Nanchang Vanke Retail | Spark architects

The project is located in the southwest corner of the central city Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. The east side of our site is adjacent to Xiang Lake, which is rich in hydrology and has several tributaries of the Fu River flowing into it. Our client hopes that the entire area can become a cultural and leisure destination with Nanchang characteristics, creating a water-friendly leisure and entertainment complex, a liveable environment that coexists and thrives with the ecosystem. Thus, the location of this project, the core area of both the Waterfront Cultural and Leisure Corridor and the Waterfront Community Living Area, it is of great significance for the client's vision of the region. 

Form Making 

The adjacent villa project follows a strict grid design. Integrating the wetland landscape concept of Xiang Lake with the grid villa was a challenge encountered during the initial conception of this design. To address this issue, we created corridors by cutting into traditional strip commercial blocks, which not only echo the forms of the villas but also introduce the wetland landscape. Additionally, we extracted curved design elements from the local wetlands and red soil and applied them to the design of commercial outdoor terraces. These terraces are connected on the second and third floors, serving as a transition from the natural landscape to the grid villas. This approach not only promotes the connectivity between the villa and the landscape, but also endows the commercial architecture with distinct identity. 

Circulation 

We intentionally integrated the commercial circulation path into the design of the "façade", connecting people from ground level to rooftop terraces, and from walkways to courtyards, creating maximum practicality and comfort. The commercial pedestrian traffic is redirected to higher floors, greatly enhancing the spatial value of the higher floors. This design embodies an open, charming, and integrated community space where people can shop, stroll, enjoy food, and experience unique spatial delights. 

Material and Colours 

In order to create a suitably scaled and tension-filled curved façade, the project underwent multiple rounds of material research, starting with plain concrete, small-texture titanium zinc plate, GRC, and ultimately settling on aluminum curtain wall. This material was chosen for its ability to achieve a pure and naturally flowing architectural effect with the minimum number of panels and joints. 

The largest single curtain wall in this project exceeds 7 meters in height, encompassing the entire upper section of the parapet wall, the folding façade design, and the outdoor ceiling details. 

In terms of colour scheme for the façade, the design opts for white and grey tones that serve to highlight the green hue of the wetland plants. The use of white aluminium panels, ultra-white glass, light grey stone flooring, and dark grey metal frames creates a rich sense of layering and different gradients in the façade design. At the same time, the warm colour scheme for the outdoor terraces and ceilings complements the curved contours, highlighting the regional characteristics of Nanchang's red soil. 

Summarize 

The floating pier commercial project is an important part of the overall development of the Nanchang central urban area, with the aim of breaking through traditional community commercial models and creating a more iconic regional destination with a broader urban perspective. However, there are two key conflicts in this project. Firstly, the villa community itself has higher requirements for privacy, which needs to be balanced with the public nature of the commercial area. Secondly, it is necessary to integrate the natural wetland landscape of Xiang Lake with the grid villa building forms. Our design starts from the local regional characteristics of Nanchang and cleverly resolves these conflicts through architectural design language, presenting more possibilities for community commercial activities, providing more outdoor space for the commercial area, and providing a better platform for visitors to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Xiang Lake. This may be the true value of this project. 

[CHN]

 项目基地位于江西省南昌中心城区西南角，赣江东岸，基地东侧紧邻象湖，水文丰富，数条抚河支流水系汇流于此。业主希望整个区域可以成为具有南昌特色的文化休闲目的地，打造滨湖亲水的复合休闲娱乐，与生态共生共荣的宜居环境，结合象湖文化资源的空间体验以及城市与自然相容的绿色世界。而本案所在位置，正处在水岸文化休闲廊与水岸社区生活环的核心区域。对于业主对该区域的愿景有着重要的意义。 

形体生成 

与本商业项目毗邻的世纪水岸别墅项目遵寻了严格的方格网设计，如何通过建筑体量将象湖的湿地景观意向和别墅的方格建筑形体连接起来，是本设计在初期构思时就遇到的挑战。为此我们从传统的条式商业体块切出廊道，在形体上呼应别墅体块的同时将湿地景观引入。与此同时，我们从当地湿地和红土中提取曲线的设计语言，应用到商业室外露台的设计中去，并在二三层将商业体块串联，从而在完成从柔曲自然景观向方正居住单元过渡的同时，也让商业建筑本身也极具标志性。

功能流线 

我们特意将商业动线也融合到“立面”的设计中，连接人们从地面到屋顶平台，从走道到庭院，从而创造出最大的实用性和舒适性。当人们身在其中被自然和建筑吸引时，自身也成了一道被欣赏的风景。在看与被看中将商业人流引导到更高的楼层，从而使二层三层的空间价值得到深度的挖掘。该设计体现了一个开放、迷人、景观一体化的社区空间，人们可以在这里购物、闲逛、享受美食、 体验与众不同的空间乐趣。 

材料色彩 

为了打造尺度适宜又充满张力的曲线立面，项目在设计过程中进行了多轮的材料研究，从清水混凝土，小肌理钛锌板，GRC到最后定稿采用铝板幕墙，通过尽量少的板块和分缝达到纯净自然流动的建筑效果。其中最大的单块幕墙高度超过7m，女儿墙上口，立面折叠造型及室外吊顶收口，由一整块铝板折叠而成。 

在立面色彩上，设计采用了衬托湿地植物绿色的白色灰色色系，通过白色铝板，超白玻璃，浅灰色石材地面以及深灰色金属杆件打造了极富层次感不同梯度的立面层次。与此同时，暖色的室外吊顶及露台地面配合曲线的轮廓，勾勒出了南昌红土的地域特色。

总结 

鸟屿浮云商业街项目，作为业主在南昌市区整个片区开发的重要组成部分，意在突破传统的社区商业模式。把眼光放到更为广阔的城市空间，打造更具有标志性的区域目的地。而别墅社区本身又对私密性有更高的要求。此为矛盾点之一。如何调和象湖自然的湿地景观语言和别墅区方格建筑语言。此为矛盾点之二。我们的设计从南昌本土的地域性出发，用巧妙的建筑设计语言化解了这两者的矛盾，为业主呈现了社区商业的更多可能性，为商业提供了更多户外空间，也为来访者提供了更好的欣赏象湖美景的平台。这可能才是这个项目的真正价值所在。 

Team: Stephen Pimbley, Wenhui Lim, Yao Jun, Luca Maccarinelli, Zhusong Mei, Javier Campoy, Mark Mancenido 

Photography: ZY Architectural photograph, CreatAR Images