Jacques Ferrier Architecture developed an urban topography concept to create a “built landscape” effect, where architecture and nature are fused and blended. The site is located by the edge of a canal, which was previously hidden away from the public eye. One of the key points of the proposal was replacing the grey walls along the canal with a planted embankment. The tree-lined embankment is now a public walking path along the canal. Here, nature reclaims its rightful place in the heart of the city.

The office foundation is also treated as a landscape, a tree-covered relief with some parts turned towards the ground like an invitation to run across it. Local residents can even walk along a path on the roof of the ground floor. This foundation creates very clear divisions and gives an individual identity to the office space project. Next to the canal, the facade of this landscape-esque foundation of varying heights houses a number of activities, which can be linked to the offices or independent shops, creating lively public spaces. This landscape-type design encourages permeability, in response to environmental concerns.

More than a third of the site’s surface area is dedicated to green spaces, not including the foundation of the office structure, which is also treated as a garden. 

The ensemble’s facades are covered in vertical blades which protect the structures from the powerful Shanghai sun.

They combine two different materials: one side is covered with pale gold aluminium, and the other with ceramic in shades of green and blue, depending on the façades, a traditional Chinese material created using ancient techniques. This dual interplay of colours and materials creates a sense of movement, a constantly renewed vision of the buildings within the city. Depending on their location, urbanites will see the complex as successively green, blue and golden.