Innovation park to house Midea's new headquarters
A global innovation park covering 81,000 square meters is taking shape west of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), and it will be developed into a science and technology park focused on the future and nature.
The new headquarters of Chinese home appliance giant Midea is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The steel structure of the park’s four annex buildings is nearly complete.
The park’s main structure of buildings is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“We’re working on the above-ground steel structure and core tubes,” said Fu Guanjie, the project’s chief engineer.
“A total of 172 suspension cables are being used with steel trusses. The steel structure is hung on 14 core tubes, creating a suspension effect,” Fu said. “The longest span is 70 meters, and the longest suspension length is 45 meters.”
The park’s total construction area will be 402,000 square meters, with three underground floors and 10 above. The tallest structure is 62.55 meters.
A bird’s-eye view of the Midea global innovation park. The buildings are connected on the four corners to form an open mouth.
The design of the park takes an unusual approach.
From above, the two “L”-shaped main buildings and four annex buildings form the Chinese character “口” (meaning mouth).
The layout is unique and out of the ordinary for an office space.
The north section of the park will be primarily used for research and development office purposes, while the south will be used for staff living quarters.
Natural landscapes cover the roofs of the annex buildings, which are linked by a landscape square and skywalk, creating a perfect place with vertical greenery and a courtyard to meet the conference and leisure needs of the staff.
The “vertical forest” is a highlight. Unlike traditional industrial park designs, architecture and greenery combine to form a whole.
Trees extend from the ground to the tops of annex buildings, reaching the central forest park and every outdoor garden.
The architecture and greenery complement each other beautifully, making the headquarters a perfect human-centered, ecological place filled with science and technology.
The park also includes sports and hotel facilities.
As Midea’s future headquarters, it will introduce 10,000 high-end research and development talent from around the world, as well as R&D businesses in nine areas such as industrial Internet and smart manufacturing.
It will be an innovation highland, focusing on the creative application and development of fundamental technology, artificial intelligence, user research and a smart supply chain.
