Invited interior design competition

The architectural design of the new headquarters of WASU group, a company dealing with television productions and other media services, has been conceived as an organic building complex, with several towers in the shape of leaves, all of them connected by a two-level podium. The building design has been influenced by the use of natural elements and shapes.

Location
Hangzhou / China
Client
WASU Digital Television Media Group Co., Ltd.
Design
2014
Gross Floor Area
84,700 m²
This concept is strengthened by the proximity to an important water body, as it often happens in cities like Hangzhou that are traditionally characterized by water features and by the integration of nature and the built environment. Following the volumetric principle, the interior concept set the goal of linking the different functional areas and towers …

This concept is strengthened by the proximity to an important water body, as it often happens in cities like Hangzhou that are traditionally characterized by water features and by the integration of nature and the built environment.
Following the volumetric principle, the interior concept set the goal of linking the different functional areas and towers with a common design language.
This is achieved by choosing a unified pattern – a simplified, geometric version of a tree – and applying it in all the circulation spaces of the building, so that podium and sub-cores of the towers will be conceptually identified as a single plant root that has grown within the building.

For the representative areas of the building, such as lobby, office areas and canteen, innovative decorative solutions have been selected in order to give a modern and sophisticated but still easily readable cross-reference to nature.
Lighting is designed as playful composition of leaves, columns’ claddings are shaped with diagonal lines that remind of bamboo trees, and stone tiles strongly express their granulation. In the most luxurious areas, carpets and wallpapers display fractal geometries that recall vegetation patterns.
The predominant materials are timber (in panels, in lamellas forming round shapes or in suspended ceilings) and natural stone. Metal and glass panels are used for special claddings, often with texture or a rough surface treatment.
Overall a feeling of relaxation is created, which will enhance productivity without renouncing a human-centred and attractive working environment.

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Design Team
Li Ran, Ignacio Alonso, Xiong Yan, Daniele Baratelli, Mario Grgic | External partner: Beijing Gangyuan Decoration Co., Ltd.