Courtyard No. 1 / AOE

Curated by 韩双羽 - HAN Shuangyu

Architects: AOE
Area: 1560 m²
Year: 2019
Photographs:Ligang Huang
Manufacturers: Chonda Accoustics, Melson, Zhengcai
Lead Architects: Larry Wen
Landscape: AOE
Lighting Consultant: Puri Lighting Design
Structural Consultant: Shandong Dawei International Architecture Design CoLtd

Text description provided by the architects. As China’s development and urbanization continues, property developers have begun to expand into new markets such as third and fourth-tier cities. Sales offices have become an important conduit for them to demonstrate their brand’s strength and design philosophy. These offices are not only community activity centers and lounge areas for client communication, but also a promotional window to attract more clients to buy properties.

After most of the properties have been sold, however, the usefulness of these offices declines. The purpose of this project is to reconsider the special function of the sales office building, in hopes of making it more sustainable through design, by becoming a symbolic public building for the future community and city.

Courtyard No. 1 / AOE - Image 4 of 37 — © Ligang Huang

Courtyard No. 1 / AOE - Image 10 of 37 — © Ligang Huang

This project is situated at the intersection of Guangzhou Road and Minjiang Road in the Economic Development Zone of Heze City in Shandong. It will become the new CBD center of Heze. Due to its unique location, the project is expected to be a landmark building in the future development of this prefecture-level city. We hope, through the concept of humanity and sustainability, to express the city’s future yearning for a better life, and to provide to local residents an impressive public space.

Courtyard No. 1 / AOE - Image 8 of 37 — © Ligang Huang

The architectural concept is based on the artistic supremacism that reflected the social and technological changes of the 1920s, with the intention of expressing the mutual influence and interdependence between physical and virtual space in the digital age.

In the digital age, many of today’s actions are performed in the virtual world. Therefore, the objects in the building are designed to float in an unstable state. Each object echoes a corresponding function in a unique form, including the entrance (horseshoe), model area (big camera lens), enterprise brand (blue stone), office area (orange-colored box), etc.

Objects floating in the air form a rich and hierarchical space, welcoming the surrounding audiences with an open dynamic posture. Some of the objects collide with the glass surface and leave traces to form a unique architectural image. The building façade is made of ultra-white glass which makes objects, spaces, material, and color from the interior visible to the outside space.

Stainless steel metal panels with different reflectivity are used in the space, giving different objects a variety of color and forming a rich interaction between people and space, objects, light, images, colors, and materials. Visitors will experience different changes of light and shadow at every moment.

As a reflection of the real world, this project attempts to look beyond a single function of the sales office through improved design, so that it can enhance the quality of public life and lead people to strive for a better future and make a positive contribution to the community.