Sprawling cultural complex in Suzhou dissolves into the landscape
Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University has designed a new HQ for the Cyrus Tang Foundation in mainland China
![Ariel overview of a small area](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mnjhSWiQwGffRWUF7dDWRG-415-80.jpg)
A sprawling new cultural complex has unfolded in an area of natural beauty – the East Tai Lake Ecological Park – outside of Suzhou, China. The HQ for the Cyrus Tang Foundation (CTF) in mainland China combines multiple functions into its series of cool, minimal cuboid-shaped buildings and rooftop garden that spills out over the landscape.
The growing foundation, focused on the support of disadvantaged communities, needed a place to host offices, a museum for its art collection, event spaces for members meetings, exhibitions, conferences and training. It required a headquarters that could be flexible to future growth too – which the design addresses with its organic plan of curvilinear contours that co-exist within the landscape and are designed to be harmoniously extended.
Space was certainly not an issue for the team at the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) who were behind the design of the complex, which spans an area of 15,000 sq m. The idea was for the architecture to integrate softly with the environment, a green building that ‘dissolved’ into its context.
The sculptural volumes of the museum, exhibition area, and multi-function hall tuck behind the rooftop garden that adds to the park’s green space, and the glazed curtain walls of the facades feature a rhythmic arrangement of green glass. Speaking of green, the building is also eco-friendly, and the architects see it as an exemplary platform for the display and exchange of green technologies.
Tools such as geothermal heat pumps, building-integrated photovoltaics, tubular daylight devices, green roofs, automated shading systems, green lighting and intelligence operation management have been integrated seamlessly into the design.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
LA cool meets modern vintage in Ivi jewellery
Ivi jewellery is inspired by LA's glamorous film heritage
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Hamburg’s new food court Le Big TamTam offers traditional flavours in an irreverent setting
Le Big TamTam, designed by Studio Aisslinger, marks a new era in Hamburg’s hospitality-rich Hanse District
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Celebrating James Barnor, the photographer who captured pre- and post-colonial Ghana
Photographer James Barnor is in the spotlight at 95, his work the subject of a series of exhibitions and events in Ghana
By Ugonna-Ora Owoh Published
-
Fotografiska Shanghai invites us to 'a poetic immersion' into the realm of photography
Fotografiska Shanghai by AIM Architecture opens nestled into a green corner of the Chinese city's Suzhou Creek
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Chinese community hall brings contemporary minimalism to its historical site
A new Chinese community hall in Wanghu Village, designed by UAD, effortlessly blends old and new in minimalist architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Gong House is a contemporary Chinese home drawing on its spectacular countryside context
Gong House by Shenzhen-based Various Associates is a modern family home nestled in the Chinese countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The ZGC International Innovation Center in Beijing is a futuristic addition to China's own 'Silicon Valley'
The ZGC International Innovation Center by MAD Architects completes, revealing a new hub for technology and modern ideas that co-exists with its surroundings
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Emerald Screen Pergola brings wonder and intrigue to an everyday setting in China
Designed by Wutopia Lab, Emerald Screen Pergola is a pavilion designed to inject ‘magical realism’ into the everyday, nodding to ancient Chinese practices
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Beijing City Library is an otherworldly escape from the digital world
Beijing City Library by Snøhetta is a flowing, welcoming space to share knowledge and socialise
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house opens as a museum and bookshop in Suzhou
20th-century Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house in Suzhou has opened to the public as a museum, featuring a bookshop designed by Tsing-Tien Making
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Jiaxing’s sunken train station is a hub of urban greenspace and efficient city links
Jiaxing Train Station by MAD Architects is a bubble of urban green space with a blend of reconstructed historical design and modern minimalism
By Tianna Williams Published