Architecture studio KPF has completed TP-Link LXD, a mixed-use technology campus in Shenzhen featuring a one-kilometre-long landscaped ribbon that wraps around three interconnected towers. Designed for networking company TP-Link, the development integrates offices, research facilities and residential accommodation while prioritising outdoor circulation and shared green spaces.
The 124,600-square-metre campus comprises two office towers and a residential tower linked by an elevated network of terraces, staircases and planted walkways. Rather than treating circulation as a purely functional element, KPF transformed it into a continuous landscape that combines movement, recreation and collaboration.
“Within a dense urban site, where open space is typically lost, the project restores it as elevated, continuous, and accessible from every level,” KPF principal Marianne Kwok said.
Landscaped ribbon connects offices, terraces and recreation areas
The defining feature of TP-Link LXD is its ribbon-like circulation system, which wraps around the buildings while creating a sequence of outdoor experiences. Along the route, widened sections accommodate meeting terraces, dining spaces, landscaped seating areas and recreational facilities, including full-size and half basketball courts.
“The user’s journey unfolds as a progression of spaces rather than a fixed path,” Kwok continued. “Spaces expand and compress, alternating between active and quiet, social, and solitary.”
“The ribbon thickens to host meeting terraces, dining areas, and recreation zones, including full and half basketball courts, then narrows to moments of climbing and pause, framing light, air, and long views of Shenzhen and the city’s terrain,” he added.
The three towers feature façades combining full-height glazing with perforated metal panels, while textured stone cladding follows the ribbon’s route to visually connect the elevated pathways with the ground plane.
Structural design supports elevated green spaces
KPF collaborated with engineering firm Arup to develop the structural system supporting the continuous landscaped terraces. Offset concrete cores within each tower provide access to the outdoor circulation network while supporting steel beams integrated with concrete slabs that enable long spans and cantilevered sections.
“The ribbon structure adopts steel beams integrated with concrete slabs, enabling long spans, cantilevers, and efficient construction while supporting landscape loads and people activities,” Arup principal David Farnsworth and associate director Lin Hai said.
Meanwhile, the landscape design evolves as visitors ascend through the campus, creating varied environmental conditions and spatial experiences.
“The landscape design changes as one ascends (like on a hike) from denser foliage at the base to smaller, more alpine plants that can handle wind and more exposure at the top, and the experience of the different spaces varies,” added KPF’s Marianne Kwok.
“There are certain steps with particular views and expansive shaded landscape rooms – making it more like a series of experiences rather than a single moment.”
The completion of TP-Link LXD expands KPF’s portfolio of landscape-integrated architecture in Asia. The studio recently completed another project featuring elevated public circulation, a waste incineration plant in Taiwan, wrapped by a spiralling planted terrace that culminates in a rooftop garden.