Beijing, China, 1997.

China Construction Bank is one of Mainland China’s largest financial services companies. In addition to offering personal and commercial banking services to literally hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens, China Construction Bank has also recently began joint venture schemes with major banks from Europe and North America. The Bank, because of its size and breadth of services, is a national institution. Taoho Design was commissioned to design a new headquarters for the Bank in central Beijing.

The site is on a prominent street corner in Beijing’s Dong Cheng district. Its neighbours include many of the most important institutions in contemporary Chinese life including the Zhongnanhai (the offices of the Chinese Central Government), and the headquarters of many Chinese companies including China Construction Bank’s principal rival, the Bank of China. The Forbidden City, the epicentre of Chinese consciousness, is a short walk away.

In this very Chinese urban environment, the building is a study in deference to its context as it finds itself in the cradle of Chinese life. It is a direct reference to two traditional Chinese elements: a Shang Dynasty bronze bucket dating more than 1500 years that was unexpectedly found at a nearby construction site, and Beijing’s ancient city gates, which served as official entrances in the city during the period when it was walled. The building combines formal and structural elements of both of these, re-imagining distinctly Chinese motifs with an explicitly modern language.

The China Construction Bank is a contemporary expression of traditional Chinese architecture—an architecture of elegant proportions and grand gestures.