NetEase Guangzhou Headquarters / Atelier Y

The project sits in a relatively discrete downland in the cul-de-sac of Tianhe Software Park, Guangzhou, hemmed in this horseshoe-shaped massif with a beautiful natural landscape, fronting a lake and set against the hill. Variation in topographic height being significant, the construction land is narrow and irregularly shaped. Building height is set under 20 meters, as required by urban planning, with a respect for circumferential hilly mass. Interestingly, the design team was involved in urban-planning this area years ago and determining the height limit, which now challenges them as an architectural constraint.