An Experiment in Reshaping Industrial Architecture Aesthetics with "Public Building-style": The Facade Design of the Qianhai Smart Bonded Warehouse

Prologue
Against the backdrop of the dual-drive development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Zone, the Qianhai Smart Bonded Warehouse is positioned as an innovative benchmark. It breaks away from the conventional image of storage buildings as mere "functional containers". The design aims to integrate "cultural attributes, regional characteristics and contemporary relevance" into the structure, enabling it to evolve into a three-dimensional landmark that preserves urban memories, blends into the urban context, and leads the innovation of logistics architecture.
Employing a narrative design approach and public building-style language, the project subverts the stereotypical perception of traditional industrial architecture. It represents an in-depth exploration and experiment that seamlessly integrates aesthetic value with functional performance for industrial carriers undertaking logistics operations.

I. Project Location: The Dual Demands of Urban Central Industrial Space
The project is located at the geographic center of the Qianhai Mawan Area, standing at the golden intersection west of the Greater and Lesser Nanshan Mountains and east of the Pearl River Estuary. Boasting a well-developed multi-modal transportation network integrating sea, land and air, it is in close proximity to the Shekou Free Trade Zone and Qianhai Central Business District.
Unlike traditional warehouses that are usually situated on the urban fringe, this large-scale building – covering a floor area of 113,000 square meters and standing 60 meters high – is directly located in the core area of urban development. Its façade design is not only tied to its own functional requirements, but also closely linked to the overall urban landscape of Qianhai as a "new international urban center". Therefore, it is imperative to formulate the design from a macro urban perspective to meet the dual high-end demands of urban texture construction and industrial development in the area.

II. Dilemma of Traditional Warehousing Buildings: The Loss of Identity in Industrial Architecture
A large number of warehousing buildings are currently situated in the Qianhai Mawan Area, which generally suffer from issues such as unwieldy building volumes, monotonous facades, and disconnection from the urban context. These problems are particularly incongruous in the core area of Qianhai. Such enclosed, dull and bulky building clusters disrupt the natural connection and visual corridors between the mountains, sea, ports and the city, creating a stark contrast with the urban landscape of the Qianhai Area.
This design proceeds from three dimensions: the macro urban level, the meso district level and the micro building level, to construct an architectural form where function, cultural context and aesthetics coexist in harmony, thereby integrating the industrial building into the urban texture.

III. Core Design Strategies of the Project: Integrated Coexistence of Function, Form and Cultural Context
Integration of Form and Environment: Stitching the Site and Echoing the Mountains and Sea
The project site is divided into two separate parcels by urban roads and, constrained by the setback requirements for metro lines, appears particularly compact and irregular in shape.
To address the fragmentation of the original two parcels, the design adopts functional aerial corridors to achieve both physical and functional connection. These corridors incorporate iconic design elements representing Shenzhen and Hong Kong, enhancing the project’s gateway image and echoing the contemporary concept of interconnection across the Greater Bay Area. The overall form of the building aligns with the mountain-sea ecological corridor formed by Lesser Nanshan Mountain and the Pearl River Estuary, with its soft and streamlined volume responding to the ecological texture, thus realizing the harmonious coexistence and dialogue between the industrial space and the mountain-sea environment.

Public Building-style Transformation: Texture Reconstruction and Scale Neutralization
Faced with the enormous volume of 270m × 72m × 60m, how to alleviate the visual imposingness and avoid the stereotypical impression of industrial architecture? The design team drew inspiration from the core symbol of ports – the container – and carried out a public building-style transformation of its stacking texture and distribution logic. The concept of “gathering” symbolizes the resource-converging capacity of Qianhai’s logistics hub, while “distribution” metaphorically represents the radiation and interconnection of logistics in the Greater Bay Area, which aligns with the core urban spirit of “intensiveness, pragmatism and efficiency” shared by Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
In terms of specific implementation, the building is divided into a base and an upper main volume. The upper volume is horizontally split into three equal parts every two floors, and then further vertically segmented into staggered small-scale façade units resembling containers. The combination of three-dimensional layers in medium and small scales breaks the dullness of the large-scale façade. In addition, the turning points of the façade units are treated with rounded corner designs, which soften the rigid edges of the industrial building and reduce the visual sense of bulkiness.

