Future City Xicen

Xicen Country City masterplan presents a holistic solution for the upcoming development of a 7.1 km2 site on the southern bank of the Dianshan Lake, which is located in the Yangtze Delta area in close proximity to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The site has rich water network that takes up about one thirds of the total site area. This masterplan is a prototype for more livable and sustainable developments of the future that brings all the amenities and convenience typically found in existing metropoles in a location embraced by nature.

The proposed masterplan adopts a 50/50 City approach, allocating most of the urban development to the northern half of the site while preserving nature and indigenous culture in the southern half. In the urban half, surface vehicular roads are reduced to a minimum and the land is divided into a series of thematic islands in order to tap into the rich green and blue resources of the site, while celebrating the unique waterfront lifestyle of the Xicen region.

The Urban Core Islands have the highest density and programmatic mix with a district transport hub, civic/commercial plaza and arts/cultural center seamlessly connected to the metro and high-speed railway stations. The R&D Islands integrate garden offices, R&D facilities, and business incubators with residences to suit the future need of high-tech industries. The Residential Islands face the water and benefit from a natural biophilic environment. A series of Rewilding Islands are embedded into the urban spaces, allowing regenerative nature to render bioremediation and ecological services to the built environment.

The nature half is grouped into four zones: Eco-Tourism Zone, High-Tech High Intensity Farming Zone, Campus Village Zone and SME Creative Clusters Zone. By enhancing agricultural and energy production as well as inserting anchor industries and schools, Xicen Country City will become a selfsufficient and resilient urban typology wellequipped for all the future challenges and opportunities.

Client
Shanghai Vanke Investment Management Limited
Location
Xicen
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
May 2021
Type
Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Conservation, Cultural, Educational, Exhibition, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise, Residential Low-Rise, Residential Mid-Rise, Resort
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
394600m²

Future City Maqiao

Maqiao Future City is located in the southwest of Shanghai, 35 km away from the city center. It is the 20-hectare core development area of the future Shanghai AI Innovation Zone. The vision of this masterplan is to create an integrated new town as the driving engine for the larger region and a human-centric destination place that celebrates future live, learn, work and play. It will also be a demonstration project that aims to achieve carbon neutrality in phases.

The masterplan adopts the 50/50 City strategy, preserving half of the land for restorative and regenerative green and blue spaces and the other half for high-density high-amenity urban development, allowing a balanced synergy to grow between nature and the built environment. Programmatically it follows the same concept, proposing half of the development as residential spaces and the other half as a mix of R&D offices, commercial and community spaces.

Maqiao Future City consists of eight interconnected clusters, the Urban Core being the most dense and mixed-use. It integrates metro station, district transport hub, retail shops, urban plaza, and landmark buildings to create a welcoming gateway to the city and a vibrant civic center that forges a strong community spirit and sense of place.

Radiating out from the Urban Core are three Garden Office clusters with SOHO apartment blocks and various embedded business incubators that act as a physical and functional bridge between the urban spaces and the spaces left to nature. The waterfront residential clusters offer community spaces such as sports halls, schools, or healthcare centres.

A 3-dimensional planning strategy is introduced to bring things together. Vehicular roads, district infrastructures and services are buried underground, leaving the ground level fully pedestrianized and maximized for nature. Multiple landscaped ground levels are created above to facilitate stronger connection between clusters and further enhance the ecological system.

Client
Shanghai Vanke Investment Management Limited
Location
Maqiao
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
August 2020
Type
Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Cultural, Educational, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise, Residential Mid-Rise
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
791000m²

OCT Kunming

Scheme for a mixed-use headquarters complex with office, residential, hospitality and commercial components.

Client
-
Location
Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
May 2019
Type
Commercial, Hospitality, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise
System
Ecological, Economic, Social
Gross Floor Area
95,900m²

Shenzhen Qian Hai

This schematic design for a large mixed-use development in a prominent new site at the centre of Shenzhen’s Qian Hai Bay CBD envisions what future city centres could be.

Housing cultural spaces, expo and conference centres as well as hotels, retail and offices, the design takes a holistic approach by integrating the different programmes 3-dimensionally.

A lush, subtropical urban oasis rises up on the seafront, bringing nature back into the city that is dominated by concrete, glass and steel. The green oculus of the scheme represents a new typology that was designed for the projects geographical, climatic and cultural context.

To capitalise on the subtropical climate, the oculus is green and porous, offering users a biophilic, naturally ventilated, yet sheltered environment.

It brings nature back into the lives of city-dwellers and by offering landscaped, comfortable, breezy, naturally lit common spaces. The phytoremediation that is performed by the integrated vertical greenery, absorbs pollutants in the water and air, contributing to a healthier environment for all.

These spaces significantly reduce the need for artificial lighting and air-conditioning, which reduces the scheme’s energy consumption considerably.

Client
-
Location
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
March 2018
Type
Commercial, Cultural, Exhibition, Hospitality, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise
Gross Floor Area
322,000m²
E-brochure Download

Shenzhen ZTE

Scheme for a mixed-use development in Shenzhen with office, commercial and hospitality components.

Client
-
Location
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
September 2019
Type
Commercial, Hospitality, Mixed-Use, Offices
Gross Floor Area
189,890m²

Shanghai Qingpu

Scheme for a mixed-use development in Shanghai that includes commercial, residential and office components.

Client
-
Location
Shanghai, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
May 2019
Type
Commercial, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise
Gross Floor Area
143,285m²

Prince Bay Shenzhen

Scheme for a residential project with commercial components in Shenzhen.

