About the Embassy

New US Embassy Compound in Beijing, China

Beijing, People's Republic of China

Model photo provided by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Construction is well under way for a new American Embassy in Beijing. Ground was broken February 10, 2004 for what Charles E. Williams, Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations described as, the new Embassy is scheduled to open for business before the start of the summer Olympic games in Beijing in 2008.

The new Embassy will feature five separate buildings, each with specific functions, on a ten-acre site in Beijing's third diplomatic area in the Liang Ma He neighborhood. The five buildings are separated from each other but linked by both indoor and outdoor circulation paths. The spaces between buildings are organized as a series of outdoor rooms, courtyards, gardens and landscaped areas. The five buildings, ranging in height from two to eight stories, include an 8-story main chancery, a 3-story Atrium office building, a Consular building, a Marine Security Guard Quarters and recreation building, and a parking structure.  While the arrangement of the buildings on the site and the features of the landscape are based on ancient Chinese planning principles, the design of the buildings themselves is representative of the best modern design that America has to offer.

The project was designed by the prominent American architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, (SOM), San Francisco. Construction is being carried out by the American joint-venture team of Zachry-Caddell. Much of the labor is being provided by Chinese subcontractors; building materials are of both American and

Groundbreaking headlines in Beijing Morning Post February 11, 2004

Chinese origin. The entire planning and construction process for the new Embassy is occurring simultaneously with the planning for a new Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, underscoring the words of Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr: "The United States' bilateral relationship with China may well be the most important relationship in the world today."

 

 

 

Updated March 11, 2005