JINQIAO T30 CAMPUS
Shanghai, China
Program Media Studios, Spec Media Offices, Retail & Amenities
Size 83,000 m²
Client Golden Bridge
Year Competition 2021
The Jinqiao T30 Plot is located in Pudong, Shanghai amidst a neighborhood of industrial buildings. The client asked us to develop a vision for transforming the site into a vibrant campus serving a new generation of media and tech companies. The inspiration of the scheme is rooted in the duality of the existing site. Urbanistically, there is a hard edge on the street formed by the large warehouses but within the compound many pockets of human scaled spaces exist, with lush vegetation and covered outdoor spaces. We set out to create both an urban condition and a garden condition, striking a fine balance between architecture and landscape. Two L shape and two bar shape high rise buildings are designed to become the anchor of the site, each rising 50 meters to become highly efficient R&D environments for a creative work force. These buildings themselves also play up the concept of duality. The street facing facades are abstract and filigreed while the interior facing facades enclose the collaborative spaces in a translucent mesh and visually become an iconic spine and a beautiful backdrop for the courtyards. A series of office villas are sprinkled across the two plots to provide not only a diverse folio of floor plates but also to act as jewels in the landscape, creating a series of intimate spaces for work and for relaxation. The media production studio complex is located at the northwest corner of the site. Articulated as three discreet volumes around a sunken garden, this complex joins the villas in defining a site plan that effortlessly combines aspects of zen gardens and aspects of a bustling city.
The final plan embraces the Yunqiao Rd subway station of line 21 to the Northeast and the Pudong Stadium Station of line 14 to the southwest. At these two gateway corners of the site, the scheme creates two iconic urban rooms, one framed by the towers above, and one framed by a lush garden in front of the series of villa officee. The placement of the buildings together with a series of allees create a strong north south pedestrian spine. This green spine connects the future linear green park to the north and also the main boulevard of Chuanqiao Road. A number of arrival courts are designed for the two plots, with dedicated circulation for vehicles and pedestrians. The north court, defined by a hardscape plaza punctuated with skylights and a magnificent camphor tree, provides access to three buildings: Tower L, Villa, and the visitor center. The south courts are surrounded by a tranquil sheet of water, which elegantly hides the entrance ramps while acting as a reflecting pool bouncing light and shadow back into the lobbies.
Given the schedule and budget limitation of the project, we have designed a suite of façade systems all based on the principles of a window wall. There are three main wall types designed for the R&D buildings. WW-1 and WW-2 are the wall types for the towers T1-T4, respectively enclosing the street facing facades and the interior spine. WW-1 has a conventional window wall application based on 1.5m module with the addition of a series of vertical shading fins made out of extruded aluminum. WW-2 has the same conventional wall behind a series of mesh screens that have a opening designed for seeing out from the inside. WW-3 type is reserved for the villa building, where by a prominent horizontal reading is achieved through a series of floating aluminum blades that mask the spandrel panel as well as the operable window. Throughout the site, a series of masonry walls are also introduced with dry stack stones.
This is an ennead project completed under the leadership of Mr. Li.