Spring City Center in Shanxi, China by SITUATE Architecture

Article source: SITUATE Architecture

Site & Context

The residential project “Spring City Heights” is located in Qingxu, a county of Shanxi Province with the population of 360,000. With the urbanization ratio of 37.15%, Qingxu is undergoing rapid development due to supportive policies from the local government. In May 2020, Qingxu was listed in the New Type Urbanization Models with its competitive location in Shanxi Transition and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone.

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

• Architects: SITUATE Architecture
• Project: Spring City Center
• Location: Shanxi, China
• Photography: Weiqi JIN, ZHANG Zhen
• Client: Heights Properties
• Principal: ZHANG Minghui
• Project Team: TANG Yanni, JIAO Yang, WANG Xiaogang, Amy SONG, ZHANG Zhen, ZHANG Hongyu
• Structural & MEP Engineering: Shanxi Architecture and Design Institute
• Soft Decoration: LIU Shujie
• Structure: Steel Structure
• Building Area: 1,200㎡
• Design Period: 02/2020-06/2020
• Construction Period: 06/2020-09/2020

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Overview

Sited at the east gate of the residential garden, “Spring City Center” is currently used as sales and display center of the project and will be the commercial space after the completion of the “Spring City Heights”. It will build up direct contact between the residence and the city.

Commercial/Enclosure/Passage

In general case, residential commercial podium exists as part of the boundary walls surrounding the compound. To encourage the consumption from the compound, most retailers choose to open an extra door to the residential area, which unconsciously connects the residence with the city by creating small individual passageways. In this project, SITUATE Architecture reorganized the functions of retail space, boundary wall and passageway and integrated them in one space.

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Connectivity

The design intention of the “Spring City Center” was to dissolve the boundary between the residence and the city by transforming the boundary walls into a multi-functional transitional space.

SITUATE Architecture created the transitional space by cutting through the “retail box” and inserting a passage in between, in the shape of the residence side wider and the street side narrower. Facing the residence, the passage goes wider in an inviting gesture; facing the street, it extends out from the retail box to the street, which links up the residence to the city.

First floor will be in commercial use and the second floor is the working space of the property management. In the “Spring City Center”, those functions of commercial, working, living are reorganized without interference to each other, which will hopefully achieve an ideal scenario of coexistence.

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © ZHANG Zhen

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © Weiqi JIN

Image Courtesy © SITUATE Architecture

Image Courtesy © SITUATE Architecture

Image Courtesy © SITUATE Architecture

Image Courtesy © SITUATE Architecture

Image Courtesy © SITUATE Architecture

Tags: China, Shanxi

Categories: City Center, Commercial Area, Commercial Building

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