Cordogan Clark & Associates collaborated with world-famous China born artists the Zhou Brothers as their architects for the design the Timegate. It creates an inhabitable architectural reality for the Zhou Timegate sculpture. Timegate combines ancient Chinese aesthetic with state-of-art material and construction technology. It brings a timeless image of Chinese culture to Beijing. The three legs of this 168-meter tall monument provide an image of eternal strength. They also form enormous gateways or arches when viewed from every perspective. The intentionally hand-wrought character of the monument gives it an ancient and organic quality that counterpoints the newer construction of downtown Beijing. Its stainless steel and silver mirror-glass cladding brings an added dimension and complexity, which is further counterpointed by projected computer images and LED displays. This is a uniquely Chinese, enormously effective, and highly figural combination of the archaic and futuristic that everyone who sees it will always remember. It establishes a poetic sense of "place". Timegate will become an instant icon for the City of Beijing.

Raised Plaza
A raised 16-meter tall stone-clad plaza forms the base of the base of the Timegate Monument. The design of this plaza highlights the monument's position as an important civic structure. Its sides, main surfaces, and stairs are clad in Chinese black granite. This stone material counterpoints the stainless-steel clad Timegate Monument and provides an appropriate base. The design of the plaza is itself also reminiscent of ancient Chinese forms. At some areas the polished granite plaza will reflect the shimmering monument almost like water; at others it will be landscaped to add further dimension to this important civic space.

Commercial / Office Spaces
Commercial and Office spaces are incorporated into the Timegate monument to bring it additional activity and dimension, and to make it a commercially viable project. These spaces will pay for ongoing maintenance and upkeep, plus create revenue. They also provide public gathering places and activities for the neighboring and visiting public. These spaces are configured as follows:

Office
Timegate interior is predominantly devoted to office use. The legs and upper areas are conceived as unique office spaces, sculptural in themselves. This will attract tenants who want to be identified with this instant icon. Silver mirror-glass, discretely blended with the Monument's stainless steel cladding, will provide views out towards the city.

Gallery / Retail
Visitors to the Gallery and Retail spaces ascend a ramped plaza that serves as the base of the Timegate. Alternatively they may descend via a spiral ramp to below-grade parking. The main plaza also houses museum, gallery, and retail spaces. The main gallery and retail areas are in a completely underground space, located in a half-submerged structure beneath the plaza. Abundant natural light enters these spaces through an enormous oculus in the plaza, beneath the Timegate.

Restaurant / Bar
The main access to the Timegate overlook and restaurant space is at grade level in the plaza base. Visitors enter a central lobby space at this level, then ascend via elevators to the 48th floor Restaurant / Bar which overlooks the central area of Beijing. The Restaurant / Bar is designed with room for over 1,000 people. The restaurant interior is clad with stainless steel, and animated with projected computer images, similar to the exterior of the monument. It will incorporate sculpture and artwork by the Zhou Brothers, and is itself perceived as "inhabitable sculpture." Silver mirror-glass, discretely blended with the Monument's stainless steel cladding, will provide views out towards the city. This state-of-the-art restaurant / bar space is designed to become a top tourist attraction in Beijing.