Xixi Park Zero Energy Building

Beside that it accommodates a branch of Zhejiang University and is used as eco-environmental education area with classrooms and offices. Last not least it provides meeting and catering areas for both tourists and students.
The new building – as entrance point passed by the majority of visitors – is aimed to be an outstanding landmark, a symbol for the ecological efforts connected with the wetland park, serving as an icon or logo for the whole area and showing its ecological progressiveness in a self-confident manner.

Beside the memorable triangular shape of the building, its vast glass roof covering the exhibition area – inclined in south-west direction for best serving the integrated photovoltaic panels – is the main mark of the architecture, from inside and outside.

Furthermore, the spacious green roof, freely passable for visitors from outside, serves as a space for tourists and students to walk, rest end enjoy views to the wetland park.
Whereas the roofscape is inspired by the silhouette of the distant mountains, the significant wooden sun protection elements of the facades connect the building directly to the ground, to its lush vegetation and big variety of trees. The density of the vertical wooden louvers depends on their orientation: south and west façades are more closed; the north façade is mostly opened.

Last not least, the energetic performance of the building will make it a milestone on the way to more energy-efficiency and sustainability. The project has been certified with the highest LEED label (‘platinum’). Moreover, it is intended that this building achieves zero emission of carbon dioxide as well as zero energy consumption – or even energy production instead of consumption.

Changchun Green Experience-Mall

The Mall is conveniently located only a few hundred meters from the new High-Speed Railway Station of Changchun, capital city of China’s Jilin Province with four million inhabitants. This is a major boon to the team as for the last several years, China has formed – and is now leading – the era of the high-speed railway on an international level. The successful operation of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway has promoted the rapid economic development of the cities of Jinan and Suzhou and the Beijing-Harbin high-speed railway has achieved unprecedented prosperity in Harbin’s West District and Shenyang’s Shenbei District.

Relying on the advantages of this new transportation hub will gradually grow a center of commerce, and with it a center of life. “Queenland Mall” will create a business cluster for LOHAS-style consumers, a commercial entity that is the sheer opposite of one-time sales.

Changchun has clear advantages in North-East China. It is located in the geometric center of the four Northern provinces. Shenyang and Harbin can be reached within half an hour; Beijing is only 3.5 hours away. This creates an industrial circle around Changchun’s high-speed railway station with a 60 million passengers’ flow every year, and along with it: economic growth and prosperity.

Key to the design process of “Queenland Green Mall” is the huge flower and green plant trading center, filled with spacious indoor Greens, a plant-themed museum, thousands of trees and shrubs, and more than 1,200 different plants. Its natural vegetation makes it an ecological resort where flowers never fall throughout the year, an oasis in the rather harsh winter climate of the North of China.

As a “Green Mall” with international orientation, Queenland Mall will kick off a commercial benchmark for the fourth consumer era. The Mall has a laudable goal – to abandon premium brand consumption habits and pay more attention to the shopping and life-style experience of a new generation of consumers. The Mall aims rather at an ecological, “green” construction and operation model, in line with the principle of simplicity and shared consumerism, and with the intention to somehow repair body and mind of customers and visitors and enhance their mental experience.

More than only providing a green cloak, the building complex will create an urban resort integrating tourism, sightseeing, experience, adventure, wellness, culture, life-style, entertainment and ecology. The group of buildings has a clear aim: Being the virtual centre of the TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) surrounding the High Speed Railway Station. This formidable project will be a center that caters to the needs of citizens 24/7 all around the year. It will be a hub that never sleeps and that is always stimulating.

The finished building combines 148,000 m² of commercial areas as well as 36,000 m² of small-scale apartments located in two residential towers on top of the mall. The mall itself is composed of three individual buildings, connected by bridges and surrounding an inner urban plaza. All three blocks have their own central atrium; the biggest, L-shaped building provides an oversized atrium which is formed as a glass-covered open space with a green mountain in its centre, all wrapped in lush vegetation.

