An urban oasis on Shanghai’s busiest intersection

Compiled by Team IAnD

Photography: Courtesy v2com

Read Time: 2 mins

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International architecture practice Jacques Ferrier Architecture and Sensual City Studio have turned what could have been an ordinary ‘office plus car park’ into an opportunity to radically reassess the surrounding urban district of Xujiahui in Shanghai.

The project titled T20, on the site of a former hotel, combines office, civic, commercial and cultural space with elevated planted pedestrian walkways, connecting the streets and buildings at Shanghai’s busiest intersection.

The design explores ways in which the project could become a generous catalyst for the wider environment, building pedestrian connections, walkways and bridges above the transport interchange as an extension of the building; and in doing so, renewing the local infrastructure. 

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Through extensive analysis, both studios not just identify the need for enhanced pedestrian connectivity at the intersection but incorporate this into the building’s car park. The radical intervention creates raised and planted walkways, which lift pedestrians eight metres above the crossroads to provide more logical and enjoyable connectivity between city landmarks such as the church and the park.

The project includes two levels of commercial space underground, one of which is connected to the Metro City building by an underground gallery. Floors 1 and 2 house several hundred square metres of community spaces. Floors 3 to 7 house the public car park, which unfolds in the form of a continuous spiral, serving the offices and businesses of the district. The 8th and 9th floors are shared office spaces arranged around a large raised garden, and house a reception for visitors, cafeteria, meeting rooms, auditorium and spaces for relaxation and conviviality. Levels 10 to 15 have been developed as efficient and user-friendly office floors. The top two floors are home to the cultural centre, space that seemingly "floats" on the skyline of the district.

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 As a piece of architecture, T20 expresses the movement and dynamism inherent in the site: its circulation and activation through human use, across the bridges that connect to the city and at ground and first floor level, where public facilities and shops are located. The car park becomes a lush urban oasis for the city, with the insertion of an extraordinary “hanging garden” that is visible from key public spaces.

This combined approach brings nature into even the most densely populated area, through suspended gardens and plantings throughout the scheme, and a hanging garden, which will help to counteract some of the inevitable pollution in the area; all along balancing dynamic movement and respite, and reintroducing a naturally therapeutic environment into the urban conditions.

Fact File:

Client: Shanghai Xujiahui Commercial Real Estate Development Co, Ltd.

Architects: Jacques Ferrier Architecture (JFA) with Sensual City Studio (SCS)

Area: 215,000 sq. ft. (20,000 sq. m.)

Location: Shanghai [China]