Material and Craft – Balancing Practicality and Aesthetic
Under stringent constraints of construction period and cost, the design team conducted comparisons among various materials and ultimately selected metal-faced insulated sandwich panels as the primary building material. This material offers excellent cost-effectiveness, enables rapid construction, and boasts strong weather resistance. Its curved panels can be flexibly assembled individually according to design requirements; most importantly, it allows for smooth transitions at building corners, enhancing the continuity and rhythm of the overall volume.
The sandwich panels adopt a classic concave-convex interlocking design and incorporate the properties of rock wool, achieving waterproofing, thermal insulation, and sound absorption and noise reduction performance. The top and bottom edges of the panels are trimmed with metal profiles, which not only prevent rain stain contamination but also create conditions for concealing light lines and outlining the building’s silhouette at night.

Meticulous Construction: Quality Control of Execution from Materials to Details
The core of the architectural scheme's implementation lies in detail control. In particular, the material selection, construction technique implementation, and system integration of the facade directly determine the presentation effect of the "public building-style industrial architecture" concept. This project establishes a full-process control system in a concise and efficient manner:
The facade perforated panels serve as both decorative elements and functional carriers. Centering on the core goal of "softening the building volume and echoing the mountains and sea," the design team tested various perforation patterns and conducted light and shadow simulations, ultimately selecting the rounded corner shape. This not only echoes the overall rounded corner treatment of the building but also forms flowing light spots under natural light, achieving a balance between ventilation, daylighting, equipment concealment functions, and dynamic aesthetic appeal.
To break the coldness of industrial architecture, the facade adopts the "full-width joints + staggered splicing of wide and narrow joints" technique, creating a more layered texture through concave-convex contrast. During construction, strict control is exercised over the curvature error of curved panels, the sealing and waterproofing of joints, and the installation accuracy of edge-trim profiles—ensuring both practical functionality and the fluency of the building's illuminated silhouette at night.
Integrated Design: A Systematic Design Thinking Covering Function, Equipment, Form and Signage
Adhering to the design philosophy of "the building as an integrated whole", the project achieves multi-dimensional system integration: Mocha-colored perforated panels uniformly cover the equipment functional slots, subtly concealing facilities such as ventilation openings and fire windows; the external wall equipment is precisely positioned according to the modular grid of the facade; the signage system has been integrated into the design from the initial stage of the scheme, with the fonts, sizes and colors highly compatible with the facade texture. This achieves integrated integration from the building’s overall form down to its details, avoiding the abruptness caused by retrofitted additions.

IV. Value Extension: From Functional Container to Public Window

Transcending its single function as a warehouse, the building reserves public interfaces for future development. By planning visitor routes and logistics science popularization zones, it can be transformed into a public cultural window that showcases modern logistics technologies and the achievements of Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation. No longer merely a carrier for logistics operations, the building has evolved into a bridge connecting industry with the city, and technology with humanity. It has thus achieved the comprehensive extension of social, economic and cultural values – endowing industrial spaces with not only "efficiency" but also "warmth".

Conclusion：
The Qianhai Smart Bonded Warehouse project is an experiment in reshaping industrial architecture aesthetics through the language and design thinking of civic facilities. Employing strategies of urban integration, innovative facade translation, and integrated, meticulous design, it elevates traditional storage from a commonplace “functional container” to an urban landmark that “carries context and emanates vitality.” It breaks the stereotypical impression of traditional storage buildings in the urban context and achieves a triple unity of “logistical efficiency, humanistic warmth, and urban aesthetics.” Integrating positively into the city core with a renewed form, it embraces future urban development. As an innovative practice within a specific context, this project not only adds a socially responsible, high-quality, and valuable architectural work to Shenzhen's Qianhai but also provides a referential integrated design strategy and value paradigm for enhancing the quality and transforming the style of storage-type industrial buildings nationwide.