The Creative Design Center Project of the FOTILE Ideal City A-2 Plot, situated in the Hangzhou Bay New Area, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, serves as a hub for FOTILE’s product innovation, research and development, exhibition, as well as knowledge exchange and learning.
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Plot A-2 of the Second Phase of the FOTILE Ideal City Construction Project (Creative Design Center & Basement)
Office Building (Built)
Firm
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SCUT CO., LTD.
Architect/Designer
Jingtang He, Xiaoxin He, Jianfa Qiu
Design Team
Jiaxing Sheng, Guangxin Yu, Xiance Zeng, Yunye Cao, Delong Lu, Zhihua Chen, Hanxiang Chen, Hongjin Cen, Yunchan Zheng, Shijia Guo, Ximei Fan, Xukai Li
Location
Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China
Country
China
Photographer/Copyright
©Alpha Photography Studio, Lin Zou
Ningbo is a typical representation of traditional Jiangnan (regions south of the Yangtze River) water towns in China, boasts renowned gardens such as the Tianyi Pavilion and Yuehu Lake, where water landscapes are universally employed as the central spatial element. As a traditional port city, water also holds a shared environmental memory for the local people.
The design concept for this project intertwines modern landscape gardening techniques with classical garden aesthetics, crafting a one-of-a-kind modern Jiangnan garden as the heart of the campus. Responding to functional requirements and site development intensity, an innovative garden-style layout with moderately dispersed low-rise and multi-story buildings has been adopted, echoing FOTILE’s Confucian-inspired corporate culture that prioritizes humanity. The planning ingeniously draws inspiration from the form and symbolism of the “Mingtang Piyong” (an ancient Chinese architectural complex for royal education and rituals), fostering a cohesive general plan layout: the exterior features a relatively orderly arrangement of buildings, while the interior showcases a free-flowing garden enclosed by curved corridors. At the heart of this garden lies the grand conference hall, situated atop a scenic water feature, aptly named the “New Mingtang Piyong”. This integration of curved corridors with outdoor courtyards harmoniously aligns with the gardening principle of “the beauty lies in the winding paths” found in “Yuanye” (Gardening Principles), further enhancing the landscape characteristics of Jiangnan regional architecture.
The buildings exhibit a rectilinear and orderly exterior layout, instilling a solemn atmosphere within the office buildings through implicit axial sequences. Internally, organizing the architectural clusters the element of curved corridors, creating a seamless and varied continuum of public activity spaces that underscores the theme of contemporary garden architecture. The facades reinterpret the traditional white walls and gray tiles of Jiangnan residences through contemporary design vocabulary, resulting in a well-proportioned and well-arranged architectural clusters with alternating virtuality and reality.
In terms of exterior expression, the designers were inspired by the perforated brick partitions found in gardens. Drawing upon the iconic elements of grayish-white walls and dark gray tiles from Jiangnan gardens, the designers employed modern building materials for reinterpretation: the first layer of the facade adopts dark gray basalt stone hanging plates, while the upper main body features beige horizontal-striped fair-faced concrete and precast concrete ventilated brick walls. Through innovative stacking patterns and construction techniques, the facade imparts a hazy and subtle oriental charm, fostering a visual harmony between historical depth and modernity, striving for a delicate balance between tradition and innovation.