Sias Mixed-Use Master Planning

Location: Zhengzhou, China
Client: Sias International University
GFA: 230,213 m2
Program: Retail 25,000 m2; Office 56,274 m2; Incubator 71,562 m2; SOHO 77,377 m2
FAR: 1.74
2016

Sias Mixed-Use Master Planning from Archimorphic on Vimeo.

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The repetitious use of similar tower typologies is becoming a clear trend in mixed-use master planning projects in China. Typically, driven by commercial profit, the exterior qualities of towers become a by-product of numbers and economic equations. Our design, on the other hand, focuses on qualities emerging from aesthetic factors, surrounding environment, and cultural references.

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For the Sias master plan, we developed multiple building typologies each responding intimately to their respective programs and ability to foster social interaction. Rectangular, bar-shaped towers form the community’s outer perimeter on three sides and acts as an interface between the new community and the existing urban fabric.

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At the center of the community, low-density courtyard offices occupy the landscape. The individual courtyard offices link together to form larger, communal courtyards. A central water feature enhances the communal courtyard spaces and provides a physical connection back to the larger community plan.

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At the west edge, a commercial center and sports arena shape a prominent corner of the community. The geometrical feature of “Volume-Surface” makes it possible to contain large spaces like commercial, cinema, and sports room. Rising from the commercial center, a hotel extends the dynamic geometry vertically with multiple interjections of green space across the façade. The hotel and commercial massing combine to create an iconic corner for a prominent intersection.