10 DESIGN have been commissioned by four corporate investors as Lead Architect, directing the masterplan and design for this 14 plot development with a total site area of 360,000sqm. A common vision of this joint investment is to create an extensive new district into a high-end business and retail destination.
Located on the banks of the Yangtze River in China’s largest municipality, Chongqing, this mixed use development is one of three major focal projects in the city seeking to enhance the economic development of the region.
Comprising a total of 800,000m2 of accommodation, the development includes 150,000sqm of dedicated premium retail and entertainment area. Whilst this accounts for the majority of podium level accommodation, the remaining area is given to commercial office space, hotel and serviced apartments, all accommodated in a series of towers ranging between 100-250m in height.
Working within the parameters of local planning constraints, the design aims to provide a cohesive solution that is both pragmatic and architecturally innovative within the context. By creating a series of terraced retail courtyards surrounding sheltered garden plazas and linked together by elevated walkways, the plots are connected by common features whilst allowing for distinct architectural languages to differentiate their respective identities.
The steep site topography sloping down to the Yangtze River is characteristic of Chongqing and reminiscent of the city’s traditional stepped streets and buildings fronting onto the river. A 70m level difference across the development area provides a unique opportunity to create multiple retail levels each activated by street frontage, and each becoming mutually beneficial in activating upper and lower levels. By taking advantage of this key topographical feature, the design multiplies the commercial value of the various podium levels significantly. This multi-level retail diagram is further activated by footfall along the riverside promenade at the lower end, and a light rail station at the top of the site from which pedestrians are drawn into the core of the development by means of the elevated link bridges. These walkways extend from the terraced retail podiums to provide seamless retail circulation such that the district becomes both a dynamic multi-dimensional experience for the occasional retail visitor, and an efficient business environment for the day-to-day inhabitant.
Just as the surrounding mountain valleys with the river passing through them, the architecture itself takes from the imagery of water and stone interacting. Fluid circulation routes lead through the terraced retail landscape and envelop sculpted buildings providing a holistic circulation diagram across the site. This civic and retail landscape, punctuated by sculpted towers, is certain to establish the Danzishi Central Business District as a premier high-end retail and business destination in the region and beyond.
The new Danzishi Central Business District has now received planning approval from the Chongqing Planning Department and detailed design is underway. Construction has started on site and the first phase (called) Zhongxun Times will be built by spring 2015, while the entire Central Business District will be occupied by 2017.
FACT SHEET
Client:
- NVC-Lighting
- Chongqing Energy Investment Real Estate
- Huafa Group
- Zhongyu Real Estate Development
Site Area: 360,000 sqm
GFA: 800,000 sqm
Retail Area: 150,000 sqm
Building Height: Tallest Buidling Height: 250m
Function: Office, five star hotel, serviced apartments, retail
Service: architecture, master planning, landscape, CGI
Designer: Gordon Affleck, Design Partner
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