This is a proposal for an office complex to be built as the new headquarters of a marine development and research company. Located in a coastal area of China, the site is within a newly developed research park. The south and west sides face other companies’ research facilities, across the streets. The east side looks onto a forest and the north side has a view of the Yellow Sea in the distance.
Within a 154,000 m2 plot of land, the complex is required to function as headquarters, research facility, exhibition hall, hotel/meeting/residential building, cafeteria, and gym. In addition, a 400m track and tennis courts are to be included in the facility. It is a research and development establishment that can accommodate researchers for a long stay. The construction is scheduled in two stages. Plans for the research facility, cafeteria and exhibition hall as the first stage and the grand design of the project are the subject for this proposal.
On the east end of the site, the research facility building is ten-stories high and each floor has about 6,000m2, which is larger than the general square footage of one floor for typical office buildings and categorized as a “mega office”. My proposal is to create a space where one can feel the presence of nature: the light and the wind, despite the size of the facility. Exterior walls are double-skinned and we propose to use the semi-outdoor space as terraces and stairs. There is a patio in the middle of the building and by limiting the depth of offices to 30m, it permits light to pass from both sides and enables occupants to feel natural light anywhere in the office. The top floor is the cafeteria. The water garden on the roof, which acts as a countermeasure for the top-story heat environment, plays a visual role as well and, from the cafeteria, a view of the Yellow Sea unfolds beyond the water garden.
The second one, restaurant building is the kind of company landmark, representing a boat setting out to sea. Covered by the tent roof, which reminds us of a sailing vessel, one can dine looking out over the surrounding water garden while soft light filters down through the tent roof.
