Alibaba Jiangsu Headquarters

Towards the end of 2018, Benoy won the international conceptual design competition to deliver a major industrial project, the future Alibaba Jiangsu Headquarters in Nanjing, China. Alibaba launched the international design competition in March 2018 with Benoy eventually appointed as the winner of the highly-contested design bid. The Alibaba Jiangsu Headquarters is a major mixed-used development with a total investment value of over eight billion yuan. The project is situated in Jianye Hexi in Nanjing, sitting adjacent to the Metro Line 7 and the Ninghe Intercity Line Transfer Station. Covering a construction area of 850,000m2, the scheme will accommodate approximately 30,000 people once complete. The first phase of the development is due complete in 2023. The Alibaba Jiangsu Headquarters will deliver the concept of smart architecture that strongly supports Alibaba’s localization and industrial development plans. The development is set to become an interactive gathering destination for the leading e-commerce giant and a showcase of the offline experience Alibaba’s innovative businesses can offer. Benoy took an ambitious approach by producing a non-conforming design for the project. Benoy’s design rotates all of the components by 45-degrees to achieve consistency in overall planning across three plots of land. This orientation creates distinctive open space that can all have different uses, enhancing the experiential aspect of the environment. This new urban grid aims to redefine the public realm. The Jiangsu HQ is Alibaba’s biggest development outside of Hangzhou, which is home to their core business. A key objective for the project was to align the design with Alibaba’s new thinking, ultimately bringing new value to Alibaba as a brand. It was important to deliver a unique design solution, transforming the site into a world class destination where people can work, live, shop and play. As a mixed-use development, Benoy also envisioned a space that could create a dynamic dialogue between its uses; retail, offices, serviced apartments and tourist spaces. The Alibaba Jiangsu Headquarters is the second announced collaboration between Benoy and Alibaba Group. Earlier in 2018, the Ali Center in Shanghai opened - with Benoy helped to deliver the intelligent business centre in Hongqiao.