Hanergy Energy Pavilion

 

“A floating village in the woods.”

 

The brief was to have a green building, with a natural feel and sustainable. It had to feel free and transparent. Had to showcase and accommodate the latest products from Hanergy. The spaces had to incorporate the user to engage with the products and processes behind Hanergy. The office spaces were to promote a new type of ‘future’ office space. Programs to include were: cafe, press conference space, auditorium, ‘future’ office spaces, gallery spaces, training spaces, CEO office, secret meeting spaces, wine and cigar space, aquarium.

Our concept “A floating village in the woods” sets the tone for this whole project. People empathise towards this idea of a village within a forest as they feel very comfortable in the space. It both boosts the productivity of the employees, the comfortability in the brand for people to purchase new products, and creates a new and engaging space to bring new clients and become a new attraction in the area of Zhongshan. We used CLT columns as structure. They appear wonky, however completely structural, giving the impression of an internal forest. The CLT is sustainable and as strong as steel. It makes the space feel like it’s part of the mountain, within a forest of trees, and will show off the brand being “green” and “sustainable”.

The second idea was this notion of “No air conditioning”. Zhongshan’s climate requires nearly all buildings to have air conditioning. We want to change that. As part of the sustainability effort, we will be using other technologies (such as geo-thermal cooling) and our design strategies (cooling the building with a waterfall that runs through the building) to cool the building. This building will set a precedent so that other buildings can accommodate the same techniques and strategies to make the city of Zhongshan a better and more environmentally friendly city. Some spaces such as the offices need special climate control and security and therefore will be controlled within these “floating houses” boxes. This means the space becomes semi-public and can be used after hours as a park, or club/entertainment space, for example. This is all housed under a thin, elegant roof which shades the whole space and blends the building into the mountain. Columns will house all services. The columns will also insert into the mountain for geo-thermal cooling. There will be internal gardens, providing meeting places surrounded by water which will naturally cool the space.

At the first glance one can see partial amounts of products on display, people working and the cafe, creating intrigue and wanting one to move inside. In order for one to reach either the cafe, display apartment or galleries, one has to maneuver through the “village” site, and through this, one is educated. One is educated by observing the people working in the offices (creating this connection between the buyer/observer and the designer/engineer, and the whole site becomes an education system.

With the idea of “a floating village in the woods” we wanted to mimic a feeling of “Serenity” in the space. Using cues from Frank Lloyd Wright’s “falling water” house and Jean Nouvel’s Abu Dhabi Louvre, we situated bodies of water throughout the space. The water from pond situated at the top, is then filtered, and flows through the site, like a waterfall. At the point of the cafe, the water runs underneath the glass floor boards, to make people feel like they are sitting on water. The water then drops and collects at the front of the site. The visual and acoustic qualities create the feeling of serenity. Bodies of water, filled with Koi fish cool the internal space. They will also show/educate people on greywater strategies. The view looking out of the office spaces will be green and the glazing will make the space feel bigger than it really is. Entrance into CEO and manager offices is through a walkway that submerges beneath the pond. Secretly hidden, located within the mountain is a ‘cave’ that houses a cellar and private dining and entertainment space. The surrounding walls can be an aquarium to continue this idea. Encompassing the roof of the building will be a green garden and solar panels for clients to inspect, engineers to test products and for educational programs to occur. There will be cut outs to let in natural daylight as well to create a spectacle.

 

Location: Zhongshan, China

Client: Hanergy Energy

Year: 2019

Status: In Progress

Program: State-of-the-art Showroom, Cafe, Offices, Education and Technical Development Space

Team: Beau Avedissian & Kalo Huang (lead designers); Hanergy Energy (technician consultants)

 

 

 

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