Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) has officially broken ground on West Lake 66 in Hangzhou, China. The project will form a new elevated green pedestrian link between West Lake and the Grand Canal, two of Hangzhou’s essential landmarks.
The 194,000-sm project includes five office towers with space suited to technology startups and young professionals, a boutique hotel, public parks, and an active, mixed-use podium. KPF parametrically linked shadow impacts, visibility from streets, unobstructed views, maximized daylight, and other key factors in an algorithm that organized optimal massing along the greenway to determine the position of the buildings and the overall site organization.
Plomp for KPF.
See Also: A series of glass ‘igloos’ create the world’s northernmost hotel
The buildings’ facades optimize daylight while the overall project was designed with a modular, fluid porosity that reflects the material heritage of the city and its craftspeople using local materials like terracotta, stone, and wood.
Plomp for KPF.
The podium is designed in sinuous bands of rectangular cells, each one responding to the program within, that tie the site together. The cells can be updated over the lifespan of the building. The podium also stacks a mix of uses to form a layered program that ensures future flexibility. Office space opens to a green roof that spans the length of the podium to create a public sky park.
Plomp for KPF.
Plomp for KPF.
Plomp for KPF.
Jim Keen for KPF.
Related Stories
Mixed-Use | May 15, 2019
Puerto Rican mixed-use, mixed income housing development begins construction
Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón designed the project.
Mixed-Use | May 14, 2019
Mixed-use community breaks ground in Greenville, S.C.
The Beach Company is developing the project.
Mixed-Use | May 9, 2019
Development builds on success of Chicago’s River North
One Chicago will further enliven upscale, artsy area.
Mixed-Use | May 3, 2019
The Colorado Rockies get into the sports-anchored development game
The project is currently under construction across the street from Coors Field.
Mixed-Use | May 2, 2019
A series of green bridges will connect these two towers in Shenzhen, China
Steven Holl Architects designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Apr 26, 2019
Miami’s 7-acre Link at Douglas breaks ground
The project will be built in phases over the next five years.
Mixed-Use | Apr 7, 2019
Chicago-area joint venture antes up $1 billion for Opportunity Zone development investment
Decennial Group says it’s looking at 250 potential projects, primarily in America’s heartland and rural areas.
Mixed-Use | Mar 11, 2019
Podcast: Sterling Bay’s Andy Gloor discusses Chicago’s grandiose Lincoln Yards Plan
Lincoln Yards is Sterling Bay’s ambitious riverfront development of formerly industrial land between Bucktown and Lincoln Park.
Mixed-Use | Feb 21, 2019
An R&D-oriented innovation district is taking shape in the heart of Durham, N.C.
Its buildout has included converting old tobacco warehouses into offices and labs.
Mixed-Use | Feb 19, 2019
Sunset Library in Brooklyn will be capped with 50 affordable residences
Magnusson Architecture and Planning is designing the facility.