The U.S. State Department’s largest project ever built on foreign soil is currently under construction in the Peoples Republic of China. The new U.S. Embassy in Beijing’s Third Embassy District broke ground February 10. The 500,000-square-foot embassy sits on a 10-acre parcel of land in the city’s northeast quadrant. Architect Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s goal for the project is to create a “pleasant, yet secure, environment for the embassy’s 600-plus employees.”

Led by design partner Craig W. Hartman, FAIA, SOM’s San Francisco-based team designed a complex of low- to mid-rise buildings in a garden setting. “The design intent was to reflect American values through contemporary, clear, direct, and open architecture, with its foundations resting upon the traditions of Chinese design and culture in the landscape,” Hartman says. “Like archeology, it is a subtly layered bringing together of cultures.”

The facility juxtaposes modern, light-filled American-style buildings with contemporary gardens and courtyards designed in accord with ancient Chinese planning principles. The ring of trees surrounding the embassy’s perimeter and a series of gardens, courtyards, and reflecting pools offer natural and unobtrusive protective barriers, enhancing the security of the complex while maintaining an elegant, open, and welcoming feel for public and staff alike. Landscape architect Peter Walker and Partners collaborated with SOM to create the desired environment.

Organized in three neighborhoods, the embassy’s design enhances necessary functional and safety requirements while encouraging interaction among staff. The first neighborhood contains the embassy’s public spaces, with the consular building prominently placed as the public’s front door to the complex. This neighborhood also includes gardens along the primary public entrance and a commissioned site-specific work of art by Ellsworth Kelly. Designed according to sustainable principles, the consular building will boast a skylighted roof that inundates the space with natural light. Its concrete and stone thermal mass will provide temperature control.

The second neighborhood, located behind and adjacent to the consular building, houses the primary office facilities of the embassy within an eight-story tower and a low and long three-story pavilion. “A veil of patterned ceramic frit-coated glass, supported on a tensile-net structure, encloses the tower, creating a sense of lightness and delicacy,” according to the architect.

The third, and multipurpose neighborhood houses quarters for the U.S. Marines guards and offers diverse leisure facilities for embassy staff and their families. Tucked away behind the office structures, this region offers a series of low pavilions and outdoor spaces designed to promote social, intellectual, and professional engagement. In addition to the Marines’ quarters, it contains a coffee shop, cafeteria, store, and recreation space.

In announcing the selection of SOM, the client review panel praised the concept for its “innovative, modern design that respects China’s cultural and environmental qualities, while honoring and expressing American values.” The embassy is scheduled to open prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

—Heather Livingston

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