Included in the building’s many functions are an underground hot spring spa centre, a huge food court and seafood market, all kinds of indoor sports facilities including swimming and adventure sports, a spacious plants market in the upper floors shaped like a botanical Green, book stores, various kinds of retailers, entertainment facilities, banquet halls for weddings and more, and – last not least – a multitude of F&B outlets in different levels.

Creating a “Queenland”, a new type of Green Mall, a wonderland for a contemporary generation of consumers, is a challenge for all involved parties. High quality in planning, construction and operation is only one side of the coin; locating the Mall by the nearby HSR Station will certainly contribute to its success.

RhineScheme’s longest lasting professional experience is and has been in Europe, but its biggest and most challenging projects and clients are to be found in China, as China is still the largest construction market in the world. Working for the Chinese market is often connected with enormous time pressure and with highly complex tasks that are unheard of in Europe. Nonetheless RhineScheme has steadily improved its reputation in this difficult market and is proud of having achieved a high reputation in planning complex mixed-use projects, tourism developments, smart cities and eco-cities, urban regeneration and conversion projects.

Looking to the future, both RhineScheme and Qingyifang Group are keen to find creative developers or property owners for challenging retail projects, in which the companies can bring special Eurasian experiences, combining the Asian sense of hospitality and efficiency with the enduring ingenuity of Europe. This aim will help both companies to grow and establish themselves as international experts in real estate business over the years ahead.

Dalian Wanda Mall

The design inspiration comes from the natural elements of stones, water and greenery. Six volumes, like pebbles in a brook, are connected by flowing curves and integrated into the topography of the mining pit. The whole image resembles water stones on green fields.
The third floor of the mall is connected with a professional football field planned to be located on the west side. The east is adjacent to the planned Wanda Hotel group including a big conference center. People standing on the terraces can see the southeast urban eco-park which covers the entire lowest level of the mining pit. On the south side a large parking area meets the requirements of the public function.
The building envelope is formed by multiple layers which resemble the original surrounding environment, creating excellent outdoor viewing terraces. Several large spatial domes are inserted like pebbles on the water.
The internal shopping street is interconnecting 5 theme parks and an independent show stage space, creating a distinct circulation with rich indoor and outdoor spatial experiences. The three underground floors facing the southern lower levels of the pit are for parking and supporting areas.
The façade of the building is inspired by water flows, having natural curves and depth, while also producing different folds and vertical changes that enrich the visual experience.
Here, architecture is transformed into a flowing, soft and natural element with a strong character, providing transparency, privacy, or connections. The building itself and its surrounding special geographical environment contributes to establish Wanda Mall as a major urban landmark for Dalian.

Commercial Street Design

In order to gain differentiation advantage in combat with surrounding rivals and attract young consumers, we have adopted a futuristic façade with a strong sense of technology. Smooth metal curves, transparent glass curtain walls and glamorous illumination give the architectures a unique modern feel. The concept of urban valley is inspired by architectures interweaving with urban attributes, allowing customers to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the city and instantly immerse themselves in the enchanting valley.

When it comes to our design strategy, on the one hand, our design idea is divergent, on the other hand, the design team also paid attention to moderation and logic. In order to control the project budget, a strategy of zoning design and modular design was adopted. The sky platform will be used as a design interface to clearly demarcate individual commercial building from the urban valley area.

The placement of multiple waterscapes creates a sense of harmony between nature and human. The flow of water and the solidity of the valley bring people a pleasant and comfortable environment.

Changchun Wanda Mall

The buildings are organized through the perimeter of the plot, so to give space to various landscape areas and outdoor parking in the core of the plot. The main actor of the project is surely the indoor ski ramp, considering its 110 m height that in the future will make it as one of the most iconic buildings of Changchun. Considering its function the concept of the project it’s inspired by snowy mountains, articulating the design of the ski ramp and the mall through soft wavy shapes and cold colours like light grey, pearl grey and different tones of blue. Generous glass openings characterize all the buildings in order to establish a visual connection to the road that is strengthened by a system of plazas located to the main entrances of the buildings.

