Icon Buzz - Designs & Arts

Two innovative towers for City Poly Corporation

China Poly Corporation sought to create an innovative office and trade center development in Pazhou, Guangzhou, an industrial city along the Pearl River. Poly International Plaza is situated in a new commercial district. The Plaza consists of two towers, each coupled with a low-rise podium that accommodates exhibition and retail uses; the below-grade spaces include an exhibition hall and trade center. The offset core towers, which include a thin bar of office space, maximize light transmission to their interiors. On the north, the towers’ forms are defined by floor-to-ceiling glass, shaded by vertical fins, and on the south they expose their structural framework. The towers advocate sustainable design through their use of natural light; natural ventilation; floor-by-floor mechanical systems; under floor air distribution; shaded outdoor space; and green roofs.

Because the Pearl River delta has always been a dynamic nexus of trade in China, water views have a symbolic value in the project. Thanks to the towers’ innovative structural spine, and double lattice brace, the offset cores are light and transparent, and allow a high degree of openness to northern views; the glass elevators, staircases, restrooms, and terraces, are all light-filled spaces. Guangzhou’s tropical weather called for a combination of density and open green space. An abstracted Chinese garden, planted with local vegetation and organized around water elements, occupies the central space between the two towers. Water is used over the access skylights that funnel light from the garden level to the below-grade exhibition spaces. To mitigate the sun’s heat on the southern façade without blocking views, dirigible plantation teak screens that relate to the local architectural tradition are employed throughout the project. Terraces on the western sides of the towers serve the dual purpose of providing open space and blocking the setting sun. A large, central terrace at the midpoint of each tower acts as an aperture allowing wind to pass through the 35-story structures.

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Benchmark buildings for London’s Olympic development

Icona, the first scheme overlooking the Olympic Park is nearing completion. Telford Homes’ residential-led, mixed-use development is one of the first schemes in the area to hand over. It will overlook the Olympic aquatic centre and is within 300m of the proposed stadium. Telford Homes acted as both developer and contractor and architects and urban designers, Stock Woolstencroft, designed and oversaw the construction of this high profile, landmark development.

Telford Homes’ brief was for the architects to transform a derelict and decaying Brownfield site and deliver a landmark building, to act as a key driver for long-term revitalisation of the area. Stock Woolstencroft suggested a scheme clad with a brightly coloured façade to cement its prominent status. Inspiration for the elevations came from studying the work of artist Donald Judd, particularly his use of bold, regular forms, strong colours and industrial materials to create art that emphasised purity of colour, form, space and materials.

Icona comprises 249 units of which 87 are affordable housing for East Homes. The affordable homes all use the same materials and style as the open market homes making it a tenure blind development. There are three buildings that make up the development, an 18-storey tower and two other buildings at seven and four storeys. Underground parking (with 70 spaces) is provided, as is over 920sq m of commercial space, which includes a residents’ gym.

Stock Woolstencroft partner, Derek Jay said: “It is unusual for a residential scheme to have pre-fabrication to this extent on the external façade, demonstrating how Icona pushes technical boundaries as well as architectural ones. The outcome is a high quality, benchmark development that local people and London can be proud of.� Icona has already collected a Silver Seal of Excellence at the NHBC Pride in the Job awards.

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A stay at the Blur Hotel could bring out your experimental side

The Blur Hotel, located on the site of a large government office beside the western Gate of the Forbidden City, is an experiment in “urban acupuncture”. As a refurbishment proposal, the project aims to harmonize the existing building with its surroundings and provide a beacon for renewal of the surrounding area. The first strategy is to open out the ground floor of the building to create a layer of traversable space occupied by public-oriented programs.

The next approach aims to integrate the building more with the local building typology, the courtyard house. By carving into concrete slab floors of the existing building, an arrangement of alternating vertical courtyards is created replicating the spatial arrangement of the surrounding hutongs.

The third tactic deals with the exterior of the building, wrapping it in a continuous and semi-transparent facade. Referring to local traditions, the skin is based on the image of a Chinese lantern. Allowing light out and into the building it diffuses the building into a single, but permeable, object. The facade material used in this project is FRP, a thermosetting plastic which is translucent, rigid and corrosion-resistant. Functionally it is used as a protective surface against the sunlight. On a conceptual level, the extraordinary colour and texture of FRP created an image of Chinese boulders, generating a translucent and glowing effect reminiscent of Chinese lanterns.

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