Campus Office by Cheungvogl Architects

Memory of the project

The Campus Office is a two storey transparent building that engages within the field on the peripheral of the financial center of Shenzhen, China. The Campus Office is grounded in its place with a 110m x 110m footprint; encompassing a total net covered floor area of 11,200 m² and a total green area of 28,000 m².

As opposed to carving a site for the office in a field, proposing a singular iconic six storey building with a central core, the project takes on the approach to consider the office building as an integral part of the field that hovers over the ground. By splitting the core and providing courtyard insertions at equal spacing throughout the floor plate, the two levels are functionally and visually connected.

With its loosely defined building boundaries, the curvature of the facades facilitates divergent activities between the build form and the surrounding landscape. Physically expanding the linear meterage of the glazed area, maximizing visibility and allowing for more innovative use of space in which the continuous curved outline offers intermediate zones of intimate spaces between the inside and the outside of the building. Its vast landscaped area, reminiscent of a park allows the employees and the public to socialize and enjoy lunch on the grass, play sports, contemplate or work quietly in shaded areas with natural sunlight filtered through tree leaves.

The building is highly functional, yet it opens to different perceptions, interpretations and use. It is a hybrid of transparency and privacy, implying a contemporary notion of adaptability and conviction that exists within commercial environment. The flexible multi-use work space engages with the changing seasons throughout the year, reflecting the inner dynamism of the Campus Office.

The interior consists of one large space with nine circular courtyards at every 20 meters, allowing natural light and air to penetrate deep into the floor plates. From within the building, horizontal and oblique views through the double height courtyard spaces allow for animated visual connections, thus creating dynamic exchange between departments and different levels.

The open floor plan allows for flexible space planning and extensible arrangement, which encourages more interdisciplinary contact as well as between individuals of different hierarchies. A space without wall, screen, corridor and vertical separation provides flexibility for configuring varies team sizes and efficiency across collaborative working practices; its transparency can spur conversations and increase synergies and creativity between teams.

The trajectory of the path is guided by environmental graphic design, with topography which acts as a navigation system along a grid reference similar to a grid street plan in modern cities. The design plans for serendipity to happen naturally in which incidental encounters in the workplace may lead to new insights or collaborations as part of a creative, transparent and communicative work environment.

Text.- Cheungvogl Architects.