The Floating Headquarters project is part of the Luxelakes Eco City development, located in Chengdu. Positioned on the Eco City’s northern edge the project is integrated in the residential area and sits beside a lakeside peninsula. The Floating Headquarters consists of eleven standalone office buildings enclosing three courtyards.

The intention of the design was to create a welcoming space. We can all agree that the most beautiful moments and events taking place in an urban neighborhood are when people meet and mingle in public spaces. In this project we wanted to construct an environment able to enhance this most charming aspect of a contemporary city, to design a space where tenants and residents can be stimulated to unlock new lifestyle possibilities. 

我们认为，城市街区最生动的地方在于公共空间里人与人的相遇或交流——这种真实而偶然的际遇，正是当代城市生活最重要的迷人特征。

The abundance of natural landscapes and public spaces created within the Floating Headquarters provides such opportunity. 

The architectural concept stems from the exploration of two distinct and carefully planned spatial organizations: one is the design of a series of horizontal courtyards, the other is devised as a system of vertical circulations featuring green pocketsat various levels.

蔓延的院落

Sprawling Courtyards

Horizontally, three courtyards define the character of the spaces enclosed by the office buildings. These three enclosures are called the Vertical, Tree and Water courtyard. They are placed in sequence and connect the North with the South of the plot. Each courtyard has a unified grid pattern of façades that define the buildings’overall structure and appearance. The different types of grid pattern for the façade are further refined and adapted according to their orientation and positioning towards either the urban context or the courtyards.

北立面绿色生长空间  |  摄影：存在建筑

Interconnected Pockets of Green Space on the North Façade, Photo: Arch-Exist

树院子绿色生长空间  |  摄影：存在建筑

  Interconnected Pockets of Green Space in Tree Courtyard, Photo: Arch-Exist

Following the terrain’s downwards slope towards the south, the third “Water Courtyard” is conceived as a tranquil and serene environment. For the facades we chose glass bricks, translucent and sensitive to light, so tocreate a soothing architectural atmosphere echoing the water’s natural transparency. Below the elevated office structures, the generous open areas feature crystal clear water parties. We wanted the buildings to float above the water at various heights so that when a gentle breeze stirs ripples across theliquid surfaces it also helps to ventilate and fine-tune the buildings’ microclimate.

起伏的地平

Rolling Terrain

Vertically, the strategy of raising the buildings above the ground allows for large open areas and sunken gardens to be created underneath. This gesture gives the overall impression of the eleven  office buildings appearing to float above the terrain. This act of architectural levitation not only mitigates the potential feeling of claustrophobia, imposed by the encircling building volumes, but first and foremost softens the transition between the massing of the architectural volumes and the scale of city. The creation of a series of public spaces underneath the eleven buildings invites the city and its habitants into the project.

We also paid special attention to the areas located in-between the buildings’ sidewalls since these are commonly rather muted in their design and appearance. Rather than treating them as leftover spaces, the areas surrounding the fire safety stairs feature interconnected pockets of green space.

The design for each individual office tower started with the understanding of the maximum usable floor areas, given that one set of external fire stairs is placed in-between two neighboring sidewalls. This resulted in asystem of vertical public spaces shared in-between the buildings. These spaces all feature outdoor terraces and vertical plantings, while complying with fire egress requirements. 

Part of the vertical circulation system, these interconnected green clusters climb from the subterranean gardens and courtyards upwards, meandering along the sidewalls all the way up to the rooftop of each office building. With the Floating Headquarters, we wanted to create a place where people meet, a place where relationships between people, city, and nature are celebrated, horizontally and vertically.

水院子下沉空间  |  摄影：陈颢

SunkenPlaza in Water Courtyard, Photo: Chen Hao

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平面图  |  ©直向建筑

Plans, ©Vector Architects

剖面图  |  ©直向建筑

Section, ©Vector Architects

立面图  |  ©直向建筑

Elevation, ©Vector Architects

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墙身图  |  ©直向建筑

Details, ©Vector Architects

Location: No. 199 West Section of Luhu North Road, Luxelakes Eco-city, Tianfu NewDistrict, Chengdu, Sichuan, China 

Architectural/LandscapeDesign: Vector Architects

Design Principal: DongGong

Project Architect: FengChaoying

Site Architect: Huang Tianzhi

Construction Management: Zhao Liangliang, LiJinteng

Design Management: Liu Chen, Zhang Kai, Wang Nan,Sun Dongping

Project Team: MaXiaokai, Chang I-Hsiu, Tu Dan, Ai Xin, Wang Yichi, Zhang Han, Chen Zhoujie,Zhang Zhao, Zhao Dan, Teng Xiaotong

LDI (Preliminary Design): China Academy of BuildingResearch

Structural Engineer (Preliminary Design): XiaoCongzhen, Chu Dewen, Ma Hongrui, Li Yilong

MEP Engineer (Preliminary Design): Zhang Peng(plumbing), Chen Yanan (heating), Li Hui (electricity), Li Xiaofei(electricity)

LDI (Construction documents design): Sichan ShutaiArchitectural Design Co., LTD

LDI Project Architect (Construction documentsdesign): Zhang Chongling

LDI Project Team (Construction documents design): GaoJie, Liu Fei

Structural Engineer (Construction documents design):Zhong Ming, Guo Gaohua, He Lin

MEP Engineer (Construction documents design): YinFulin (plumbing), Lin Yan (plumbing), Gong Bo (heating), Zhao Dan (heating),Liu Wei (electricity), Liang Xiaowei (electricity)

Landscape Design:Greenview Landscape

Facade Consultant: Shenzhen Keyuan BuildingDecoration Group Co.,Ltd.

Lighting Consultant: X Studio, School ofArchitecture, Tsinghua University

Interior Designer: Sichuan Sunbonny ConstructionCo., Ltd.

Signage Designer：XIANGSU, Shanghai BOXI Signage Co., Ltd.

Client: Chengdu Wide Horizon Investment GroupCo., Ltd.

Construction Contractor：China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd.

Structure System: Frame-core Wall Structure, Frame Structure

Material: Fair-faced Concrete, Concrete Brick,Glass Brick, Wood Cladding, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Glass

Floor Area: 70462.55㎡ (Ground Area: 42644.96㎡、Underground Area 27817.59㎡)

Footprint Area: 8253.69㎡

Site Area: 19770.05㎡

Design Period: 2016.08-2018.09

Construction Period：2018.08-2021.09