Hohhot HOPSCA

Option 1 is based on four elements that dominate the Mongolian landscape and identity:
The Mountains, the Grass lands, the Yurt (also known as ‘Ger’) and the Sun.
The architectural language of the building complex can be seen as a mirror of the Mongolian mountains. Similar to the peak of a mountain that is spreading slowly over its skirts and eventually reaches the wide and endless-seeming green lands, the main tower of the complex is part of an undulating base, which – in a play of heights and lows – encloses the whole complex with all its diverse functions in a unitary body. The series of atriums are inspired – in an abstract way – by the free space of the Yurt, which by a self-supporting structure allows for an opening on the top for air circulation.

The sun plays an important role in the positioning of the vertical elements of the complex. The composition adapts its height to ensure the necessary daylight in the neighboring buildings, thus following local regulations in a complex way. The position of the tallest hotel building at the north-west end of the L-shaped base allows the lower SOHO buildings to fully enjoy natural daylight. In contrast, the interior landscaped park which is growing from the center of the plot towards the east will experience a game of shadow and sunlight throughout the whole day.
While the architectural language reminds of the Mongolian mountains with their fine edges in the landscape, the façade resembles the richly decorated yurt cover fabrics, which enwrap the building complex in a smooth, elegant way.

Option 2 is based as well on three traditional elements that define the self-image of Mongolians: The Yurt, the ‘Hada’ (traditional scarf) and traditional colour patterns which will be mainly visible from a pedestrian perspective and from inside.
The proposal organizes the program of hotel and SOHO within three main tower buildings, the highest of which is the hotel as distinctive landmark. The architectural language of the towers can be seen as vertically extruded yurts, as their shape with curved plans clearly refers to the traditional Mongolian tent.

The fluid language of the podium façade which wraps around the towers symbolizes the fabric of the traditional ‘Hada’ with its message of welcoming and greeting. The podium is inviting the visitors with generous concave gestures towards the interior park.
In both the open and covered urban spaces, colour patterns that are traditionally used in the interior of a yurt aim at providing a sense of domestic warmth within the scale of the project.

‘Love Island’ Changde

The business concept aims at a vivid inner-city district with multifunctional 24/7 uses in all floor levels – the mere opposite of any sort of Potemkin village that is dead after 6pm and above ground floor.
In contrast to the neighbouring ‘German Street’, the ‘Love’ theme suggested a more Latin inspired architecture with the warm atmosphere of the Mediterranean in the language of buildings, in colours, materials, open space design and landscape.

Size and location of the site inspired the proposal of a distinct urban structure of South-European character. European architecture from different epochs creates the atmosphere of a Mediterranean town, with small streets and alleys and a central plaza, and an overall flexible structure that can adequately host different functions.

The site with the Chuanzi River running in the south provides a unique and very valuable landscape with outstanding views toward the river, and also views from the river to the site. This feature is advantageous for restaurants and hotels, for water events and sport activities. For the opposite riverside and neighbouring residential areas it provides high-quality living adjacent to the water and to recreational areas. Last not least, the riverside park is extremely valuable for photo-shooting and hosting special events, here with a special focus on wedding or engagement celebrations.

A user-oriented concept: People and love

The project’s success lies on attracting the biggest possible variety of users: Young and old families, couples and singles, well educated & culturally interested people, or simply curious visitors with the wish to immerge into a foreign world to find distraction.
Why will people come? Who will come, and what will they do?
• People meeting people: Whether coming alone or with some friends, this is the right place to meet a special someone and fall in love.
• Couples in love: Young couples or older ones can enjoy a variety of activities while getting the chance to know each other even better or re-kindle their love
• Engagement: To propose to a loved person, ‘Love Island’ can guarantee the most romantic sceneries and events for a great surprise.
• Getting married: For a special and planned wedding the area provides various options for each couple and their families, for the preparations and for the day of marriage. Last not least by having ceremonies in opulent and exotic banquet halls with splendid river views and romantic Renaissance gardens in front.
• Families, neighbours and residents: Everyone in the surrounding areas will feel very welcomed to come and spend a nice day in family due to the countless fun activities available

