower GFA: 46,363 sqm
Development GFA: 73,143
Project Director: Teri Tsang
Design Team: Jackie Wong
Client: Xinyuan Group
