Shanghai Caohejing Technology Oasis

The design addresses the situation and location of the site within a landscape park by locating two different façades characteristics on the eastern and western sides. The clear, clean façade of the eastern elevation faces the existing campus buildings and defines the complex in its welcoming and addressing function. This façade orientated to the urban side of the park, opens a dialogue, and connects the urban development with the campus. The efficient architectural form with its variegated elevation – reminiscent of open and half-open drawers – defines perfectly the face to the urban surroundings. The green spaces, terraces, balconies, plinth and colonnades of the entrance create a unique, creative and welcoming working environment, and the fully-glazed façades which let the outside in and vice versa. Quite different strategies are used to deal with the urban and landscape interface on the western side; the combination of stone walls, ribbon windows and sunken plazas are designed to create interaction with the public green spaces and the riverside. The result is a relatively private atmosphere in contrast to the eastern side of the site.