Hangzhou, China
Dong Danshen and Chen Jian and their design team at The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) have completed staggering, elegant cubic volumes and lacework-clad tower for a new office complex in Hangzhou, China.
The client, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Science and Technology City Investment and Development, now has nearly 1,400 employees.
UAD holds creating harmonious environments, a global vision, complete services, and the highest professionalism as their guidelines.
Named “Cube” Xiaoshan Innovation Polis—Pioneer Valley, the 79,134-square-metre building is one of the early built constructions in Hangzhou Xiaoshan Innovation Polis, which sits on the south bank of Qiantang River.
The provocative design slightly reminisces the Arche de la Défense in Paris by Johan Otto von Spreckelsen.
The “Cube” was built in the context that Xiaoshan Innovation Polis was identified as a key node for Hangzhou’s river-centered development strategy, Qianjiang Century City began to take shape and the Airport Economic Demonstration Zone was just approved.
The Cube’s client urgently hoped to create an architectural landmark for Xiaoshan Innovation Polis that would inject vitality into the wider new urban area with high expectations for the theme, image, and iconicity of the building.
Meanwhile, as the Internet celebrity economy is rising, the main challenge for the project was how to create an iconic, lively and instagrammable building under the height limit.
It was built in the context that Xiaoshan Innovation Polis was identified as a key node for Hangzhou’s river-centered development strategy, Qianjiang Century City began to take shape and the Airport Economic Demonstration Zone was just approved.
The client urgently hoped to create an architectural landmark for Xiaoshan Innovation Polis and inject vitality into the wider new urban area, with high expectations for the theme, image, and iconicity of the building.
UAD’s design caters to the needs of young innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs in Xiaoshan Innovation Polis, the design adopts the concept “Cube,” which signifies the infinite possibilities of entrepreneurship and scientific research and the vitality of youths.
UAD’s elegant cubic volumes and artificial lighting at night, the building presents a futuristic, instagrammable image throughout the day at the side of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway, hence becoming an iconic landmark that represents Xiaoshan Innovation Polis.
The facades of the tower take design cues from the “3×3 grid,” and draw on local traditional “lacework” handicrafts to form unique exterior patterns, which embody the inheritance of local culture.
Additionally, the design also focuses on the integrity of the fifth facade to form a unified building image.
The spatial organization also takes “cube” as the motif. Main functions including scientific research, office, entrepreneurship, and commercial services are well organized, thus achieving the unity of functionality and form.
The commercial spaces of the podium consist of several “cubes”, and the gaps between those “cubes” turn into entrances and exits facing the urban roads.
The spatial organization also takes “cube” as the motif.
UAD’s design widely employs energy-saving techniques to create a good interior environment.
The workspace of the tower draws inspiration from traditional Hui-style architecture that features an open-air courtyard enclosed by rooms on four sides, hence shaping a full-height atrium with a height of 80m.
Based on the reasonable depth, both workspace and the core tube embrace good daylighting and ventilation.
The operable glass skylight above the entrance foyer enhances the fluidity of air, thereby greatly improving the internal microenvironment.
Project: The “Cube” Xiaoshan Innovation Polis
Architects: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD)
Lead Architects: Dong Danshen, Chen Jian
Design Team: Chen Jian, Chen Lu, Hong Xiaoquan, Yu Guomin, Tao Jingjin, Huang Wu, Yin Xiong, Meng Liang, Shou Chenxing, Wang Bo, Wu Caifei, Zhang Minmin, Jiang Hao, Yang Xin, and Mo Yunfei
Client: Hangzhou Xiaoshan Science and Technology City Investment and Development Co., Ltd.
Photographers: Zhao Qiang
