TODTOWN, Xinzhuang Minhang Shanghai Comprehensive Development | Ronald Lu & Partners

TODTOWN is a large, comprehensive development project located in Shanghai’s Xinzhuang area and built over existing railways and metro lines, with a total gross floor area of 405,000 square metres. Providing a comprehensive-use development, public transport infrastructure and public amenity spaces, this large-scale project contains residences and serviced apartments, a hotel, offices, retail and public spaces, on top of the public transport infrastructure. Built in the heart of the Xinzhuang area, the design of the development prioritizes the efficient integration of the transport hub with all other aspects of the project. The original site, fragmented by existing railway and metro lines, had the connectivity between its northern and southern portions broken into discrete pieces, leading to congestion in the transportation network and drastically reducing the efficiency of the nearby interchange. An elongated retail mall forms the centrepiece of the TODTOWN design, reconnecting the disparate parts of the site. Conceived as two linking hands, the mall will span the site to re-join the residential districts to the north and south of the existing subway station. Re-stitching the urban fabric With 329 metro stations and growing, Shanghai’s urban sprawl is spreading at an alarming rate. Ronald Lu and Partners (RLP) took a holistic view of the Greater Shanghai area, looking particularly at existing transportation hubs and developing a vision to resolve both land supply and traffic congestion issues. The TODTOWN development will also contain a road extending over the railway lines – specifically, Lines One and Five – the oldest core metro lines in Shanghai. This approach addresses mass transportation issues and re-stitches the northern and southern portions of the site at the same time. Increasing the Efficiency of Transportation Network The planned regional retail centre creates an entirely new spatial plane which completely encompasses the existing station. In addition to creating retail opportunities for the district, the centre also serves as a 24-hour weather-proof pedestrian hub connecting the various transportation links. As numerous and diverse traffic types will pass through the project area, travellers will easily be able to change between development traffic at the ground level, public transportation at the first level, and rail traffic at the second and third levels; at the same time, people will be able to enter the malls and towers – all in the comfort of a controlled internal environment. This layered approach successfully creates a traffic interchange which exists on multiple levels. On one hand, this shortens the travelling distance between modes of transport; and on the other, increases the overall efficiency of the interchange by relieving local traffic problems and fusing coherently with the transportation network at the macro-scale. Introducing an Urban Oasis Conceived as a mini-city containing a variety of commercial and residential complexes, TODTOWN includes low- and high-rise residences as well as two towers of serviced apartments, low- and high-rise combination residential and commercial blocks, a 25-storey office tower, a five-star hotel, and a shopping mall with an IMAX cinema and an ice skating rink. There also will be an assortment of public facilities including a sky garden, a museum, a leisure and recreation centre, a city management office, an identity card registration centre and a kindergarten. While the retail centre unifies the site as a whole, the north-south road now naturally divides the development into two parcels, each with distinctive characteristics. The western hemisphere will act as the “active hub”, where the current and future station will be situated, along with other retail, commercial and hospitality facilities. The eastern hemisphere will be the “passive hub”, consisting mainly of residential towers in two themed parks. At the active hub, the mall containing six storeys of retail floors with a total length of 655 metres will be situated above the transport interchange and metro lines – there will be no alteration to or interference with the daily operation of the stations. Three civic squares will be situated inside the mall, at the north and south ends and the centre of the mall. The architects have optimized the environments of the existing north and south plazas, renewing and restructuring them into green leisure space. The garden at the centre of the mall will give users and visitors an unforgettable “indoor-outdoor experience”, drawing nature into this urban interior. These civic spaces break down the massive building volume and inject life and energy into the urban fabric, creating a lively urban oasis over the previously dull, railway-dominated landscape. The IMAX cinema will be located at the north entrance of the mall, with a splendid façade design concept which will capture the essence of this bustling, living city. The retail floors will be interlinked and interwoven with deep atria, providing natural lighting and views across the internal spaces. The large landscaped roof gardens will be dotted with high-end restaurants and coffee shops. Greening from the ground level will run through the mall which, by maximizing open green spaces for users, will seamlessly link all the constituent parts from the plaza at the north end to the two SOHO studio flats, five-star hotel, and the office tower at the south end. As the quieter, “passive” hub, the residential zone will be designed under two themes. The six storey luxury townhouses will be at the northeast, located adjacent to a relatively intimate private garden, while the 12-storey blocks will lie to the east and a 25-storey residential block of flats at the southeast will surround a garden which will be mainly used for gatherings and a place to make social connections. The concept of sustainability runs like a shining thread through the entire development. The main sustainable features will include a new treatment plant for waste water, the use of water-saving sanitary fittings and the harvesting of rainwater to irrigate the various landscapes. A host of other passive and active sustainability systems will complement these features. As the main transportation hub in Xinzhuang, TODTOWN will provide direct connections between the railways and the development, thereby slashing the commute times of users and residents alike. The design manages the flow of the high-density development’s traffic using intermodal transportation links, eases congestion in the surrounding areas and creates further efficiencies in one of Asia’s most sophisticated transport interchanges. The design also increases the “walk-ability” of neighbourhoods, with its dedicated podiums and green spaces, providing synergy between life, work and play for the development’s self-contained communities and creating a better quality of life for all. TODTOWN will create a breathing space and inject vibrant life and energy into the urban fabric, fulfilling its mission of being an urban oasis. Most importantly, this project will act as a forerunner for Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) in China, and will pave the way and break new ground for similar projects in the future.