Chapter 1 If It's for Someone Else

If Liang Qingfan were designing a plan for someone else, he would hope that his plan would be approved directly, preferably without any modifications.

As an architect, he had strong confidence in his designs and naturally didn't want the client to interfere and ruin the aesthetic beauty he had painstakingly created.

But for President Pei, Liang Qingfan was eager for President Pei to make more requests.

Because he felt that President Pei had a power to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Even though President Pei's true expertise lay in game design, business, and investment, and he didn't possess the corresponding architectural knowledge, it was evident from a series of projects such as Thriller Hostel and Sloth Apartments that President Pei could often see things from a higher level that Liang Qingfan, the architect, couldn't.

And this high-level perspective often gave Liang Qingfan some inspiration, allowing him to make greater progress.

Pei Qian briefly flipped through it and found that Liang Qingfan's plan was quite considerate: he only drew a rough sketch of the building's exterior and simply indicated a few key areas within the building, without elaborating on the details of the internal structure.

Obviously, it was because even if he marked the details, Pei Qian wouldn't understand them at all...

Liang Qingfan provided three different design plans, and these three plans had some commonalities.

For example: the main building was very tall, and the surrounding open space was designed with lawns, gardens, and other landscaping for beautification;

The design of the building was very stylish, with extensive use of glass curtain walls and staggered special shapes, which looked very much in line with the tone of a high-tech company;

Entertainment spaces were reserved on every floor of the building, deeply embodying the spirit of Tengda.

Considering the location of Tengda's headquarters, this building was bound to stand out after completion, becoming a prominent landmark in the vicinity.

After looking at the three plans, Pei Qian fell silent.

How should he put it? In all aspects, Liang Qingfan had completed the task perfectly.

Regardless of which plan was adopted, there would be no sense of incongruity after the Tengda logo was hung on the completed building, and it wouldn't be inferior to the headquarters buildings of some other domestic internet giants.

But... this seemed completely impossible to achieve Pei Qian's requirements!

For other companies, the two most important points of a headquarters building are: the convenience of its functionality and the uniqueness of its design.

The headquarters building integrates various departments, which can make communication between departments more frequent and convenient, improving employee work efficiency.

The restaurants, coffee bars, and various entertainment facilities in the building are partly to regulate the working state of employees and partly to encourage employees to work overtime.

The unique shape and magnificent aura of the building can demonstrate the company's strong financial resources to the outside world, giving employees a certain sense of belonging and pride when they go to work, which is also part of brand image shaping.

In short, building a building has many benefits for those financially strong companies.

But for Pei Qian, he didn't care about these benefits at all!

Make communication between departments more frequent?

Improve employee work efficiency?

Make employees work overtime?

Pei Qian definitely didn't want this to happen.

The only thing that made Pei Qian relatively satisfied was that entertainment areas were reserved on each floor.

But this approach seemed a bit rigid and old-fashioned, because that's how Tengda is arranged now, and so are some other large internet companies.

Tengda's employees have all been through hundreds of battles, and simply arranging a small entertainment area on the same floor is no longer able to tempt them.

The effort must be increased!

Therefore, according to the standards of ordinary companies, Liang Qingfan's plans are all fine.

But for President Pei, they completely failed to meet his requirements!

If the demand and the plan are misaligned, no matter how good the plan is, it's useless.

Pei Qian didn't set any rules or restrictions for Liang Qingfan beforehand, allowing him to freely unleash his imagination without any restrictions, mainly because he didn't want an amateur to instruct a professional.

After all, the headquarters building doesn't make money anyway, so letting Liang Qingfan unleash his creativity freely wouldn't be a big deal.

But now it seems that Pei Qian still has to give some guidance and can't be lazy.

Because Liang Qingfan's own plan was still considered from the perspective of an architect, and he obviously didn't truly understand the actual purpose of this building.

Pei Qian was silent for a moment and said, "The plan is good, and the shape of the building is also good."

"It's just that..."

"It seems to be lacking a little bit of whimsy."

Liang Qingfan wasn't angry at all, but very happy: "President Pei, tell me, how should I change it?"

Whimsy, how can you have it just because you want it?

As an architect, Liang Qingfan felt that he had been very active and very open when designing these plans, but when he looked at the finished plans, they didn't have the kind of feeling that made people's eyes light up like Tengda's other industries.

It can only be said that the ability to come up with good ideas easily, like President Pei, is a talent.

Ordinary people really can't do it.

So Liang Qingfan didn't struggle anymore, and still listened carefully to what President Pei had to say.

Pei Qian fell into deep thought again.