The aim is to have non-stop day & night use during all seasons (24/7/365)
• Eating & drinking (catering): With facilities for day & night use, with close connection to European culture, theme restaurants, specialties restaurants from different countries, gourmet and typical (fast) food restaurants, bars, cafés, ice-cream parlours and juice shops.
• Outdoor activities: Renting shops for roller skaters, segways, tandem bicycles, paddle boats, canoes. Relaxing in the park, photo shooting. Seasonal markets like Christmas market, fish market, autumn fruit market, Easter market, flower market. European (national) festivals or events, like French wine festival. Cultural events like annual open air concerts (pop music in spring, classical music in autumn), shows, theatre, dancing or acrobatic festivals. All kinds of water sports or activities combined with water
• Indoor activities: Museum, cinema, speed-dating place, KTV, amusement arcades. Roman bath, wellness, spa, beauty salons. Wedding-related services like ceremony facilities, dancing school, photography studios, travel agencies.
• Shopping: All kinds of shops related with weddings (fashion, jewelry), food specialties shops (wines, bakery, chocolates). Wedding related arts and crafts from European countries.
• Hotels: Honeymoon hotel; small boutique hotels with at least 5 star standard

Urban and landscape structure

The masterplan proposes a playful arrangement with denser and less dense structures. The urban pattern develops different kinds of open spaces, yards and atriums, public squares and enclosed garden courtyards, with different degree of privacy, furthermore landscape-like gardens towards the river. The area features winding alleys with an intimate village-like atmosphere, and a big central plaza with the most representative buildings, suitable for hosting the main events and celebrations.
The church is the core and focal point of the development and its campanile is the outstanding landmark that can be seen from almost any location surrounding.

The overall urban character is romantic, elegant and relaxing.
Since one of the most important commercial concepts is wedding photography, all buildings and open spaces have been designed to serve as outstanding sets for outdoor photo-shooting.
All buildings have 2-4 levels, and towards the river, elegant and eye-catching facades.

The structural arrangement ensures that density, volume and fragmentation of the buildings are diversified according to the different functions that they occupy.
The circulation system of the site is a dense net of walkways with different hierarchies. The structure is highly permeable. Many passages run through the site in north-south-direction. With an additional landscape-axis, the waterfront and the park are connected with the urban hinterland.
A main walkway runs through the area from west to east, ending in the main plaza and focusing on the Bell Tower.
The main square also contains the main gate towards the complex, thus becoming the main articulator of all circulations.

The church is the iconic building in the main plaza and is, with its apse, directly related to the river landscape. A large lawn (with small groups of trees) surrounds the church and opens towards the river for outside activities.
With a long flight of steps the green area gently slopes down to the water and provides nice views over the riverside park, which includes groups of palm trees reminding of the Mediterranean.
In the other direction the open lawn allows good views to the church and the preeminent Bell Tower.

The required parking lots are mostly arranged under the elevated platform of the lawn. Additional surface parking space is available near the main entrance and the hotels.

Architecture

The design style is Mediterranean and Southern European, comprising stylistic and typological references from Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.
The aim was to achieve a charming mixture of simple and elegant buildings in a combination of different styles and epochs, which also inspire the thematic flavour of the private gardens. One of the rare instructions from the investor and operator was to focus on styles predating the 20th century; nonetheless some modernist or clearly contemporary buildings are included to create a more authentic and less artificial atmosphere.

The materials used for facades are mainly plaster, in Mediterranean pastel colours and textures, mixed with grey or beige colour natural stones and red clay roof tiles.
Facades are symmetrical, hierarchical, repetitive surrounding the main plaza and facing the river; they are more random along the smaller alleys, imitating a quasi naturally grown town quarter.
Main architectural design elements are arcades, balconies with metal railings, stone window frames, friezes and roof mouldings, columns and arches, terraces, pergolas and garden colonnades, as well as pavements and vaulted arcade ceilings.
Additionally, the overall lighting design and signage complete the comprehensive European style, as well as the careful and sensitive landscape design by LML, Berlin.

