Chengdu, China
After winning an international competition, MVRDV is appointed by Chengdu High-Tech Investment Group to design two buildings in the Tianfu Software Park in Chengdu consisting of a 150-meter-tall tower and a four-story cultural center featuring an art museum, conference hall, library, and exhibition space.
“In our designs for both office tower and cultural center, the atrium is key. Though they take different forms – one more vertical and the other terraced and traversable – both atria serve the same Functions,” says Winy Maas, MVRDV founding partner.
“They bring in greenery, they connect the buildings from bottom to top, they provide shading and ventilation that make the buildings sustainable, and most importantly, they make these buildings exciting, social places to be.”
The project was developed by Chengdu High-Tech Investment Group, and will be home to companies focused on developing 5G, AI, and other high-tech fields.
Located in the southeast of Chengdu, where urban expansion meets a hilly rural area, the design is influenced by this intersection of city and nature.
Furthermore, the scheme aligns with Chengdu’s government’s “park city” initiative.
This involves the incorporation of green elements that reach from neighboring green spaces into the structures.
The tower boasts a lush cascading garden, whereas the cultural hub features a vital green roof.
The office tower’s design maximizes floor plate efficiency and optimizes the views of the eastern mountains.
Enclosed by a mesh façade, the atrium creates a semi-outdoor space that is open at the base where it gradually mixes with the shopping podium.
As a result, the atrium can support the building’s climate plan and ventilation system.
The atrium serves as a buffer zone, minimizing solar gain inside the office spaces while permitting passive cross-ventilation through the mesh and openable panels in the opposing façades.
Reducing the amount of energy the building uses by shading the terraces assists in lowering the need for cooling in the office areas.
The cultural center is shaped by a triangle site, guiding the structure of the building. The various programs are stacked to form terraces facing the park.
The terraced interior is covered with a green roof of faceted triangular panels, forming a semi-outdoor atrium space that encircles and overlooks the inner spaces.
The panels are raised at different places along the roof’s perimeter to create glass clerestory windows that let light into the inside.
The roof itself is a small park, equipped with public plazas, a continuous pathway, and lush green planters that extend the landscape on top of the sloping building.
Project: Tianfu Software Park in Chengdu
Architects: MVRDV
Lead Architect: Winy Maas
Design Team: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries
Structural Engineers: CSWADI and Buro Happold
MEP: CSWADI
Client: Chengdu High-Tech Investment Co., Ltd.
Photographs: Courtesy of ATCHAIN
