Goettsch Partners has recently won a design competition for an expansive urban renewal initiative in Jinan, China. Spanning three parcels, encompassing a total area of 111,500 sqm, the scheme is situated alongside the infamous Honglou Plaza. Positioned at the city’s center, Honglou Plaza holds historical significance as home to one of the region’s oldest cathedrals. The competition aimed to introduce concepts that would re-energize the regional core, through a design centered on pedestrian engagement.
The project creates a hierarchy of interconnected public spaces through the underground transit system already in place. The mixed-use design includes several buildings that have been placed deliberately to create view corridors that lead to the cathedral and highlight the cathedral's architectural significance. The program features retail space, hospitality, a transportation hub, office spaces, and a cultural museum.
We believe that a successful proposal must be respectful of the rich architectural context found at Honglou Plaza. The new complex reinterprets elements of the local culture in a contemporary manner, ensuring that the architecture is unique yet cohesive with its surroundings. --Paul De Santis, partner and co-design director at GP.
The adjacent cathedral's high ceilings and arches served as an influence on the complex's architectural design. Across the three parcels, these distinctive geometries are reinterpreted in a contemporary way, incorporating bronze highlights and local limestone to create a campus-like feel. The "Lotus Atrium" and "Lotus Gallery," two expansive interior areas that are part of the design, capture the spirit of the local way of life with structural designs influenced by the lotus flower, a municipal icon. Boasting terraces highlighting essential view corridors, the building aims to create an active multilevel experience as it move towards Honglou Plaza and the central plaza.
The three bundles of differing programs are designed to develop synergies that do not already exist. Making use of the nearby university population and the daily stream of people visiting Honglou Plaza, the design places innovative office space and museum spaces on the upper floors, while retail and hospitality programs occupy lower flowers. To ensure a vibrant pedestrian life throughout the day, three sunken plazas offer direct access to the nearby subway station.
Fostering innovation, architecture competitions serve as platforms leading the evolution of urban landscapes. Last week, MVRDV won the competition to design two structures in the Tianfu Software Park in Chengdu, China. Additionally, RHSP has recently won the Jean Moulin competition in La Défense, Paris, to design a low-carbon mixed-use development. The scheme aims to become the world's first post-carbon business neighborhood. Finally, Foster + Partners has been selected as the winner of an international competition to design a new center for China’s Zhejiang province, Hangzhou.
