Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China

At the intersection of Shangrao Avenue and Qingyuanshan Road, Honggutan District, Nanchang, TOD City Mansion Demonstration Area by Shanghai PTArchitects for Gemdale Group stands with a series of dynamic architectural forms and generous outdoor spaces. 

The complicated topography and landform of the site brought both opportunities and challenges to the design. 

The architects successfully turned the disadvantages into highlights through the subtle treatment of the elevation difference, the integration of street-facing surfaces, the functional circulation leading from urban space to the venue, and an organic connection between the residential area and the demonstration area.

TOD City Mansion Demonstration Area has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The design team not only emphasized the architectural form, but also managed to create an iconic transition area of the building that plays a key role in attracting visitors.

The project realized the integration of design expressions and construction methods, as well as the coordination between architectural form and interior functions. 

The design team employed diverse techniques such as perforation, tiny-seam jointing, and textures, in order to bring changes to each architectural surface and offer visitors varying experiences at every step. 

Parametric tools were utilized for the design of perforated panels.

The ceiling of the passage on the first floor is clad in rippled stainless-steel panels that create unique visual effects. 

This passage extends urban space into inner space, further establishing the connection between architecture and the city. 

The design team also fully considered interior, landscape, and floodlighting.

The landscape steps and reserved perforated plates are subtly combined with artificial lighting, which reveals an obscure starry effect and spreads the delicate interior ambiance outwards, hence creating a transition belt between the building and the city. 

Project: TOD City Mansion Demonstration Area
Architects: Shanghai PTArchitects
Design Team: Yu Xiaolei, Zhang Lifu, Zhou Yu, Wang Xin, Li Zongmin, Peng Xinxuan, Pan Chenrun, Wang Jingwen, Chen Yang, Jia Chen, Fu Yao, Guo Mengchan, Qian Kuan, Wang Jie, Liu Shulun, Din Ruyi, and Bian Gen
General Contractor: Shanhe Construction Group Co., Ltd.
Client: Gemdale Group (Nanchang) Branch
Photographers: Shanxi Studio