Commercial Building around the Corner of Streets
Client: corporate client: Tai He Group
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China
Gross floor area: 3000sqm
Design: May-June 2017
Design Stage: conceptual scheme design equivalent to RIBA Working Stage 1-2
Design team: HMD Shanghai and Pro-Form Architects ltd (Jing Wu, José Campon)
PFA was invited to contribute to the design the single commercial pavilion building at the north corner of the inner shopping street, while the design of rest of the development had been undertaken by Shanghai-based architects HMD.
PFA felt that the previous scheme was lack of convincing with the inner shopping area, and had been too much driven by a desire to express itself.
The PFA’s approach was to establish and enhance this synergy between this corner massing and the inner spatial core, while relaxing its role of self-manifested architectural expression.
To achieve this, the architect shuffled around GFA of various floors, eg, increasing the ground floor plan and reducing the upper floor area. As a result, the balance of overall GFA is retained, but the building mass was up-lift to an even higher level (the total number of floors increasing from previous 3 to 4) to achieve a greater presence towards its urban setting further afield.
Other than conventional building envelops (a combination of solid infill wall and curtain walling that was designed to save building cost, the building skin opts out complex delicate façade technique. Rather, the building was designed to be a subdued self, featuring a user-defined secondary skin outside the conventional external envelop. Among all main façades that can be used for commercial display, the north façade and the north-east top façade are regarded as most suitable for carry urban-level large scale advert. However, the south east and west façade were specified using natural coloured alloy mesh panel system. They were expected to be subdued due to its approximate to residential blocks.
The pavilion ‘s overall massing appears wedge-shape, golf club driver/head, however the internal floor plates are organised in L-shape to achieve a constant floor depth. The triangular void between the massing and floors forms an atrium with triangular roof lights. Above all staggering floor plates, an oversize single pitch planted roof appeared being extended from the planted roofs of the sunken plaza/street.
Also, PFA aimed to build more positive physical and visual links between this pavilion and the underground tram station. This was achieved through the configuration of the pavilion’s -1 level, which is benefit from one internal atrium and one external courtyard or sunken plaza. All together, they act as a pivotal point between the entrance to the tram station and pedestrian shop front/ inner street at ground floor. To make this connection even stronger, the northeast curtain walling, the only open-up façade towards the city space, drops down to the -1-level small sunken plaza.