Wuhan Alibaba Center wins a silver award in the 2026 World Architecture News Awards
The Wuhan Alibaba Center has been awarded the silver award in the Mixed-Use Building category at the 2026 World Architecture News (WAN) Awards.
Wuhan Alibaba Center establishes Alibaba’s second-largest headquarters campus and introduces a new mixed-use model to Wuhan’s Xudong business district. We delivered the masterplanning and architectural design. The 450,000 m² development integrates dual Grade‑A 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 project fully embraces sustainable design and is equipped with an intelligent building management system, paired with design features such as curtain wall ventilators in the towers and vertical greening. These elements maximize the use of natural ventilation, reduce energy consumption and align with the core evaluation criteria of the WAN Awards for green and low-carbon development. Furthermore, the project incorporates human-centric and intelligent design elements including three-level diversion for high-speed elevators, an intelligent office system and a healthy fresh air system.
Qin Pang, Head of Benoy Shanghai and Lead Designer of the project, said: ‘We are grateful for the recognition from the WAN Awards. The design of the Wuhan Alibaba Center is a typological exploration, breaking down the boundaries between office and commercial spaces. In addition to the two super-Grade A office towers and the H‑City commercial podium, we have created the iconic floating Alibaba HUB on top of the podium. This design dissolves the traditional business-format boundaries, suggests future public functions, and transforms the entire mixed-use complex into a more integrated, organic and vibrant whole. It also allows the urban space of the entire block to extend and expand within this architectural complex, making it a three-dimensional node for citizens to experience the public nature of urban space.’
Established in 2008, the WAN Awards rank among the world’s most influential and largest international architectural awards, boasting a global readership of over 800,000 and a rigorous international jury system. This year’s competition featured ground-breaking architectural works from across the globe, with a jury panel composed of leading international industry figures and design experts. The panel selected benchmark projects that excelled in creativity, functionality and sustainability. The Mixed-Use Building category is highly contested each year, and the Wuhan Alibaba Center’s silver win in this category is recognition of our comprehensive design capabilities, from conceptualisation to final on-site delivery.
Congratulations to the design team, the client Alibaba, and all the partners on this achievement.
The complete list of winners from the 2026 WAN awards can be viewed here.
