Hangzhou Civic Sports Center

hangzhou CHINA

suckerPUNCH: Describe your project.

bin LU: The site for this project is located at the west side of Hangzhou new city, 2.6km to the CBD center. The facility has a total built area of 15,500 square meters. Above ground floor area is 46,700 square meters. The southwest corner is the entrance for the planned Metro Line and around the site are high-end residential districts. The north side is bounded by a primary school. Adjacent to Qian Jiang River, the site is a connector between the natural and urban life of the city, making it a perfect location for a sports complex.

Our project is based on creating an urban plaza while also creating an icon for the lack of large-scale commercial facilities and distribution of leisure spaces. With the convenient transportation, the sports center radiates across the whole city.

Since the first rays of the Olympic flame lit by the sunshine of Mount Olympus, the mountain is deeply connected with sports. Hangzhou is a hilly city. Mountain climbing always becomes a popular out-door game for people there. The government carries out mass sports activities to promote national fitness program. We gave the concept of “SPORTS HILL” to create a “sports mountain” for the city.

We create a new synthetic ground for sports activities while also an iconic figure against the relaxed background of the sports landscape. This building is a symbol of the new status of Hangzhou as one of the six ancient capital and international city. From a massing view, we design the podium and 42 meter tower in a stacked way in order to contrast with the complexity of the 70 meter tower. The roof is interconnected to make a continuous, differentiated sports landscape with cascading sports fields and pathways. This landscape features basketball courts, volleyball courts, badminton, and tennis, at various levels. The steel frame of the podium becomes the major structural piece for the curtain wall but also houses the circulation element for the facade. The sunken plaza becomes a big open space which has been designed as a microclimate ecological environment facing the school. It also can be entered from the civic square on the southeast. The set back of the south side create a rectangular civic square. The civic square and the green belt integrate into a 6000 square meters long main entrance space. The civic square distributes the flow of people pressure from the major and the Metro Line and is covered with landscaping.

The sunken plaza is 1.5 meters underground, which connects with the entry square by folding shaped steps. The garden plaza is shaded via a cantilevering roof, and a series of pools underneath allow for evaporative cooling to occur, while also interacting with the swimming pool behind the curtain wall, creating a lively water environment. It is spatially defined on all sides by topography, plantings, shelters and the plaza roof, creating a highly specific and integrated environment and small microclimate. The plaza roof and canopies offer shade, while plant-life and water features cool the air underneath based on principals of natural convection and evaporative cooling, creating a thermally regulated environment. This space is a lush and tropical atmosphere including public amenities such as gift shops, bookstores, and cafes, allowing people sanctuary from the stresses of city life.

According to the different type of space, we divided into two parts: “active” and “inactive”. Sports activities are located on the lower part of the tower and the podium, in clear groups for ease of orientation piled into a single piece of “active ” area. The top of the tower is planned as a relatively “inactive” area with office, accessories and the VIP Club.

The main tower and podium are wrapped in three folding pieces. The twisted-folding shape has a dynamic trend of an upward spiral, which makes the tower an increasingly upright illusion higher than 70 meters. The trend of folding shape determines the density of the skin texture.

The design features faceted crystalline geometry embedded with crystal patterns in 3D cold lamination film, ETFE membrane, and honeycomb glass structure. They are used to heighten the sense of irresolution between flatness and depth as well as correlate graphic/pattern effects with mass inflections. The design features massive membrane bubble ‘windows’ oriented to allow views out to all angles of the city. The perforated stainless steel panel on the wall strengthened the crystal shape, as an attraction landmark for the city.

The south side facade connects the Podium and 42 meter tower through the transportation space. Five canopies are not only the supporting connections for the steel frame, but also offer shade. The external steel frame highlights the idea of a ladder and merges with the outer shape of the aerial layer, which makes an elegant liquid motion of a fluidity and dynamic transition.

sP: What or who influenced this project?

bL: Chiaro e Scuro, Robert Slutzky/Chube/Chrome, Lois Swirnoff/ the Pyramid Problem: A Visual Ratio, Jeffrey Kipnis, Zaha Hadid, Patrick Schumacher, Tom Wiscombe, Peter Testa

sP: What were you reading/listening to/watching while developing this project?

bL: Sylvia Lavin, What Color is it Now?; Liisa Aholainen & Bas Gremmen, The Thickness of Color; Lois Swirnoff, Dimensional color; Colin Rowe & Robert Slutzky,Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal.

sP: Whose work is currently on your radar?

bL: Zaha Hadid Architects.

Additional credits and links:

Project name: Civic Sports Center, Hangzhou, China

Sketch Design: 02.2012 to 03.2012

Client: Hangzhou Sports Development Group

Program: Civic Sports Service Center and Public Sports Activity Center

Size: 72,700 m2 (above ground 46,700 m2, underground 26,000 m2)

Design: BLUA

LDI: Hangzhou Jiangnan Architectural Design Co., Ltd

Structure: Hangzhou Jiangnan Architectural Design Co., Ltd

Design team: Bin Lu, Shou Zheren, Ge Liangjun, Chen Jian, Qian Haiping, Ma Li, Jiang Tianjiao,

Zhang Hong, Zheng Jue, Xia Tingting, Tao Jiangjie, Shen Qing.

[BLUA]

[BLUA blog]

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