Project Credits & Specs:
- Architects: Aedas
- Design Directors: Yaochun Wen, Executive Director; Dr. Andy Wen, Global Design Principal
- Location: Wenzhou, China
- Gross Floor Area: 119,608 m2
- Status: Under Construction
- Completion Year: 2024
- Client: Wenzhou Zeda Industrial Development Operation Management Co., Ltd
Creating a High-Tech Hub at Wenzhou Innovaland Start-Up Zone
Wenzhou is planned to be one of the global high-tech cities by establishing Wenzhou Innovaland. The start-up zone integrates technology, finances, wellness, and education, creating a mixed-use innovative hub in Wenzhou. Aedas Executive Director Yaochun Wen and Global Design Principal Dr. Andy Wen have jointly led the team to develop a pioneering space in the zone.
Embraced by adequate mountains and rivers, an ecological belt is designed around the zone with a spectacular landscape view. Located in the heart of Qingdao, it is set to be a people-oriented livable zone that connects the residences with mixed-use functionalities. Aedas Executive Director Yaochun Wen further explained the design, “We hope to create a humane workplace for scientists and enterprises, which is connected to the diverse leisure space with local cultural context.”
Inspired by the connection between the city and rivers, the design adopts an “Island Chain” concept. Rivers have shaped the vibrant waterfronts and weaved the islands, providing a synergy effect among R&D spaces, offices, and public services to Wenzhou Innovaland.
A dynamic work environment offers flexible offices for different enterprises. The high-rise office tower stands at the end of the major road. The vertical connection inside the tower integrates the office area with the exterior. Garden office blocks are arranged in a jagged form along the river. The porosity connects the blocks with the outdoor terrace, courtyard, and waterfront walkways. A riverside promenade and retail street are perfectly created whereas the architecture merges with nature.
Three inter-connected office buildings offer flexible workplaces for workers. Retreating architectural form maximizes the glass façade and outdoor terraces, injecting sufficient natural light and landscape view into the interiors. Courtyards provide a waterfront piazza within the buildings, which enhances communication and connectivity in the zone.
An iconic art centre is placed at the entrance where it provides an aesthetic and open space for cultural and business use. The exhibition centre in the middle accommodates large-scale conferences, exhibitions, and events. Inspired by the seashells, the exhibition centre has a vivid architectural form and an ascending pathway that links zonings with different heights. A riverside performance stage further extends to nature, gathering the circulation as an urban living room to provide a spacious leisure and entertainment area. The stage well-connects the buildings and the developments in the vicinity through pedestrian bridges.
Aedas Global Design Principal Dr. Andy Wen summed up, “By integrating technology, culture, and nature on the Wenzhou Innovaland, we hope to design a diversified urban garden for the start-up zone which will be advanced into a global high-tech hub in the future.”
Art Centre under construction
About Aedas
Aedas is the world’s only local and global architecture and design practice driven by the global sharing of research, local knowledge, and international practice. Our 1,200 creative minds with design studios across the globe create world-class design solutions with a deep social and cultural understanding of the communities we design for. We create world-class design solutions that are tailored to the needs of cities and communities around the world.
The description is provided by the architects.
