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October 18, 2023

The floating pier commercial project, Nanchang

The project is located in the southwest corner of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. The east side of the site is adjacent to Xiang Lake, which is rich in hydrology and has several tributaries of the Fu River flowing into it. The client hopes that the entire area can become a cultural and leisure destination with Nanchang characteristics, creating a water-friendly leisure and entertainment complex, a liveable environment that coexists and thrives with the ecosystem. Thus, the location of this project, the core area of both the Waterfront Cultural and Leisure Corridor and the Waterfront Community Living Area, are of great significance for the client's vision of the region.

     The design inspiration comes from the organic forms of Nanchang's red soil and natural wetlands, as well as the power inherent in the linear, interwoven, and undulating topography. These elements reminded people of the ink-wash paintings of local literati. The design hopes to absorb these elements and apply them to the design of the undulating three-dimensional contours of the commercial facade.
     The adjacent villa project follows a strict grid design. Integrating the wetland landscape concept of Xiang Lake with the grid villa was a challenge encountered during the initial conception of this design. To address this issue, corridors are created by cutting into traditional strip commercial blocks, which not only echo the forms of the villas but also introduce the wetland landscape. Additionally, curved design elements from the local wetlands and red soil are applied to the design of commercial outdoor terraces. These terraces are connected on the second and third floors, serving as a transition from the natural landscape to the grid villas. This approach not only promotes the connectivity between the villa and the landscape, but also endows the commercial architecture with distinct identity.

 
Integrated commercial circulation paths are integrated into the design of the "facade", connecting people from ground level to rooftop terraces, and from walkways to courtyards, creating maximum practicality and comfort. The commercial pedestrian traffic is redirected to higher floors, greatly enhancing the spatial value of the higher floors. This design embodies an open, charming, and integrated community space where people can shop, stroll, enjoy food, and experience unique spatial delights.
     In order to create a suitably scaled and tension-filled curved facade, the project underwent multiple rounds of material research, starting with plain concrete, small-texture titanium zinc plate, GRC, and ultimately settling on aluminum curtain wall. This material was chosen for its ability to achieve a pure and naturally flowing architectural effect with the minimum number of panels and joints.
     The largest single curtain wall in this project exceeds 7 meters in height, encompassing the entire upper section of the parapet wall, the folding facade design, and the outdoor ceiling details.
     In terms of colour scheme for the facade, the design opts for white and grey tones that serve to highlight the green hue of the wetland plants. The use of white aluminium panels, ultra-white glass, light grey stone flooring, and dark grey metal frames creates a rich sense of layering and different gradients in the facade design. At the same time, the warm colour scheme for the outdoor terraces and ceilings complements the curved contours, highlighting the regional characteristics of Nanchang's red soil.
 
 



Project
Nanchang Vanke Retail

Architecture Design
SPARK

Completion Year
2022

Total GFA
8,696 sq m
 
 


 


 

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