The secularized church – hosting a theatre-like multi-functional event space and named “Florentine Hall” – is the central element of ‘Love Island’, in architecture and in its immediate creation of urbanity. Its transitional location creates two totally different aspects. On one side we find the typical urban arrangement with a regular church-square and the irregular “village” behind. On the other (back-) side is the church surrounded by a vast lawn which gives an almost rural, countryside-like character.

Areas and typologies

• The  “S p a n i s h   v i l l a g e” (A10-A15): Inspired in traditional Spanish or Italian small towns, this area creates a small village with main and secondary alleys, passages, bridges connecting buildings over the street, with enchanted roof terraces and a small intimate plaza, ‘Piazza Cupido’.
• The  “I t a l i a n  P i a z z a” (A4-A9, A16): Inspired in the main squares of notable Italian cities such as Venice and Florence, the ‘Piazza del Primo Bacio’ hosts buildings for high class restaurants, shops and hotels.
The buildings are inspired in a mix of civic Italian and Spanish renaissance palaces, the church – in its main façade – by ‘Santa Maria della Croce’ in Florence, the Bell Tower by that in Rovinj in Croatia. Furthermore two expressions of modern architecture (A4, A8) can be found, the latter inspired in the ‘Palazzo da Civilità Italiana’ of the early modern movement in Rome. An urban colonnade flanks the sides of the plaza and includes the main gate to the compound, in the shape of a colonnade with fountain.
• The  “R u r a l  P a l a c e s” (A1, A2, A3): This group of three buildings meant to host wedding banquets and celebrations, are inspired in traditional rural palace architecture from France, Italy and Portugal. Each has its own private garden for outdoor celebrations, with richly ornamented landscape, enclosed and protected by a colonnade.
• The  “L o v e  M u s e u m” (A0): Finally, this piece of contemporary architectural design is meant to be a landmark on the river, visible from all adjoining waterfronts. It establishes an axial relation with the bell tower of the church, in close relation with the water and harmonious integration into the landscape of the park.
The architecture is modern, with light coloured steel and transparent glass as main materials. The building’s shape is a composition of two intertwined wedding rings, with a sculptural diamond in the center. Both rings create a continuous exhibition space, a linear exhibition that becomes a loop. The rings are interconnected to create continuity between inside and outside, indoor exhibition, outdoor exhibition and riverside terrace.
In the center: the Diamond, a glass-clad sculptural platform for multimedia exhibition.

Sanya Show & Sales Centre

The surrounding buildings are therefore not only part of the existing situation, but they determine layout and zoning of the sales office. In order to achieve the own requirements, wall planes were created for screening the views from outside in, opening the views from inside out, and creating an interior space at the same time.

Option one: Sea Waves
A meandering path leads into a peaceful quiet park. Gradually, a reflecting pool appears on both sides of the trail. Water bubbles show up on the pavement, telling visitors that they have arrived at a sea world. Two bar seating areas are set like birdcages into a quiet reflecting pool, adding interesting experiences to the sales office.
The crisp white form is conceived as a lightweight cloud. The reflective pool emphasizes the apparent weightlessness of the structure which is immersed in the natural surroundings.
Facing the seaside, large windows and their shading louvers can selectively fade out the sea-view, or integrate sea, beach and sunshine into the room.

Option two: The Frame
A white box, and a wonderful viewing platform as well. It leads the visitor through a sequence of spaces from the green shade into the white box. Empty and solid spaces interpenetrate, setting viewing frames properly as the space changes. Using the traditional Chinese landscape design method of framing and inflating the views, the visitor walks through the setting while his views from the windows are directed and focused on the sea.
The outdoor reflecting pool avoids the view of the existing wrecks in the sea. A gap at the bottom of the box lets the whole box appear floating upon the water. The white box itself is very simple in shape, but the spatial changes between the inside and outside fills it with a deeper, meaningful sense.

