curvilinear patterns cover the glass and aluminum facades of twin towers in china

Shimao Riverfront Wisdom Towers: new landmark of Hangzhou

Atelier Ping Jiang | EID Arch takes over the construction of the Shimao Riverfront Wisdom Towers, a large-scale mixed-use development in Hangzhou. The project of the twin skyscrapers is centered around the creation of open space and urban connectivity, while establishing a new urban node and landmark for the city, and consists of new office, residential and retail spaces.

Located near the intersection of Airport Highway and Qianjing Third Bridge, the site is a critical urban node for Hangzhou’s Binjiang district. The complex includes office towers, an apartment building, a retail annex, and a park for the public. Hangzhou is best known for its picturesque West Lake, tea farms, and the birthplace of E-commerce giant Alibaba. This project is envisioned as a significant urban gateway, featuring twin towers at a height of nearly 280 meters, for the IoT area and surrounding smart industry belt. The project provides 370,000 square meters of new office, residential and retail space. The development is organized as five buildings surrounding a green, public space to stimulate casual gathering and exchange.

the facade design draws from Qiantang river’s formations

Towers A and B hold the centerpiece of the development, accommodating office and residential use. A three-story annex provides retail space and community-supporting facilities. The horizontal undulating facade of the annex imitates the form of the adjacent river, providing a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. Unlike conventional commercial high-density mixed-use developments, this project optimizes public open space. Open from all sides, the site attracts visitors from all directions standing in a prominent location near the Qiantang River. The historically well-known river, with its tidal bores and strong surging tides, informs the design that displays an abstract curvilinear flowing pattern on the towers’ facades.

The towers are wrapped with low-iron glass curtain walls and aluminum vertical fins. Vertical elements have a hierarchy of size and shape, further emphasizing the surging tide concept as the surface of the facade advances and retreats. ‘In contrast to strong form-driven tall buildings in the city, the project stands with a restrained, simple beauty’, states the lead architect and continues, ‘In a high-density urban environment, iconic buildings should not only be expressions of novelty and extravagance. Unlike the common trend of seeking height and spectacle in the design of high-rise buildings in China, the Wisdom Towers stand quietly on the banks of the Qiantang River with a restrained elegance and open posture, responding to the local cultural characteristics of the city’.

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project info:

name: Shimao Riverfront Wisdom Towers
designer: Atelier Ping Jiang – EID Arch | @eid_arch

location: Hangzhou, China

photography: CreatAR Images – arch-exist photography – Xi Chen – Hu Yijie – Yang Shi

design team: Sean Lu, Xiaohai Lin, Hong Li, Kai Ding, Dan Tang, Alberto Canero, Ratima Suwanrumpha, Boyang Li, Ben Xie, Di Fan, Xiaoxu Sun, Fan Yang, Ingrong Chen, Wenjia Wang, Tong Zheng, Yushi Zheng, Kaini Huang, Jin Meng, Guanting Fang, Fangzi He, Xiaowei Wang, Yu Song, Peng Li, Chen Chen, Zhongzhou Jiang, Di Wu, Juntao Hu, Wei Zhang, Yuandi Nong, Tinglei Zhang, Xinyi Lu, Huiwen Wang

collaborating local design institute: Zhejiang Province Institute of Architectural Design and Research

master planning: SOL Structure

engineer: LERA

MEP engineer: WSP

landscape design consultant: AECOM

facade consultant: Schmidlin

interior designer: HPID (Tower A) – MATRIX DESIGN (Tower B) – G&K (E Building)

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.