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The building is positioned at the centre of its site, creating a generous setback from its mid-rise neighbours on all four sides. Dezeen Book of Interviews: David Chipperfield features in our new book, which is on sale now
The strength of the perimeter structure meant the designers could create a column-free plan inside, allowing for flexible spaces that can be either partitioned or left open-plan. A grid of muted copper frames the large windows of this slender office building, designed by British architect David Chipperfield for a park-side site in Hangzhou, China (+ slideshow). Each floor can also be split in half to accommodate smaller companies. Photography is by Simon Menges. Suspended ceilings are made from mesh panels, with lighting fixtures suspended above. The site has a gentle change of level, so the structure is gently raised up over a grey basalt plinth that grows out from the surrounding pavements. «Placed above street level, the volume sits as if on a stage. Together with the modulation of the surrounding exterior space, the raised level allows for diverse transitions from the city into the building.»
Copper elements, which the architects refer to as «cassettes», frame the building’s reinforced concrete structure. Project credits:
Client: Hangzhou Fanes Baoyuan Real Estate
Architect: David Chipperfield Architects, Berlin, Shanghai
Partner Berlin: Mark Randel
Representative Shanghai: Libin Chen
Project architects: Peter von Matuschka, Daniel Koo
Contact architect: Zhejiang Fanes Institute of Architecture Design and Management
Landscape architect: Levin Monsigny Landschaftsarchitekten
Structural engineer: Zhejiang Fanes Institute of Architecture Design and Management
Services engineer: Zhejiang Fanes Institute of Architecture Design and Management
Site plan – click for larger imageLower ground floor plan – click for larger imageGround floor plan – click for larger imageFirst floor plan – click for larger imageTypical upper floor plan – click for larger imageSection – click for larger image «The linearity of the space, the generous ceiling heights and the large windows give the building a loft-like character,» added the team. One large window sits within every opening in the grid, while gaps between are infilled with more orange-toned copper sheets. David Chipperfield Architects, whose Milan gallery complex is currently nearing completion, created the ten-storey office block for a site on Moganshan Road, just south of the city’s Shuyhuan Park.
