Photos: Inside DJI’s new headquarters that took 6 years to build

DJI’s new company headquarters, called DJI Sky City, are now open to employees in Shenzhen, China. Sky City consists of two towers, 44 and 40 stories respectively, which have been designed by the award-winning architectural team of Foster + Partners. This is the same architectural firm that designed the 175-acre Apple Park in Cupertino, California.

The new headquarters unite DJI employees who had been scattered among several Shenzhen buildings during the company’s rapid growth. DJI founder and CEO Frank Wang sees the 200-meter-tall sustainable structure as the physical embodiment of the company’s name, Da-Jiang Innovations, which means “innovation without borders” in Mandarin.

Here’s Wang:

It took us six years to build the new DJI headquarters, which is the result of the wisdom and determination of DJI and our valued partners. We see Sky City as a product unlike any we’ve ever made: our real home.

Sky City will be DJI’s premier center of research and innovation. Across the towers, the company’s office, research, and development areas are arranged in floating volumes cantilevered from central cores by large megatrusses, giving the impression from a distance as if the buildings were suspended in the air.

DJI Sky CityOffice space

DJI points out that this is the first time an asymmetrical suspension steel structure has been used in high-rise towers of this scale. The innovative structure reduces the need for columns, thus creating uninterrupted working spaces that express “innovation without borders” in architectural terms.

An aerial view of the building

The structure also houses drone flight testing labs over four stories.

Drone test flight space at DJI Sky City

At 105 meters, the towers are connected by a 90-meter-long suspension sky bridge. According to DJI, the lightweight element serves as a symbol to show how all departments at the company are linked to achieve a common goal.

Sky bridge

The ground level of the building is particularly open and inviting. The lifted volumes draw the surrounding greenery into the base of the buildings via a sloping podium garden that is open to the public. The ground floor also features public facilities such as a community healthcare center.

An aerial view of DJI Sky City entrance

Further, each of the lobbies showcases a black pine surrounded by a zen garden, set against a striated wall made by the rammed-earth design process. “The result is a harmonious combination of hard-pressed geometry and undulating nature, the progress of tomorrow and the roots of the past, complementing each other in peace,” says DJI.

DJI Sky City lobbyElevator hall

To make the building as sustainable as possible, the design of the floorplates maximizes daylight to reduce energy consumption. An innovative “TWIN lift system” reduces the number of shafts required and increases usable office floor area. Its intelligent control system also allows for the reduction of energy consumption during off-peak periods. Rainwater is harvested and stored for reuse, and gray water is recycled for irrigation of the landscape – which also buffers rains during the monsoon season.

Podium roof garden

As Wang puts it:

At the beginning of a new era for DJI, we pay great attention to the growth and well-being of every employee. This starts with a work environment that is both practical and delightful. I hope that Sky City will inspire all of us to work together and scale new heights of progress, wisdom, and possibilities to develop solutions that benefit society.

Roof terrace garden at DJI Sky City

Read: New DJI drones receive FAA Remote ID approval before launch

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