Tianjin, China
Leading mixed-use tower in the Yujiapu area to provide a NYC business lifestyle to its users
Scope of work
Competition, architecture, interior, landscape
Sector
Mixed-use, Retail
Client
Tianjin Jinji Real Estate
Size
130,000 sqm
Project information
We were invited to participate in the international competition of the 03-06 plot in Yujiapu Financial District in early 2018. The Yujiapu Financial District is an international financial center built by the country in recent years and is known as the “Oriental Manhattan”. The competition includes a 200-meter super high-rise SOHO tower redesign, a retail podium block and a boutique hotel. The Original schematic design was completed by SOM Architects, only the super high-rise tower is in core and shell. The competition requires creating an international place of living, working, and leisure both for domestic and foreign business people.
Idea of design
Focusing on the theme of Haihe River and landscape, we integrate various majors such as architecture, landscape, interior and logo to create a new concept called “RISTA”, which aims to improve the quality from all aspects, and become the portal of the Yujiapu financial district that is sustainable, respect for nature, and enhances the physical and mental experience of residents.
The original tower façade is designed as a unified vertical line curtain wall. In order to combine the landscape of the Haihe River, and refrain the problem of the huge volume of the tower itself, we introduced two distinct façade ideas: through combining two different curtain wall systems-both horizontal and vertical-to make the tower look more tall and straight. The horizontal lines are streamlined and echo the Haihe River.
The main topic of this project is the super tall SOHO tower which is around 80,000 sqm. Our goal is to position this project in the market place through optimized design and reasonable functional upgrade. HAG has completely upgrade the vertical traffic/elevator number and layout of the original tower, and divided SOHO into different level of products.
Based on the overall shape of the building façade, we also provide a certain detail design. The core of this detailed design is to look at the façade like how to design the tower’s balcony, window, wall and other systems in combination with the natural resources of the Haihe River on the basis of the existing structure.
The strategy for the courtyard is considered to be a useful complement to the psychological aspect of the project: by combining the courtyard flow, the stairs and the landscape, the function of the courtyard is integrated with the space of the tower and the bottom part of the podium, so that the space-the tower facing the courtyard-could be opened. The part of the commercial podium facing the courtyard is designed as a transparent glass corridor, and it can be completely opened in hot summer and closed in winter.
The entrance design of the apartment tower emphasizes an integrated design that is consistent with the façade. The main entrance can be combined with the commercial podium, to reflect the noble, majestic and high-end taste positioning. The original entrance has more shear walls, which poses a huge challenge to the interior design of the ground floor lobby.