Client
-
Location
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
October 2018
Type
Commercial, Mixed-Use, Residential High-Rise
Gross Floor Area
13,945m²

Vanke HQ

This schematic design for a mixed-use development in Shenzhen brings back nature and a human scale to the dense urban district in the form of a new vertical regenerative campus headquarters typology.

Designed for a unique site consisting of two adjacent plots in Shenzhen, the scheme looks out onto the water towards Hong Kong.

Its outer, sleek, angular envelope contrasts with its inner, lush urban oasis that brings nature back into a dense city environment. Reminiscent of a “slice” of a mountain it provides ecosystem services like sequestering carbon, phytoremediation of acidic rain, reducing pollutants in the air and turning carbon dioxide to oxygen.

The holistic design fully integrates the different programs of this mixed-use development, creating connections, and community spaces for all users.

The towers respond to each other, facing each other to create beautiful green views for the spaces that do not face the sea. They sit on an elevated podium that gives the development a new ground level and connects the different programs to each other.

Waterfalls and greenery turn the podium into a lush public space, refuge floors are turned into landscaped parks in the sky.

In order to foster community in a large development, plenty of sociable common spaces, both within the buildings and in the publicly accessible areas, have been included in the design. Recreational amenities like running and hiking tracks amongst the ‘mountains’ are woven into the design. The multi-functional spaces provide friendly, biophilic environments for users and passers-by alike.

Client
-
Location
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
February 2018
Type
Commercial, Competition, Hospitality, Mixed-Use
System
Ecological, Economic, Social
Gross Floor Area
167,000m²
E-brochure Download

Vertical Talent City

This scheme for a “Vertical Talent City” in Shenzhen was designed to be a one-stop solution for creative and artistic talent across the entire Zhujiang delta region. The whole development is conceived as a vertical city that integrates the different uses in two buildings on two plots, connected by sky bridges and platforms. Housing talent services, education and training, incubation spaces, communal sports facilities, retail and residential units, this micro city vertically stacks 4 stratums: Talent Park, Training Campus, Enterprise Hub and Smart Community. The design is built around the idea of sky streets and community spaces that encourage interaction and connection. Spacious open-air sky platforms offer rich amenities and landscaping and act as a bridge to the same thematic zones on different plots.

The Talent Park at the “Vertical Talent City” is located in the first of 4 stratums, spanning the ground floor to level 5. It includes an open-air urban plaza, commercial spaces, a bus terminal, the talent services centre and other office spaces.

The Training Campus is located in the stratum from the 6th to 9th level and is houses educational facilities, talent think tanks and talent training spaces. Large flexible spaces such as lecture halls can be set up between the floors according to needs. The public area of the “training camp” uses landscape and space to design create a vibrant campus atmosphere.

The Enterprise Centre stratum on the 10th to 21st level is a development platform for the talent industry. The flexible floor plan can meet the various space and functional needs of companies of all sizes. The air bridge platform is a communal space that can be used for socialising, exhibitions and leisure activities.

The Smart Community stratum tops off the Vertical Talent City and encompasses residential units, which enjoy great views as well as natural lighting and ventilation. The modular apartment unit design are efficient and economical. The bridges, platforms and roof provide amenities such as sports and social spaces as well as other services for the residents.

This pandemic has shown that new approaches are urgently needed to ensure the health and safety of building users. In response to this need the design places a strong emphasis on naturally ventilated public spaces and circulation routes to reduce the time spent in enclosed spaces with potential exposure to pathogens. A series of escalators in the atrium space connect the four different sky streets, forming a 3-dimensional loop which is open to the public and connects the different programmes to each other. With these vertical and horizontal links, lifts are only used in emergency situations and people can move without being confined to small spaces in large groups.

Client
N/A
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
January 2019
Type
Commercial, Competition, Educational, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices
Gross Floor Area
165,570m²

InterContinental Sanya Resort

The Intercontinental Sanya Resort is in Sanya, Hainan, China’s tropical island and comprises of a hotel with 350 rooms and related facilities. The hotel stretches from a busy entertainment spine to the natural forest of the rocky point.

One third of the rooms are located in a 10-storey curved linear block that frames the arrival space. Two thirds of the rooms are located in huge water courtyards, and are more resort-like in feel. These rooms are an innovative hybrid of detached villas and room blocks. Each room has a private open air garden bathroom, and a detached cabana that is reached via a bridge or garden. The cabanas sit within the huge watergardens, each a hectare in size.

The design combines masterplanning, landscape, architecture and interiors to set up a series of views and vistas to the sea, framed by coconut trees, reflected in water, and then reframed again with stone, timber and fabric, ensuring every room has a special view. The design of the various public areas varies from urban and formal to casual and beachy, allowing the hotel to address many different markets and customers.

The entire resort is designed as a patchwork of inhabited gardens, giving a foreground to the views of the owner’s highrise apartments behind. The design is inspired by Chinese screens, palaces and compounds, interpreted in a contemporary fashion. The huge precast concrete screen is an aperiodic mathematical tiling.

The hotel is designed to sustainable principles. Passive energy saving design (large overhangs, natural light, cross-ventilation, shaded courtyards, and planted roofs), use of indigenous seasonal landscape and water conservation and recycling are some of the strategies used.

Client
Sanya Luhuitou Tourist Area Development Company Limited
Location
27 Luling Road, Hainan. Sanya 572000
See on Google Maps
Status
Built
Design Inception
November 2006
Completion
June 2010
Type
Commercial, Hospitality, Interiors, Masterplan / Conceptual, Resort
Gross Floor Area
100,548m²
E-brochure Download

Country: China