Online retailer鈥檚 new building will be built offsite
Foster + Partners has won a competition to design Alibaba鈥檚 new Shanghai offices.
Alibaba, sometimes described as a Chinese version of Amazon and eBay combined, is the world鈥檚 largest online retailer, whose current global headquarters in nearby Hangzhou employs 22,000 staff.
Fosters said the new office (pictured), located in the emerging Xuhui Riverside district, would 鈥渟howcase [Alibaba鈥檚] unique working culture to the public鈥� by offering passers-by glimpses inside.
At the centre of the building is a large public urban room with viewing terraces overlooking the central space and the building鈥檚 principal entrances opening on to it.
The building, which will be assembled offsite using modular construction techniques, has been designed using a genetic algorithm which calculates Alibaba鈥檚 requirements 鈥� including adaption to Shanghai鈥檚 harsh seasonal variations in climate.
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