Foster & Partners has opened an office in Shanghai, China, making it the firm’s second in the country.

The office opened in October and currently has a staff of 15. It is located in the Jiushi building on Zhong Shan Nan Road — the first project completed by the practice in mainland China in 2001.

The practice outpost will focus on projects in Shanghai, including a scheme designed in collaboration with Thomas Heatherwick for the upmarket Bund district, as well as work in Zhejiang province and the Yangtze Delta region.

The architect's Beijing office will cover northern China. All design work will continue to be led from London.

A spokesperson said: "We have a number of projects in Shanghai, Wuxi and in Nanjing. Our Citic Bank headquarters is now under construction.
"We are looking to focus more on infrastructure, commercial and cultural projects."

Earlier this year Foster announced plans to design its own headquarters building in the Caochangdi area of Beijing, adjacent to Ai Weiwei’s Three Shadows Photography Art Centre.

The scheme, which will include workshops and modelshops alongside gallery spaces and a café, is due to be submitted for planning to city authorities before the end of the year.