SOM’s striking two-tower project, the Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou, China, has officially topped out at 669 feet. Situated in the city’s rapidly developing Pazhou business district, the structure was built for construction equipment company Sany’s new cloud technology arm.

The 1.9 million-square-foot complex is comprised of two Class A office towers. One will serve as the company’s headquarters, with the other being a leasable tenant space. Both structures are united by an external system of five-story steel columns that rise in a diamond grid pattern, which creates a self-shading façade. The diagrid system also contributes to the building’s resilience against seismic activity and strong winds.

The design allows the floors to be suspended from the structure, ridding the need for interior columns. Landscaped terraces are also featured at five-floor intervals across the façade.

The towers sit atop an elevated podium, which bridges the two buildings. This allows for an open ground level that makes way for a public plaza and gardens. The plaza is framed by two transparent lobbies, enclosed in laminated self-supporting glass. Cast aluminum panels, local stone, and ribbed terrazzo make up the materiality of this space. 

The elevated podium also features a cafeteria, restaurants, health club, meeting rooms, and public exhibition spaces. The site’s escalators, stairs, and a public elevator will connect to a citywide system of covered walkways. Additionally, visitors will be able to reach the elevated podium via a pedestrian bridge from an adjacent park.

The project design is sensitive to the area’s climate and landscape, the architects say. Various passive strategies were employed, including natural ventilation from operable vents, sliding glass terrace doors, perforated metal ceilings that accommodate for air intake and exhaust, and inward-sloping façade modules which shade the building.

The Sany IROOTECH Headquarters is slated for completion in 2025.