23/01/2026
PES Architects’ long-term hybrid project, the Sino-Finnish Centre, was officially opened this week in Nanjing, China, after completion in 2025. The event marked the culmination of the exceptionally demanding and complex project spanning nearly a decade, starting in 2016, when our design won the invited architectural competition aimed at six Finnish practices.
The winning proposal was developed under the lead of Professor Pekka Salminen, PES-Architects’ founding partner, who passed away in 2024. It remains his last completed design.
The core design concept is based on the metaphor of “breaking the ice” between cultures, expressed architecturally through building forms inspired by ice blocks and ice crystals. When viewed up close, the fragmented glass prism façade structure imitates ice crystals and changes colour and tone under different lighting conditions.
The 210,000 m² hybrid development comprises an office tower, a 100 m Radisson Blu hotel tower, a conference centre, an exhibition centre and timber exhibition pavilions.
Sustainability was a key starting point throughout the design process. The double-skin façade system enables passive cooling in summer and heat recovery in winter. The load-bearing structures of the pavilions were realised using CLT and glulam timber elements.
Completed under the lead of chief designers Tuomas Silvennoinen and Jyri Eskola, the project is a result of long-term and close collaboration between PES Helsinki and Shanghai offices, the client, and local partners in China.
Thank you to everyone who contributed throughout the years!
📷 PES-Architects