“Flying through the sky”

Above the clouds …

"Flying through the sky" in Guangzhou/CN

Thanks to the creative mind of Italian architect Alberto Puchetti, the approximately 200 employees in the Guangzhou-based Cloud DCS company – one of the major players in the highly competitive digital industry in China – have come a great deal closer to realising this dream.

The whir of the myriad data processing servers that forms the sound backdrop at the company headquarters reminded the architect of the background noise in an aircraft. Under the motto "Flying through the sky", the building has been turned into a heavenly data stream, making its way through the (data) clouds, with the entrance area, offices, presentation spaces, conference rooms and workstations all redesigned to go with the flow. The feeling of walking on clouds is achieved through the multitude of white surfaces coupled with seven different shades of blue, lightweight, translucent materials and rounded, curved forms. The spaces are illuminated from above with some sections or rooms receiving a soft interplay of light and shadow. The bright, above-the-clouds feeling underscores the desired atmosphere. This becomes more than real when employees or visitors walk through the 30 metre long tunnel-like corridor that links the entrance area to the central presentation space, which is designed to inspire the impression of a command deck on a spaceship. An aerial view of Guangzhou under cloud cover is projected onto the corridor floor. When visitors walk on it, sensors react by opening the cloud cover and exposing a bird’s eye view of the city.

Client: Cloud DCS

Design and architecture: Alberto Puchetti – Arboit Ltd.

Photos: Dennis Lo, Arboit Ltd.

Different perspectives of the tunnel