KPF President and Principal James von Klemperer joins the design team in a new video exploring the creative vision and technical innovation behind The Wave, the recently opened civic and cultural destination in Shenzhen Bay.
The video takes viewers through the design process, showing how the signature water feature serves as the defining element of The Wave, bringing together movement and calm through fountains, still pools, and a custom-designed acrylic water curtain. The team explains how the water curtain is emphasized with a bespoke pattern engraved into the transparent acrylic, which reinterprets the façade language of the China Resources Tower at a more intimate scale.
“All through water was the key to this project,” says Jamie in the video. “To make water run in a way that it seems free and unfettered, and expressive, but at the same time doesn’t splash all over the place, is a technical feat.”
Located at the intersection of Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza and Shenzhen Bay MixC, The Wave Plaza sits directly in front of the KPF-designed China Resources Headquarters, facing Shenzhen Talent Park and the Shenzhen Bay waterfront. The team reveals how the project was conceived as both a commercial and public space that plays a key civic role, embodying the spirit of the city while fostering cultural exchange. The overall composition—a circular sunken plaza integrated with square standalone buildings and the tiered, curved water curtain—creates a strong geometrical dialogue with the adjacent supertall tower and anchors the surrounding urban fabric.