Changchun ‘Longxiang Plaza’

Adjacent to the two arterial roads, the project enjoys outstanding connectivity. The Beihu Wetland Park on the west side of the site is of great appeal… The design makes full use of the landscape resources so that the planned new buildings can all have access to the beautiful scenery. In the future, diverse commercial formats (leisure, commercial, hotels, apartments, offices, etc.) will attract a large number of business people. The dynamic and vigorous architectural style also offers a striking and attractive urban scene.

The overall project is designed to be low in the south and high in the north, in order to respect the central location of the existing Jixing Building and to ensure best views of all buildings along Beihu Park.
The plan outlines a city skyline that is gradually rising from south to north. The high-rise buildings in the plot are surrounded by water bays of Beihu Park from the south to the north, forming a high point on the northernmost super-tall buildings as an important landmark of the city. The high-rise buildings will serve as offices in the future, and they all can enjoy splendid views of Beihu Park.

The southernmost plot among the three – on the west side of Beiyuanda Street – has been positioned as the Center of Science and Technology. The southeast side of the plot is for multi-storey buildings, whose volume and scale are relatively small, while the layout is flexible to serve as individualized exhibition space. At the same time, the design avoids blocking the view of Jixing Building.
Several tall buildings are arranged on the west side (along the lake), as SOHO office space. Multi-storey buildings will be designed with a rooftop garden to create pleasant views. The central plot (north side of Jixing Building) is planned to be ‘Longxiang (Phase I) Lifestyle Plaza’ including a five-star international hotel. 3 or 4 storey buildings will form commercial space so as to meet the needs of the High-tech Zone. The hotel will have guest rooms on higher floors facing the lake, so that every room offers optimal views.
The plot on the north side is planned to host ‘Longxiang (Phase II) Future Plaza’, a ‘Water World’ complex, a quasi-5-star business hotel, serviced apartments and super high-rise office buildings (220 meters).
The plot on the east side of Beiyuanda Street is planned as Financial Centre, which echoes the planned buildings on the west side.
The underground (garage) of the four plots will be connected.

Proposal 1 uses natural arc elements in the design of the entire project to create a stable and smooth overall image.
Proposal 2 highlights the volume of buildings and vibrancy of space accentuating the beauty of geometric elements and making the building full of tension and vitality. The façade design adopts a diversified approach with futuristic art, emphasizing new technologies and catering to people’s aspiration for innovation and exploration.

Commercial Plaza of the 21st Century

Instead a Wow-effect is needed. Shopping in the traditional way will not work any longer if consumers degenerate to weak-willed puppets of online trade.
Shopping 21 needs to integrate a “holospace”, which itself integrates virtual reality with all its fascinating new experiences and combine it with the persistent need for places of conventional entertainment and traditional forms of encounter.
This “holospace” is the agora of the computer age, a volume and innovative “machine” that creates and combines all forms of positive experiences.
Creating such spaces – vivid and attracting, amazing, surprising, emotionalizing, illusionist, captivating, intriguing, and seductive – will decide about the success or failure of the commercial plazas of the future.

In RhineScheme’s concept, the “holistic box” is the exlibris of the project, giving visitors the chance to recreate the space and transform themselves. It is: virtual, experimental, imaginative, hallucinating.
A moving walkway links people to the ultimate entertainment experience.
Around a floating box an ascending ramp rises, leading the visitors through the commercial space and letting them slowly get immersed by the multi-faceted atmosphere.
The external descending ramp offers a vast choice of sceneries, environments and entertainment.

Under the box and in a central core the main plaza is located where all sorts of activities converge and interact.
The surface surrounding the spiral is more than just an envelope. It contains several activities such as movie screens, projections, climbing & rappel, and it encloses the big three- dimensional outdoor/indoor volume. This “metamorphic skin” brings all the elements together and is a key design element from inside and outside.