Tencent Holdings, the Chinese technology giant, is ditching the old playbook of cookie-cutter office blocks for its new Shenzhen headquarters, which is being developed keeping sustainability in mind.
Net City, the new development, will be as big as Midtown Manhattan at 132.6 hectares, and is coming up in the city’s Dachanwan port area. Work on the project started last month.
Tencent’s green push follows a surprise commitment by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year to steer China – the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter – towards carbon neutrality by 2060, and given its size and influence, the WeChat operator might start a sustainability trend in China’s office market, industry observers said.
“We can already see more industrial estates that host technology companies putting more of an effort into providing a sustainable working environment in China,” said Martin Wong, head of research at Knight Frank. “Office blocks offering such features can now ask for a premium on top [of average rents]. In the future, it will be a must-have requirement. If your building is not sustainable, it will be very difficult to find tenants.”
Tencent’s Net City has been designed to be “centred with nature and people, not cars and machines”, said Jonathan Ward, a design partner at Seattle-based architectural firm NBBJ, which designed the project. “Nature-based features will be used widely in the development. For example, mangrove trees will be planted at the shoreline’s edge to absorb rain water, which could [otherwise] pollute the seawater if you just let it run off concrete buildings,” he said.
Read More at https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3139638/will-tencent-give-sustainability-green-buildings-boost-its-new
Komentarze