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
Multifamily Housing | May 30, 2018
Concentrated redevelopment: Apartment complex takes mixed use to the next level
An “intergenerational” mixed-use apartment complex may be a prototype for reenergizing neglected neighborhoods in America’s largest county.
Mixed-Use | May 16, 2018
Los Angeles mixed-use building uses prefabricated wood frame to reduce costs
SPF:architects designed the building.
Adaptive Reuse | Apr 26, 2018
Edison Lofts building is New Jersey’s largest non-waterfront adaptive reuse project
Minno & Wasko Architects & Planners designed the building.
High-rise Construction | Apr 17, 2018
Developers reveal plans for 1,422-foot-tall skyscraper in Chicago
The tower would be the second tallest in the city.
Mixed-Use | Apr 5, 2018
SOM unveils design for 54-story mixed-use tower in Hangzhou, China
The tower will rise 944 feet.
Mixed-Use | Apr 4, 2018
Shenzhen’s Mawan Mile master plan will include a ‘boulevard in the sky’
HASSELL won a competition to design the new mixed-use district.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 22, 2018
Multifamily building with 25,000 sf of amenities rises on the shore of the Potomac River
The building is part of the National Gateway mixed-use development at Potomac yard.
High-rise Construction | Feb 14, 2018
BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati-designed Singapore skyscraper has open-air ‘oases’ at multiple levels
The new skyscraper will include “the office of the future.”
Mixed-Use | Jan 26, 2018
Eager Park opens as health and wellness centerpiece of future mixed-use master plan
The 6-acre park was designed to showcase East Baltimore’s commitment to wellness and sustainability.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jan 25, 2018
Virginia Beach: A surf town with a wave problem no more
A world-class surf park will highlight Virginia Beach’s new live-work-play development.