Idea Factory / MVRDV

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Cityscape, WindowsIdea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Cityscape, WindowsIdea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, GardenIdea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, GardenIdea Factory  / MVRDV - More Images+ 23

  • Founding Partner In Charge: Winy Maas
  • Partner: Wenchian Shi
  • Design Team: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Guang Ruey Tan, Peter Chang, Cai Zheli, Echo Zhai, Pim Bangert, Elien Deceuninck, Daehee Suk, Monika Wiecha, Alberto Menozzi, Alexis Lode, Anamarija Vrzina, Enrica Perrot, Luca Beltrame, Michele Tavola, Hengwei Ji
  • Visualizations: Antonio Coco, Pavlos Ventouris, Luc Piattelli, Magda Bykowska, Jaroslaw Jeda
  • Co Architects: Shenzhen Bowan Architecture Design Institute
  • Local Interior Architect: Biaogao Design
  • Director Mvrdv Asia: Steven Smit
  • Strategy And Development: Jammy Zhu
  • Copyright: MVRDV Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries
  • Facade Consultant: PAG
  • City: Shenzhen
  • Country: China
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Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Cityscape, Windows
© Xia Zhi

Text description provided by the architects. Idea Factory, is a transformation of a former factory building in the Shenzhen urban village of Nantou that sustainably reuses and improves the building instead of demolishing and rebuilding it. The project contains a mixture of offices for the Urban Research Institute of China Vanke and offices for rent – yet despite this program, its distinguishing features are public in nature: a stairway cuts its way through the six-story building, leading to a rooftop with a series of “rooms” enclosed by living bamboo “walls”, offering a variety of amenities and activities.

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Cityscape, Windows
© Xia Zhi
Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Windows, Cityscape
© Xia Zhi

Nantou has roots as an ancient historic town but is now an urban village of Shenzhen, dwarfed by the skyscrapers that surround it. The Idea Factory is the largest project in a number of renovations proposed by Vanke, all with designs by nationally and internationally renowned architects, which aims to accelerate Nantou’s transformation into a cultural and creative hub.

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Image 27 of 28
Step diagram
Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Image 23 of 28
First floor plan

Rather than demolish and rebuild, the design sustainably renovates a disused factory building, maintaining a piece of Nantou’s history while also having lower embodied carbon emissions than a new building. The building’s original structure has been strengthened so that an extra floor could be added on top to maximize floor area. Meanwhile, the original façades have been removed, with the building’s concrete frame exposed and preserved to show traces of the building’s history. The new façade is set back from the edge of the structure, creating open loggias that wrap around the whole building. These allow for circulation and enable the chance encounters with colleagues that make for a dynamic creative environment.

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Garden
© Xia Zhi
Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Garden
© Xia Zhi
Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography
© Xia Zhi

Facing a small public square on the ground floor, a protruding tube-like structure clad in wood marks the entrance to the public staircase that carves its way through the building. Inside, the staircase is clad in mirrors and festooned with bright neon signs, creating an aesthetic reminder of the early days of Shenzhen’s urbanization. On the fourth floor, this staircase protrudes out the other side of the building – a chance to take in a view the surrounding rooftops – before turning and continuing up to the roof.

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade
© Xia Zhi
Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade
© Xia Zhi

Upon exiting the staircase, visitors are greeted with a green bamboo landscape packed with amenities and activities. This is arranged to form a bamboo “maze” that divides the rooftop into different rooms, each containing a different activity: a glass box for performances and events, a variety of seating areas, a gym, a trampoline, swings, a tea house, a dining room, a dance floor, and a chess set. This roof makes the project more sustainable both ecologically and socially: the bamboo creates a cool, shaded space and supports biodiversity within a dense urban environment, while the activity rooms provide social and leisure spaces in a neighborhood that has historically been disadvantaged.

Idea Factory  / MVRDV - Interior Photography
© Xia Zhi

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Project location

Address:Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Idea Factory / MVRDV" 30 Nov 2022. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/992956/idea-factory-mvrdv> ISSN 0719-8884

© Xia Zhi

深圳南头古城新增‘绿屋顶’,if 创意工厂 / MVRDV

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