Norman Foster’s firm has won the competition to design the new offices of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The location is Shanghai’s Xuhui Riverside area, with views of the Huangpu River and the Pudong CBD.

Thought out from the inside out, a gridded and transparent building is formed around an open public central space that invites people in and is a confluence point for the main entrances.

While creating an image that reflects Alibaba’s standing, the design emphasizes the importance of communication and the integrity of the working community, using an algorithm that combines aspects like responsiveness to environmental conditions, maximization of views, and adaptation to functional requirements. The modular construction will use off-site production for quality control, reducing wastage and minimizing on-site operations.