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September 2, 2004
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Image Courtesy Lab Architecture
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Lab Architecture Studio of Melbourne,
Australia, will design a new a 170,000 square-meter office
and retail mixed-use development at the western edge Beijing’s
Central Business District. The new development, called SOHO
Shang Du, will be adjacent to Beijing’s famed Landau
Department Store, and will cost an estimated 830 million Yuan.
SOHO Shang Du will comprise of two elements built on neighboring
city blocks, which will be connected by a large oblique bridge
that crosses over a busy city street. The proposed design
has a faceted image comprised of a series of forms and shapes
inspired by crystals. Peter Davidson, a director at Lab and
SOHO Shang Du’s lead architect explained the building’s
design as influenced by the radicals of fractal geometry.
“Architecture is about geometry and life,” says
Davidson, who hopes SOHO Shang Du will be a new urban icon
for Beijing.
The project’s developers are SOHO China, led by husband-and-wife
team Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin. Their projects include Commune
by the Great Wall, which features works by Shigeru Ban and
others, two large-scale SOHO developments in Beijing and the
Boao Canal Village, designed by Hong Kong’s Rocco Yim.
Their most recent completed development, Jianwai SOHO (Record,
April 2004) has become one of Beijing’s most sought-after
properties. Additionally, Pan and Zhang are currently working
with Zaha Hadid to develop a large residential subdivision
in Beijing. Zhang and Pan have emerged as patrons of high
quality architecture and design in an environment where developers
often pay scant attention to the design of their buildings.
“My mission is to find beautiful things and bring them
to China,” says Zhang, who is a well known public figure
in China and has been the subject of much curiosity from overseas.
Zhang was initially drawn to Lab because of their design of
Federation Square in Melbourne, which is also clad in labyrinthine
geometric façades.
“Federation Square engages with contemporary life, rather
than repeat historical models,” says Davidson, who hopes
to repeat its success in the heart of Beijing.
“Construction will begin in October,” assures Zhang,
despite a recent downturn in China’s overheated construction
market, ”and we should be finished by the end of 2006,
in time for the Olympics.”
Daniel Elsea
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