Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS (Aug. 3, 2015):
Ennead
Architects is designing a new research and development community in Shanghai,
China. The project, Taopu Sci-Tech City, is located on the western edge of
Shanghai and is part of a new district being planned around one of Shanghai’s
largest future public parks.
Ennead’s competition-winning scheme presents three critical
approaches for creating an iconic, connected research and development district.
First, the design actively engages its context, creating strong visual,
pedestrian and infrastructural connections with the surrounding site, district
and city. Second, the design establishes a unifying architectural
language that creates both individual moments and a cohesive identity for the
development as a whole. Last, a network of spaces, both indoor and outdoor,
develops a fluid pedestrian experience with memorable urban spaces within the
city to support a 24/7, activated, mixed-use urban environment.
"Our design goal was to create something greater than a
single building; our goal was to create a memorable and connected civic
district," said Peter Schubert, a partner at Ennead International. To achieve
this goal and given the relatively low FAR for the project’s various blocks,
the design includes a series of linear building edges that enclose five primary
public park nodes. Each node creates an individual spatial identity, while
together creating a cohesive identity for the entire R&D campus.
Critical to the success of the project is the design’s
utilization of a multi-level pedestrian network. Multilayered pedestrian spaces
combine the lower ground level, street level and upper ground level together to
create a fluid architectural landscape experience that activates symbiotic
relationships between retail areas, park spaces and streetscapes. Each
public node provides opportunities for the creation of retail hubs at these
three primary pedestrian levels and for clear pedestrian connections to the
site’s existing subway and transportation infrastructures.
Sustainable landscape systems are a critical component that
helps merge the architectural and urban-scale designs with the surrounding
landscape and infrastructure. These systems include: 1) green roofs and planted
terraces, which, along with a maximization of green area at the ground level,
help minimize the storm-water run-off from the site; 2) a network of connected
ponds and canals that serves as an important component of a larger regional
storm-water management plan, while also creating visual beauty and recreational
landscapes for the district; and 3) an integrated and connective network of
pedestrian pathways and landscape corridors that help create a walkable
district, connect directly with the subway and other regional transportation
networks, and minimize the need for individual travel by car.
Ennead’s work in China continues the firm’s tradition of
designing innovative, memorable and sustainable buildings in the public realm
that express client identity, respond to contemporary culture and enhance the
built environment. Exemplary in this regard is Taopu Sci-Tech City, a project that
will significantly redefine its urban context and establish a new benchmark for
the new innovation districts in China.