Visitor & Sports Center Future Park at ZJ Innopark

Location: Shanghai, China

Completion Date: 2018

Building Area: 15,200 sqm

Design Principal: Ping Jiang, FAIA

Design Team: Michael Morgan, RIBA, Wenjia Wang，Alberto Canero, Ratima Suwanrumpha

Client: Zhangjiang Group

Master Planning: MAD Architects

The Future Park is located in Zhangjiang Middle District between Shangke and Naxian Road. The 104,300-square-meter land area is designed to link the north Chuangyang river and south Zhihui river together by seamlessly blending architecture with landscape at multi-level. The buildings are strategically positioned along the Chuanyang and Zhihui River, forming rich urban landscape around the centralized lake following the image of Chinese royal yuanlin.

The park features 5 active buildings which include the art center, performance center, library, sport center and visiting center. Additionally, the park provides outdoor activities and relaxation area to the residents of Zhangjiang district. Collaborating with MAD Architects on masterplaning, our team was in charge of designing the sports center and the visitor center.

Visitor center

Visitor center is conceived as a floating pavilion situated next to the lake. It is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Chinese pavilion as a place to stay or rest. The visitor center is the first point of assembly for the visitors of Zhangjiang Park. The form of the building is carefully designed to have a flexible and open space allowing for free flow circulation. Light penetrate into the space through skylights and the tapered cylindrical glass penetrating the roof, which then creates a courtyard. Enclosed with a 360-degree glazing, the visiting center provides the visitors a panoramic view of the park. The first floor accommodates the foyer, office area, retail, café, kitchen and the dining area. Exhibition and multi-purpose rooms are located in the basement level of the building.

Sports center

The sports center has an area of about 12,500 square meters. It is intended as a fusion of architecture and landscape. It features an Olympic-size swimming pool, basketball hall and badminton hall. In the design the shape of the building emerges as a gradual slope making a small hill that gives the opportunity to make a different conditions for the landscape. In this dialogue with the landscape and the natural green surroundings of the overall park, a sunken plaza is created to make the entrance of the building also having an interesting relationship interior-exterior. Falling water is introduced from the roof to the sunken plaza at the entrance to enhance the natural component of the design. In order to create better natural lighting environment, long windows and dotted skylights are introduced in the sides and the roof of the building.