The People’s Park and the Lotus Building are in Wujin, a growing district in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Studio505 designs them to act as civic landmarks and symbolize the local government’s ambitions.
The designer’s brief called for a public park and building that would embody the area’s diverse public spaces and civic nodes. The Lotus Building was an addition to a municipal facility situated beneath an artificial lake. It houses various parts of the planning bureau and features meeting rooms, conference centers, and exhibition halls.
This landmark aims to bring depth and longevity into the community and establish a new standard for architectural achievement in the area. The physical form of the building contributes to its unique presence. The goal of the development is to create a community that is engaged in its development. The design also aims to encourage its people to stay and flourish.
The building inhabited a sculptural form that emerged from the lake. The visitors enter from below and experience a cathedral-like space. The interior environment’s vibrant colors and light create an uplifting atmosphere. A combination of graded and transition colors is applied to the side of the petals, creating a dominant hue at the edge of the structure. The resulting mosaic tiles are hand-laid and have a variety of white, beige, and stainless steel finishes. The large suspended chandelier at the top of the structure is the focus of attention.
The project aims to minimize energy consumption by using over 2,500 geothermal piles driven through the lake’s base. The lake’s water mass and the surrounding ground are utilized to cool and warm the lotus and its two-story building during the summer and winter. The project is also mixed-mode, which uses both natural ventilation and evaporative cooling to drive a thermal chimney in the central flower pod.
The People’s Park and the Lotus Building are one of Wujin’s most prominent landmarks. Studio505‘s design for the park and surrounding areas creates a vibrant public realm. Its night lighting system can be used to change the colors of the surrounding landscape for up to 20 seconds and transition to the next scene in 10 seconds.
Photos by: John Gollings
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