Architecture studio NBBJ has completed the headquarters of Chinese phone company Vivo in Shenzhen, China, which includes a terrace wrapped around the exterior of the skyscraper.

Located in Qianhai Bay, a new business district in west Shenzhen, Vivo Headquarters is a 150-metre-high building for 6,000 employees.

According to NBBJ, the design of the tower was informed by Vivo's smart phones that are known for their high quality cameras.

The floor plates shift from level to level, each cut at a slightly angle while rotating around the core, creating a continuous 360-degree spiralling terrace.

The shifting floor plates recall the aperture of a camera lens, while the spiralling terrace and a series of multi-height atriums created as a result, have views of the surrounding environment.

"One of the building's guiding visions is 'capturing life'—the hope that everyone working here will create meaningful professional memories within these vibrant workspaces," said NBBJ.

"Eight distinct atria dissolve boundaries between inside and outside, work and nature, tower and sky."

The sculptural facade of the tower was designed to contrast Qianhai Bay's glass-dominated skyline.

Horizontal glazing maximises the bay views, which, combined with the self-shading elements, reduces summer heat and maximises winter daylight.

Openable windows were concealed behind perforated metal screens, enabling natural ventilation needed in the humid subtropical climate of southern China, while reducing reliance on mechanical systems.

The podium features stairs and planters informed by local rocky coasts along the South China Sea.

The landscaping and planting shifts throughout the terraces in response to the environment conditions at various heights.

Shallow-rooted plants were positioned at lower levels, while deeper-rooted species at higher level, in order to withstand the strong winds during typhoon season.

Planting transitions to flowering trees and ferns at the higher terrace, adding different hues of greenery to the otherwise static exterior.

"Rather than a building adorned with planting, Vivo's HQ becomes a unified project in which coastal and lowland forest ecologies are woven directly into its architectural form," said NBBJ.

"Landscape design responds to vertical shifts in elevation, aligning ecological strategies with building massing so that the transition from plaza to podium reads as a continuous, inhabitable terrain."

NBBJ recently designed the Life and Mind Building at the University of Oxford, as well as adolescent behavioural health campus comprising a series of curved buildings.

The photography is by Kris Provoost unless otherwise stated.

Project credits:

Design architect: NBBJ
Architect of record, structure, MEP: TJA Shenzhen
Vertical transportation: WSP
Facade: Inhabit
Sustainability: Atkins Shenzhen
Interior design: Cheng Chung Design
Lighting design: BPI
Landscape design: China Architecture Design & Research Group