Zhuhai Administration

8/2/2019 Zhuhai Administration

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Zhuhai, China


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Planning and Design Rationale

Design Concept The concept consists of a complex of three distinct yet richly connected buildings that relate

clearly to their natural and built context.

In this design, the natural harmony of the original land form is restored, while at the sametime, currently existing grades are used wherever possible to minimize earthworks. Gradechanges play an important role in shaping and defining the architectural concept.

In the Site Plan, each of the buildings has a somewhat different orientation. Thesouthernmost building, the administration block, is oriented to the road and lake to thesouth. The middle building, the classroom block, is aligned to the road to the east, and thenorthernmost building, the laboratory block, is aligned to the slope of the mountain.

The laboratory portion of the laboratory building nestles into the natural hillside in the northeast portion of the site, sitting above, and thus sheltering the entry porch and informaloutdoor gathering deck of the laboratory/ classroom combination. This hovering mass, with

its crowning skylight and thermal chimney, provides a strong visual focus and iconicpresence for the site.


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Design Concept The main entry to the complex as a whole is provided by a 2 storey glass atrium with its

glass roof sloped to reveal this focus. The visual and movement axis of the atrium is directlyaligned with the centre (conical skylight) of the laboratory building set into its verdantmountainside setting a powerful image of the interplay of man-made object and naturesymbolic of the character of the campus as a whole.

The main entry atrium thus provides a visual orientation to the complex, offers access toevery part of the complex, and provides a bright and lofty meeting and gathering place forstudents, staff and visitors.

Meeting and gathering places, both indoor and outdoor, are placed in strategic locationsthroughout the complex to facilitate and encourage social contact and communication.

The green roof of the classroom block provides a garden roof terrace , overlooking the newlake which has been created in the western portion of the site, and itself overlooked by the

laboratory block and upper floor offices. This roof garden is accessible directly via stairsfrom the central plaza or a bridge from the office block.


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Movement / Connections

Pedestrians

There are 4 pedestrian pathways traversing the site from south to north and connecting allof the buildings and outdoor spaces. These are shown and described on the MovementPlan.

Vehicles

Service and private vehicles share the road on the east side of the site. Service vehiclesproceed to a service dock at the rear of the Laboratory block. Short term parking spacesare provided off of the Central Square. At this stage, no underground parking has beenshown.


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Architectural Style

At Zhuhai we have the benefit of starting fresh, without the stylistic constraints of an oldercampus where a traditional or historic style may already have been established. It makessense for the architecture here to express the present, and the future, and to have thesimplicity, strength and unity of form to enhance and emphasize the natural environment ofgreenery, mountains and lakes at Zhuhai. This new tradition has already begun to take rootat Zhuhai with the Library, Teaching Buildings, and recently completed Media Design

School. The Administration Complex is meant to continue and emphasize this direction.

Simple, elemental, strong forms provide a sense of power that is appropriate to theimportance of this building on the campus.

Other forms are used for their symbolic significance. For example, as well as serving theimportant function of providing natural light and enhancing energy efficiency, the conicalform of the laboratory block skylight and thermal chimney provides a symbolic presence,enhancing and dramatizing the experience of entering the main atrium, while at the same

echoing the form of the Phoenix Mount in its backdrop.

The architecture also embraces a vocabulary which expresses the implementation ofdevices that enhance sustainability and energy efficiency. The conical skylight and thermalchimney referred to above is an example of this. Louvers used to shade south-facing glassis another (see Street Elevation).


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Architectural Style

The Hunter Museum in Chattanooga Tennessee is a good example of a building which uses simple elemental forms

uxtaposed to nature to create a sense of strength and power


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Energy-saving and VirescenceGreen buildings are far superior to their conventional counterparts, typically including featuressuch as:

Siting to minimise stress on natural systems

Durable, thermally efficient roofs, walls and windows that reduce heating and cooling and

enhance thermal comfort. Building form, orientation and thermal mass optimized for natural ventilation and daylighting

Significantly smaller and more efficient HVAC and electrical lighting systems.

Water efficient supply and waste fixtures.

Adaptable interior designs, providing visual access to the outdoors and access to daylight.

Interior finishes and installation methods having lower toxic emissions.

Landscaping that requires little or no irrigation or application of synthetic chemicals, manages

and treats stormwater and non-point-of-source pollution on site, and replenishes groundwatersupplies,

Canadian Green Building Council

LEED

Green Building Rating System

Reference Package


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Energy-saving and Virescence This passage from the Canadian LEED manual summarizes the characteristics of

Sustainable Building Design. Though many of these involve details that are beyond thescope of this presentation, and which may be considered at a more detailed design stage,those that may be shown at this stage of the design include:

Building siting and planning to minimize west facing glass Use of special low-e glass for hot climates (the best of this type of glass has a green tint as

indicated on the Elevation drawing).

Use of horizontal louvers to shade south-facing glass.

Skylights or, in the case of the upper floor offices in the administrative block, a clerestoryroof monitor window to provide natural light into deep interior spaces.

Green roofs to provide superior insulation, aid in tempering storm water runoff, and at the

same time provide useful roof gardens. Thermal chimneys for natural ventilation to augment mechanical air conditioning systems.


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Energy-saving and Virescence

At York University in Toronto louvers shading south-facing glass provide a

distinctive and attractive architectural effect.

Zhuhai Administration

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