How to change it...

For other companies, the functionality and landmark nature of the building are the most important.

For Pei Qian, the functionality of the building is also the most important, but the specific function should be completely opposite to the functions of other companies.

The effect of Tengda's headquarters building should be to make communication between departments as inconvenient as possible, reduce employee work efficiency, and make employees work as little overtime as possible.

Of course, spending more money is also a must.

So the question is, how should this building be designed to achieve these goals?

Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "Okay, I'll say a few key points first, and you can write them down."

"These key points are the most basic requirements. Satisfy these key points first, and then slowly consider the specific shape of the building."

"First, Tengda's headquarters building should be spread out as much as possible, rather than develop upwards."

Pei Qian considered it very clearly. The taller the building, the more conducive it is to communication between departments, because different departments can reach each other by taking an elevator, which is very convenient.

But if the building is spread out and expanded horizontally, then departments can only rely on transportation tools such as balance scooters to communicate, which will obviously be very inconvenient, and will naturally reduce the efficiency of communication.

Pei Qian will also allocate some related departments as far as possible to the two ends of the building. Want to link up? No problem, prepare to run your legs off!

Although some departments were previously scattered in other parts of Jingzhou, they could take a taxi, which was relatively faster; but if they are all placed in the headquarters building, they can't take a taxi, they can only walk, as long as the distance is far enough, it will become more inconvenient.

In addition, spreading out the building can also occupy as much land as possible.

If a building is built and the surrounding area is changed into green space or gardens, it may be possible to use it later to build other buildings; but if it is all spread out and the entire land is occupied, then if you want to expand in the future, you can only buy land elsewhere.

Wouldn't that cost more money?

Liang Qingfan quickly wrote it down.

Sure enough, President Pei's design ideas are different from mine from the very beginning!

But why flatten the building? Aren't companies now pursuing high-rise buildings and urban landmarks?

Many companies are even competing in height, taking pride in building the tallest building in xx city.

As a result, President Pei turned it upside down and didn't care about height at all?

Really different!

Liang Qingfan couldn't figure out why President Pei wanted to flatten the building for the time being. Tengda wasn't selling fried pancakes, but he didn't have time to think about it now. He still had to listen to all of President Pei's requirements, and then combine them for unified analysis.

Pei Qian continued: "Second, the game and entertainment area should not be scattered on each floor, but should be concentrated."

"Cut the entire building vertically and divide it into two large areas, one work area and one entertainment area."

"The entertainment area should also account for half of the building!"

"In addition, we must try to find ways to increase the contact area between the work area and the entertainment area, making it very convenient for employees to cross areas."

"Uh, to be precise, it is very convenient to go to the entertainment area, but not very convenient to return to the work area."

Dividing a part of the area on a single floor as an entertainment area is never enough.

Because there are many large-scale entertainment projects that cannot be easily done on one floor.

Integrating the entire entertainment area can allow employees to play one project after another after entering, and they can't stop at all, to the point that they completely forget that they have to go back to work.

In other words, there will be a stronger sense of immersion.

In fact, Pei Qian originally wanted to build a twin tower, two buildings, one purely for work and one purely for entertainment. In this way, as long as employees accidentally enter the entertainment building, they will immediately enter a sea of ​​happiness and it will be difficult to swim out.

But on second thought, with this approach, the connection between the two buildings is not close enough, and it is not convenient for employees to go to the entertainment building.

What if they find it too troublesome and don't want to go to the entertainment building?

Therefore, we must find ways to increase the contact area between the work area and the entertainment area, so that employees can easily travel to the entertainment area and forget to come back.

Liang Qingfan scratched his head, feeling that President Pei's request was really abstract.

Increase the contact area?

How to increase it?

It is very convenient to go to the entertainment area, but not very convenient to return to the work area?

Could it be that there is a one-way channel, you can go directly to the entertainment area, but if you want to return to the work area, you can only take a detour?

It feels even more difficult to grasp the specific form of this building.

But he didn't say anything and continued to record carefully.

Pei Qian continued: "Third, the building should have multiple different entrances, each entrance facing a different location of the building."

"The entertainment area of ​​the building should face the subway station and transportation hub, making it easier to enter, while the work area needs to be bypassed."

"As for the underground parking lot..."

"If you go to the entertainment area, you can have a direct elevator."

"But if you want to go directly to the work area, you have to walk through an underground maze."

In other words, after parking the car in the underground parking lot, there are only two ways to go to the work area: either take the elevator and pass through the entertainment area, enduring various temptations; or walk through a maze in the underground parking lot, find the way, and then take the elevator to the work area.