Aedas recently won a competition to design a bay front, mixed-use development in Wu Yuan Wan, Xiamen, China. The mixed-use development comprises a shopping mall, a five-star hotel and two SOHO towers with a total gross floor area of 175,000 square meters. With an aim to become the centre piece of a new master plan, it will be a new retail landmark and a well integrated complex that responds to its watery surrounding.
Inspired by the ancient Chinese character for water, the three curvilinear strips define the podium massing. The SOHO and hotel towers are designed with a simple north-south circulation flow that echoes the water flow from north to south and responds to different nodal points around the site. The towers are aligned in the west side of the site, creating a terrace massing for the podium where mall patrons can enjoy the beautiful bay view of Wu Yuan Wan on the terrace and rooftop.
The architecture for the retail mall takes its inspiration from ripples and interference in the water's fluid surface. The design team broke away from the conventional opaque box of retail design and used layered vertical blades with various degrees of opacities to allow visual interaction between the interior and exterior. This project is scheduled to be completed in 2015.