Project Name: Dynamic Center for "The Springs"

Location: Shanghai, China

Design Team: gmp Architects

Project Area: 193,540 m²

Completion: 2024

Photography: CreatAR Images

Client: Tishman Speyer

Partner Practice In China: Tongji Architectural Design Group

Feature：

Project - German architecture firm gmp Architects has completed a striking office campus in Shanghai's Yangpu District, featuring six towers arranged in a distinctive windmill formation that creates a new urban hub in the rapidly developing area of The Springs.

The Dynamic Center complex, spanning 193,540 square meters, represents a bold architectural statement that seamlessly integrates high-density office space with an organically shaped retail podium. The development's most distinctive feature is its arrangement of high-rise slabs, where pairs of towers are connected by three-story bridges and subtly offset from one another, with one pair rotated 90 degrees to create dynamic spatial relationships.

Rising between 100 and 133 meters, the towers are characterized by a sophisticated facade system of horizontal aluminum slats that extend beyond the building edges. The copper-colored sun protection elements not only provide practical climate control but also lend a warm materiality to the otherwise monumental scale of the development.

The project, commissioned by Tishman Speyer, serves as the centerpiece of the 90-hectare Springs development and is currently home to the Douyin Group, the Chinese version of TikTok. Its success lies in the thoughtful integration of public and private spaces, with restaurants and retail outlets activating both street frontages and interior promenades.

Perhaps most notably, the complex introduces a series of sky gardens at the towers' ends, creating natural ventilation channels while offering premium amenity spaces for office users. These architectural voids become a defining element of the project's silhouette against Shanghai's skyline.

The development's pedestrian-focused design, complete with interconnecting bridges and varied pathways, creates a vibrant urban environment that remains active throughout the day, successfully bridging adjacent developments by other international architects including Büro Ole Scheeren and Henning Larsen.

Design Team - Established in 1965 by visionary architects Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg, gmp Architects has evolved into one of the world's most influential architectural practices. The Hamburg-based firm, now led by its founders alongside executive partners Nikolaus Goetze, Hubert Nienhoff, Stephan Schütz, and Wu Wei, exemplifies the seamless integration of rational functionality with contextual sensitivity.

From their breakthrough project - the Berlin Tegel Airport competition win in 1965 - to their current portfolio spanning 23 countries, gmp has consistently demonstrated mastery in architectural typologies ranging from cultural institutions to transportation infrastructure. Their design philosophy emphasizes spatial clarity, structural logic, and material authenticity, while addressing contemporary challenges of urbanization, digitalization, and adaptive reuse.

With 13 global offices and over 300 professionals, gmp has garnered more than 600 architectural awards, including 400 first prizes. Their commitment to sustainable design is evidenced by numerous LEED and regional green building certifications. The firm's establishment of the Academy for Architectural Culture in 2008 further demonstrates their dedication to fostering cross-cultural architectural dialogue and innovation.

gmp's extensive portfolio of nearly 500 completed projects showcases their ability to create enduring architecture that harmoniously balances aesthetic longevity with environmental responsibility, consistently prioritizing public value in their architectural solutions.