ASPECT Studios wins design competition for Alibaba’s Xixi Campus in Hangzhou,
ASPECT Studios won the international design competition for the Alibaba Headquarters Project (Park C) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Based on the “BioHabiNet” concept, the ASPECT proposal focuses on an interconnected network of layered biodiversity,
sustainable water systems, and community-oriented workplaces.
The Xixi campus will host more than 30,000 Alibaba employees and aims to become a precedent for more corporate parks to support China’s carbon neutral goal of 2060.
Alibaba is the leading e-commerce company in China and operates the world’s largest online marketplace for international and domestic trade in China.
In the past decade, the multinational company has expanded to include famous architectural buildings,
Such as Hassel headquarters in Hangzhou, and offices in Wuhan designed by Benoy,
and the second Foster + Partners headquarters building, and the recently announced campus of Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill (SOM), both located in Shanghai, China’s largest city and global financial centre.
Design features
The design inspiration for the Hangzhou campus comes from the Xixi Wetland,
a historical landmark spanning an area of 1,150 hectares and a cultural heritage spanning 4,000 years.
Based on the unique local environmental fabric,
ASPECT has created a design proposal that focuses on interconnected design systems: Water, biodiversity, people and
ulture come together in a green lattice to create a stimulating and inviting campus environment.
The program identifies three main strategies – health,
social and work – that nature adopts through an interactive technology system at the site level.
The landscape creates a series of spaces by drawing the character of the region with an integrated agenda to support a healthy and active lifestyle,
reflecting Alibaba’s vision of a place that welcomes all.
The project is under construction and sets out an aggressive strategy to build and operate a large university campus in a carbon positive manner.
The ASPECT approach is guided by the endeavor to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the production,
transportation and installation of building materials.
Wherever possible, local, sustainably produced, recycled materials have been used,
complemented by a lush urban forest and an extensive local planting schedule.
ASPECT’s work in China also includes the landscape design for the Shanghai Oriental Library by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.
By advocating a symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural environments,
the design embraces the idea of “assembly to connect”,
By defining a network of natural indoor and outdoor spaces.
The project opened in 2022 and is considered one of the largest new libraries in the world.
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