Shanghai Greenland centre, also known as the “URBAN FARM” sits on top of the busiest and most used metro stations in Shanghai. It forms the city’s largest urban park at approximately 20,000 square meters. While Shanghai development projects typically involve one large box built within a single urban division, into which the shops are arranged, the team of Nikken Sekkei had a different approach. They wanted to enrich the urban lifestyle of the residents. The concept of URBAN FARM is to merge nature and human spaces in such a way that it weaves its way into the daily life of city dwellers.
Site Area – 44,357 sqm
Total Floor Area – 3,04,920 sqm
Year – 2017
Location – Shanghai, China
Lead Architects – Lu Zhong Xiao, Tetsuo Tonouchi, Hiroyuki Suga / NIKKEN SEKKEI
Landscape Design – Mindscape
At first glance, the Greenland centre looks like a green urban valley complex with a street landscape park. But it is also an example of architectural space that has catered to the need for green public spaces while they have been shrinking in size due to the construction rush. The core idea throughout the design has been “where the city meets natural life”. The project encloses various commercial facilities, offices, entertainment centres, and eateries that attract a wide range of crowds to visit the project. It won the “Shopping – completed buildings” award at the 2018 World architecture festival.
The second concept of the project was to create a transit-oriented development (TOD), with all functions: retail, office, and service apartment well connected by public transportation. This enables the user to access every space within walking distance while creating value for the developing urban network and lifestyle in Shanghai.
Design elements
Planning: Creating richness in life
The architect team and the client envisioned considering a few basic criteria during the centre’s planning. The first stage of planning is to make the area above the tracks into a park loved by all city residents. Unifying nature on the tracks and also throughout the entire project was developed while evolving the design. The placement of shops was along the green areas, which aimed to have visitors come to the center with the same sensations as visiting a real park.
The mixed-use development project demands to cater to various activities happening at the site. From the station users, bus terminal users, and officers along with the public who visit for recreational purposes all can closely experience the greenery of nature within their regular urban lifestyles. Extra effort for moving out of the city for therapeutic walks can be eliminated in turn bringing a bigger crowd to the site.
Lastly, the placement of urban cores and urban corridors facilitates the function of circulation in the most effective way for the users. The nodes where people congregate, such as the station and bus terminals entrances, and exits, as well as the SOHO building, are separated from one another. They are connected with semi-outdoor avenues and vertical cores that are interlinked at various levels for easy movement.
Urban corridors and Urban Cores
The presence of the three buildings, two office ones and the SOHO building – along with other places where people congregate, such as station entrances and exits, are placed separated from each another. The main circulation between multiple nodes existing in the site is facilitated through semi-outdoor walkways/ urban corridors (horizontal circulation) and vertical circulation cores that act as urban cores. It is designed in such a way that the boundaries between the inside and outside have been blurred, creating a lush and spacious area not only for shoppers but also for the neighboring community, allowing them to be closer to nature, and contributing to improving their health and well-being.
There are massive green spaces planned on-site, with plenty of “small terrain” for activities scattered on various heights. By weaving all the modestly sized activity spots together 3-dimensionally, it turns into a largely-scaled, joyful urban public space.
Terraced Green Roofs
Getting inspired by the traditional roof style of Shanghai, the project was proposed with a cascading roof that is split at various heights and in different scales to connect distinct levels existing. They were topped with green spaces which gave rise to activities scattered on the roof. These activity spots were weaved three-dimensionally into a large urban public space where outdoor terraces and slopes respond to the architectural functions below and human activities within it. The connectivity encourages station users to move upward all over the urban district, just as the green valley leads upward.
The green roof makes a phenomenal difference to maintain the heat and temperature of the building. It is known for cutting down the air conditioning for the complete center.
Roof design
Greenery was added to the roofs of the cascading terraces based on the underground station. This created a valley of green, and as the slope takes on a rising form from the directions near the station, the view extends as far as the eye can see. It weaves its way into the life of city dwellers through interesting roof geometry. The split of roofs creates interesting terraces and slopes that are connected in a way where the boundary between the exterior and interior is blurred.
Heat Island Effect
The building design strived to be sustainable by having its own cooling system to counteract the heat island effect. This enables not just the building, but also the city’s social environment. The cool breeze from the Huangpu river enters the building through a layer of the louvered facade and aluminum shade fins.
Materials
The building facade is anchored with louvers and aluminum shade fins that are alterable based on the viewing angle. They are also rotational, which encourages the visitors to want to go around the other side of the building through changes in the layering of natural ventilation louvers.
The predominant use of glass has been used to ensure visibility through the spaces to the outdoors and it also helps enhance blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors.
Shanghai Greenland sets an example as one of the leading upward projects. The futuristic approach to the public engagement areas and a TOD in the most sustainable way is the highlight. In the coming decades, such spaces will be loved by all city residents for their green cover, most accessible stores, and everything under one roof where there is a new sense of value, where people enjoy bustling and verdant towns.
Citations
designboom | architecture & design magazine. (2018). the greenland center by nikken sekkei forms shanghai’s largest urban park. [online] Available at: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/greenland-center-nikken-sekkei-shanghai-park-11-16-2018/.
Futurarc, A. (n.d.). Shanghai Greenland Center. [online] FuturArc. Available at: https://www.futurarc.com/project/shanghai-greenland-center/.
Architizer. (2019). Shanghai Greenland Center by NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD. [online] Available at: https://architizer.com/projects/shanghai-greenland-center/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2022].
ArchDaily. (2018). Shanghai Greenland Center / Nikken Sekkei. [online] Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/905876/shanghai-greenland-center-nikken-sekkei [Accessed 10 Oct. 2022].
NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD. (n.d.). Shanghai Greenland Center | Commercial /Retail | Projects. [online] Available at: https://www.nikken.co.jp/en/projects/commercial_retail/shanghai_greenland_center.html [Accessed 10 Oct. 2022].
NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD. (n.d.). Urban Lifestyles Changing from the Station | Urban Design and Planning | Expertise. [online] Available at: https://www.nikken.co.jp/en/expertise/urban_design_and_planning/urban_lifestyles_changing_from_the_station.html.
