Under One Roof

Vanke Co., Ltd, Flagship Building

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To All

Bazhou, China | 20,100 SF

Invitations set the stage for what’s to come. The Vanke Corporation’s new flagship in Bazhou, China sends an enticing message: We’re everywhere you want to be.
Image of a bookstore on the other side of the glass walls. A bookstore is one of several retailers under one roof.

Vanke—one of the world’s biggest housing developers—was looking to establish themselves in a new market by inviting people into their brand experience. Strategically located on a busy thoroughfare, this singular flagship combines three distinct programs—marketplace, showroom, and a welcoming urban plaza—all under one roof.

GIF of building diagrams showing the process. Building shape and orientation maximizes the public plaza.
The building’s angular shape fits into and stands apart from its surroundings.

Together, the building’s form and transparency create an urban living room—a family friendly gathering point to explore, lounge, read, relax, and meet up with friends.

The building’s angular shape creates spaces for Vanke’s model housing units as well as retail zones; its transparency invites people inside to linger in the café and browse the flower shop and bookstore. Together, the building’s form and transparency create an urban living room—a family friendly gathering point to explore, lounge, read, relax, and meet up with friends.

View of the plaza and inside lobby. A welcoming plaza is a place to step away from busy pedestrian foot traffic; it signals respite inside from the urban hustle and bustle.

The triangular configurations push and pull space within the urban plaza, creating visitor circulation where people get the unusual experience of interacting with three building planes instead of the customary two. A single cantilevered roof brings it all together under a unifying form.

Elevation of the buidling. Elevation of building’s interior layout

AIA Cincinnati Architecture Merit Award

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