UNStudio finishes Raffles City Hangzhou complex with organic shape towers
15/09/2017.
[Hangzhou] China
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Dutch study UNStudio has completed a mixed-use promotion in the Chinese city of Hangzhou with a program for a hotel, offices, apartments and shops, within a pair of winding towers connected by a podiumo and a garden plaza.
Overview. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Roof view. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza roof. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior plaza. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
General view from Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior view. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior view. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Interior view. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Overview. Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Models. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Models. Concept and design. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Model detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade detail. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Nodes approach. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Landscape concept. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Crown matrix. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Tower development. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Façade logic. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Plinth explosion isometric. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Void connection diagram. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Tower development. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Shading module parameters. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Circulation. Raffles City Hangzhou complex by UNStudio
Raffles City Hangzhou forms a prominent landmark in Hangzhou's new central business district and was designed by UNStudio for real estate company CapitaLand. Described by the architects as "a sustainable urban hub for living, working and leisure", the huge complex has a total area of almost 400,000 square metres spread across the two 250-metre towers, the podium building and the surrounding plaza.
Raffles City is the largest building completed by UNStudio, which is led by architect Ben van Berkel. The studio opened a new Shanghai office, in 2009, to oversee its design and construction.
Description of project by UNStudio
A Pertinent Context
As the Capital of the Zhejiang province, Hangzhou is steeped in tradition with a view to the future. While the city’s heritage focuses on the picturesque UNESCO heritage-listed West Lake, its future points to a new economic, political and cultural centre orientated towards the river. With strong future ambitions especially concerning sustainability, economy and livability, Hangzhou is a city on the move. In the design of the two towers, the urban face of the project twists towards the landscape, while the landscape aspect, in turn, acknowledges the urban context. Through this, the urban context and the landscape of the city are consolidated in one gesture. The main entrance to the south of the corner site appears as a prominent gateway from the city park and civic centre, as it borders both the urban built-up context and green axis/city park that connects West Lake to the Qiantang River. Reflecting the movement in the river, the tower design features a wave-like motion. These concentric waves increase in their dynamism, starting calmly at the base and building up more vigorously along the vertical axis.
A Mixed-Use Destination
The architectural expressions throughout the building connect the combined programmes in one seamless flow. The 116,000m2 retail podium at the base of the tower begins this interconnected flow, organised as two diagonal and intersecting figure-of-eights. It accommodates retail, restaurants, leisure facilities and parking and has a direct underground connection to the metro. This wide range of mixed-use functions, not only provides residents and those working or staying in the complex with a healthy and socially integrated environment, it also ensures that programmes are active around the clock, creating a safe and lively neighbourhood for all.
A Spiralling Centre
Situated at the centre of the retail spine, a spectacular atrium forms the organisational and visual focus of the podium interior. The atrium is designed as a spiral of overlapping layers, creating seamless connectivity and extensive sightlines between the spaces. As a feature detail, the bamboo handrail echoes the building’s curvilinear form. Winding its way around the podium as a continuous ribbon adds an element of tactility and natural contrast with the futuristic interior. From here two diagonal voids ascend seven storeys through the opposite wings of the retail spine. As an intuitive finding device, the voids guide visitors along each wing that spans almost 150 metres in each direction. Abundant daylight streams through the atrium and voids right down to the lowest floors, introducing a unique outdoor quality to the podium interior. Looking up through the skylights, the towers are always visible from the main atrium, changing appearance depending on the viewing point.
As the scale of the fluid forms transition from the architecture to the streamlined interior and winding handrails, this results in a cohesive spatial experience – as if outside merges with inside.
“Raffles City Hangzhou will be a point of confluence, a hub for business conduct and a new destination for visitors and residents alike; an ‘all-in-one’ destination for working, living and leisure in a highly sustainable environment.”
Ben van Berkel
Tower Development
The surrounding green axis is drawn through the courtyard towards the tower landscape facade. This creates a ‘contrapposto’ twist of the tower as the urban facade faces the green axis and the river. At the same time, the urban facade interacts with the urban surroundings.
Facade Articulation
Both towers consist of an ‘urban facade’ with vertical fins and a ‘landscape facade’ with horizontal planters. The programme and orientation of the facades determine the depth, width and angle of the facade panels. This maximises the openings with an optimal window-to-wall ratio.
Circulation
The landscape is zoned as four spatial experiences, extending from the site periphery to the inner court fronting the built mass. The main landscape circulation stems from the four corner nodes. The west and east nodes spiral downward into the exterior sunken plazas, while the north and south nodes flow into the structural ribbons of the inner atrium.
More information
Architects
UNStudio. Ben van Berkel, Hannes Pfau, Astrid Piber.
