Beijing, China
Atelier Alter Architects designs an office tower for Ruian, a company known for manufacturing electric vehicle components, inspired by the dynamics of the city of Beijing.
The architects aim to embody the sense of power generated by the city’s forward momentum and transform it into the architectural language: massive, powerful lines sweep from the city to the building, endowing the structure with a tremendous sense of strength.
The reflective surfaces add a futuristic aspect to its appearance.
Interconnections between urban, building, interior, and people at different scales. The project consists of three parts: the ground city square, podium, and tower.
The podium houses commercial spaces and an auditorium, while the tower is dedicated to offices.
Typically, these separated urban functional modules have little direct connection.
A large, ribbon-like concave form traverses these three parts, linking space from the city’s entrance square to the podium facade and the tower’s office interiors.
This unifying element includes the building’s entrance square, façade variations, and an indoor observation platform that overlooks the entire city pulse—forming a cohesive urban image.
The glass curtain wall embeds the cityscape into the building’s volume in a surreal manner, making the image an essential component of the building material.
The architecture’s form, imbued with a sense of speed, overlays the artificially transformed city reflection, reinforcing the urban attributes of this architectural language on both a material and abstract level.
Project: Ruian Qiaomao Tower
Architects: Atelier Alter Architects
Lead Architects: Xiaojun Bu and Yingfan Zhang
Design Team: Zhenwei Li, Lidong Song, Lairong Zheng, Chunbiao Cao, and Lanyue Sheng
Consultants: Zhejiang Jianyuan Architectural Planning and Design Institute
Engineering: Zhejiang Jiahua Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd.
Clients: Ruian City Wuxi Construction Co.
Photographers: Highlite Images