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As the rural base for the headquarter of a listed company, the Intco Center is located in a conservation forest on the south bank of the Huangpu River,Shanghai. The design concept is a localized combination of two starting points: traditional residence and corporate culture. Intco Recycling Resources is a high-tech manufacturer engaged in plastic reuse. Sitting on a platform filled with water, the building derives from local traditional courtyard building. As the basic form-type of the traditional settlement in south Yangtze River Delta, the courtyard houses carries rich regional cultural characteristics and wisdom of life. We believe that with the injection of contemporary technology and functions, courtyard buildings will breed new connotations through continuous renewal.
The site is located in a conservation forest on the south bank of the Huangpu River in Fengxian District. The original building was a five-bay double-storey building with an Chinese hip-and-gable roof, which was built in the 1990s and was no longer in use due to long years of disrepair. Tributaries of the Huangpu River flow through the north and west sides of the site, which is surrounded by lush forests. The design concept is a localized combination of two starting points: traditional residence and corporate culture. The first step was water management. We adjusted the shoreline of the northern tributary and introduced the river water to the site after purification. The water is gathered in a platform, on top of which a new form-type of courtyard building was erected.
This courtyard building is composed the translucent walls as the outer ring, four volume units as the middle ring, and a central courtyard as the core. At the corner, four columns branch out to support the outer ring of four cable trusses covered by triangular kinetic skin. Through the arrangement of structural system and materials, we established a two-way permeability between the outer ring, the middle ring and the core. The raised courtyard walls welcome people, the floor-to-ceiling windows between units incorporate landscape, the openings at the bottom of exterior walls introduces water and breeze, and the skylight between spaces absorbs natural light: In this triple-layered courtyard, the outside-inside flow allows people to enjoy breeze, running water and sky light, making it a special experience like being in a man-made grove. At the same time, the small courtyards in the middle ring and the translucent kinetic skin offer glimpse of exhibitions, activities and the images of central courtyard, which represents Intco’s corporate culture of regeneration and recycling.
Scenic Architecture office anwsered to our commission with a building that is both “traditioanl”and innovative. It is an ideal space to serve as a corporate culture gallery and high-level conferece space. The building emerges with the natrual invironment nicely, and the translucent kinetic skin offers glimpse of the exhibitions, activities inside, which showcases Intco’s corporate culture in a smart way.
Scenic Architecture Office was founded in Shanghai in 2004. In any project undertaken, they start from the needs of body-mind, nature and society, and try to establish a balanced and dynamic relationship between these aspects through architectural ontology to carve a new identity for contemporary architecture niched between Chinese tradition and the future. Scenic Architecture Office’s works have earned awards like Architizer A+ Award, Archdaily Annual China Architecture Award, WAACA Award, Far Eastern Architectural Design Award, etc. Their works have also been invited to partake in various exhibitions, including the Solo show “Translated Traditions – Public Courtyards and Urban Platforms” held by Berlin Aedes Architecture Forum, Venice Architecture Biennale, Milano Triennial, and exhibitions held by London Victoria and Albert museum, MAK, NAI, etc. In 2022, the office had its first monograph “Rebirth of form-type” published by Images Publishing Group worldwide.
