Publicis Groupe Offices – Shanghai

Publicis Groupe’s Power of One strategy brings its many agencies under one roof, and its China headquarters makes that idea physical: eight floors of the CPIC Xintiandi Commercial Centre reworked as a vertical city, with traditional Chinese courtyards as the spatial model. Each floor and neighbourhood carries its own colour world within a consistent palette, so orientation is intuitive and no two teams feel interchangeable.

A sculptural red staircase connects the floors, threading through planted courtyards and tiered seating so movement between agencies produces the chance encounters the strategy depends on. On every level, a stainless-steel core with a continuous timber shelf anchors the plan and absorbs the everyday: water stations, coffee points, nursing rooms and displays.

The visitor floor is pure staging. A red ceramic brick wall recalling Shanghai’s lane houses carries the backlit lion emblem; the circular Pitch Room wraps its audience in a curved LED screen behind smart glass; and a Digital Award Wall of LED-embedded glass bricks plays the group’s history as moving light.

At the top, the Grand Pantry works as the social hub: foldable screens, operable partitions and a dynamic ceiling let it flex from casual lunches to full-floor townhalls, with swings, bean bags and a merchandise store thrown in for good measure.