漂浮总部位于成都麓湖生态城的北部湖岸半岛，由十一座独栋办公楼宇和它们围合出的三个院子构成。在这个项目中，我们希望用空间的方式向人们发出邀请，让更多的自然与公共空间为高密度办公建筑及它所承载的生活方式带来新的可能。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。
在空间操作上，方案主要从水平和垂直两个方向进行系统性规划设计。在水平方向上，我们采用围合状的院落式布局，为使用者创造出具有归属感的内向型空间。三个院子由北向南依次展开并相互贯通，立面采用统一的“格构系统”，建立起建筑群在城市中的结构基调和风貌。我们进一步根据每个建筑立面所面向的具体城市空间属性，在“格构系统”内定义不同的立面单元类型。北侧邻接城市的 “立体院子”采用更为工业化的铝幕墙和混凝土砌块作为城市街道空间界面的主要材料，并设置丰富的垂直交通与下沉庭院空间，将城市的活力与多样性引入，完成从城市公共街区到相对私密的办公空间的过渡。
中部的 “树院子”是建筑群落中面积最大的开放绿色空间，立面主要采用木质板材，结合幕墙垂直绿化与更为自然的空间氛围相呼应。场地南侧是依循地势向下叠落的“水院子”，属性更为静谧，因此我们选择了对光线更为敏感、灵透的玻璃砖回应水的意象。架空层底部是大面积的开放水域，建筑漂浮于不同标高的水面之上，微风带起涟漪的同时，也有助于调节建筑空间的微气候。
在垂直方向上，整个建筑群落在地面层采取大面积架空及下沉的策略，十一栋总部办公楼宇有如漂浮于地面之上。架空的操作不仅消解了围合体量的封闭感，也模糊了建筑的边界，在吸纳城市脉络的同时，创造出了一系列对城市与使用者充满欢迎姿态的公共空间。同时，我们在传统定义中相对消极的山墙之间建立了一套 “绿色生长空间系统”，以化解疏散楼梯往往被当作剩余空间处理的问题。设计思考的起点是最大化各层可用面积，在相邻建筑山墙面之间设置一部共用的室外疏散楼梯，在满足消防疏散功能的同时，结合室外平台和垂直绿化建立起一套立体的公共空间系统。“生长空间”贯串起地下及地面层的开放绿化空间，沿着建筑山墙面，向上攀爬至十一座建筑的屋顶。人们将会在这里相遇——人与人，人与城市，人与自然的关系由此被延伸。
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. 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 pockets at various levels.
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 facades that define the buildings’ overall structure and appearance. The different types of grid pattern for the facade are further refined and adapted according to their orientation and positioning towards either the urban context or the courtyards.
The most northern courtyard, the so-called “Vertical Courtyard”, is positioned close to the city. For the facade facing the urban street, we used aluminum cladding and concrete blockworks, their palette and texture evoking an industrial quality. A rich combination of vertical circulation systems and sunken gardens is introduced here, bringing vibrancy and diversity to the ground level while smoothening the transition from the surrounding streets to the more private interiors inside the office buildings. The second courtyard, the “Tree Courtyard”, is the project’s largest open landscaped space and located in the center of the building cluster. Its facades are covered with wood cladding and vertical greenery so to generate a natural environment.
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 to create 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 the liquid surfaces it also helps to ventilate and fine-tune the buildings’ microclimate.
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 a system 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.
