Benoy delivers Wuhan Alibaba Center for Alibaba
The completion of the Wuhan Alibaba Center establishes Alibaba’s second-largest headquarters campus and introduces a new mixed-use model to Wuhan’s Xudong business district. The 450,000 m² development integrates dual office towers with the city’s first MixC shopping centre, landscaped terraces and extensive rooftop public space. Designed to LEED Gold standards, the project creates a district where corporate infrastructure is a shared urban amenity.
The Kongming lock, reinterpreted
The spatial organisation draws inspiration from the Kongming lock, a traditional Chinese wooden puzzle, which uses interlocking forms to allow different functions to remain distinct while creating new connections between them. The Alibaba HUB forms a suspended bridge linking the two office towers (272.5 m and 173 m respectively), providing 200,000 m² of collaborative workspace and viewing galleries above the retail podium.
Urban infrastructure at scale
The development reclaims extensive rooftop areas as usable public realm for the Xudong business district. Since the opening of the first phase, Wuhan Alibaba Center has welcomed 1.2 million visitors in its first year, creating new employment opportunities and strengthening Alibaba’s presence in central China.
Lead architect Qin Pang shared his thoughts: ‘The design of Wuhan Alibaba Center breaks down boundaries between office and commercial functions. In addition to the two super-high-rise office towers and the Qincheng MixC commercial podium, we have created the iconic suspended Alibaba HUB above the podium. This podium turns the entire complex into a more cohesive, organic and vibrant whole. What’s more, it allows the urban space of the entire block to be extended and continued within this architectural complex, creating more integration with public spaces.’