Project Team
Shu Yan Chan, Garett Hwang, Markus van Aalderen, Marc Salemink, Juergen Heinzel, Tom Minderhoud, Abhijit Kapade, Anna von Roeder, Hisa Matsunaga Juliane Maier, Yuwei Wang, Miklos Deri, Shuojiong Zhang, Iris Pastor, Praneet Verma.
Team Members in different Project Phases
Wing Tang Man, Michael Sims, Rudi Nieveen, Mo Ching Ying Lai, Fernie Lai, Alexander Hugo, Paula Ibarrondo, Richard Teeling, Fahad Mohammad, Daniel Bazo Hernandez, Shusuke Inoue, Qiyuan Ding, Ke Zou, James Leng, Craig Yan, Brendon Carlin, Adrian Schmitz, Steffen Riegas, Marina Bozukova, Qiwei Liang, Gary Freedman, Andreas Bogenschütz, Chao Wei, Justin Tao Cheng, Cristina Gimenez, Yi Cheng Pan, Lukas Allner, Freek Waltmann, Bartosz Lamperski, Marcin Molik, Costa Krautwald, Ioana Sulea, Ting Li, Stella Shen Chenyi, Johan Andersson, Magda Smolinska, Georg Willheim, Felix Lohrmann, Rodrigo Canizares, Rein Werkhoven, Severin Ignaz Tuerk, Marcin Koltunski, Hans Peter Nunning, Luming Wang, Eric Zhu, Leo Habsburg, Yi Whenzhen, David Chen, Zhenfei Wang, Gang Liu, Megan Ng, Peter Moerland, Hyunil Oh, Yang Shi, Philipp Weisz, Wiliam Mac Ivor, Ramon van der Heijden, Daniele De Benedictis, Yue Zhou, John Murphey, Christian Veddeler, Arnold Yok Fai Wong, Caroline Andersen, Stefano Rocchetti, Jordi Calvera, Yeojoon Yoon, Mingxuan Xie, Junjie Yan, Florian Heinzelmann, Patrik Noomé, Earn Lee Chern, William de Boer, Cici Xi Shi, Irina Bogdan, Junseung Woo, Evan Jon Shieh, Abraham Fung, Albert Man Kiu Lo, Alan Chin Che Hung, Dan Luo, Kyle Ching-Yu Chou, Rikjan Scholten.
Advisors
Local Design Institute.- China United Engineering Corporation, Hangzhou Structure, Mechanical Engineering, Fire Engineering, LEED.- Arup Shanghai, Arup LEED. / Hong Kong Traffic Consultant.- MVA Transport Consultants. /
Facade Consultant.- Meinhardt Façade Technology (Shanghai) Ltd. /
Overseas Lighting Consultant.- ag Licht, Bonn. / Local Lighting Consultant.- LEOX Design Partnership, Shanghai. / Landscape Consultant.- TOPO Design Group. LLC, Shanghai. / Quantity Surveyor.- Davis Langdon & Seah Consultancy, Shanghai. / MEP Consultant (interior).- SAIYO, Shanghai.
Contractors
Shanghai Construction No.4 Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai. Josef Gartner Curtain Wall(Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shanghai. CNYD Shanyang Yuanda Aluminium Industry Engineering Co., Ltd., Shanghai.
Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos. UNSTUDIO
UNStudio, founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, is a Dutch architectural design studio specialising in architecture, interior architecture, product design, urban development and infrastructural projects. The name, UNStudio, stands for United Network Studio referring to the collaborative nature of the practice.
Throughout 30 years of international project experience, UNStudio has continually expanded its capabilities through prolonged collaboration with an extended network of international consultants, partners, and advisors across the globe. This network, combined with the centrally located offices in Amsterdam, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Frankfurt, enables UNStudio to work efficiently anywhere in the world. With already 120 built projects in Asia, Europe, and North America, the studio continues to expand its global presence with recent commissions in among others China, South-Korea, Qatar, Germany and the UK.
As a network practice, a highly flexible methodological approach has been developed which incorporates parametric designing and collaborations with leading specialists in other disciplines. The office has worked internationally since its inception and has produced a wide range of work ranging from public buildings, infrastructure, offices, residential, products, to urban masterplans.
Current projects include the design for Doha's Integrated Metro Network in Qatar, the mixed-use FOUR development in Frankfurt, the wasl Tower in Dubai and the Southbank by Beulah development in Melbourne. Pivotal realised projects include the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Arnhem Central Station, Raffles City Hangzhou in China, the Mobius House in the Netherlands and the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam. UNStudio has received many awards, the last ones being Red Dot Award product design (2013), Media Architecture Award (2012), National Steel Prize (2012) and 28th International Lighting Design Awards Collector’s Loft (2012).
Categories
Our selection
