US architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Chinese designer GAD have won a competition to masterplan a research district in the city of Hangzhou, about 100km west of Shanghai.
The planned Hangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Central Business District covers 3.7 sq km.
The concept emphasises the outdoors: parkland, jogging trails, and sports areas comprise a third of the site.
A green axis runs through the district providing the setting for eight U-shaped campuses.
It will connect five zones, each aimed at a different kind of tenant. These are: comprehensive services, future trends, fashion and health, high-quality production and unicorn startups.
The population of Hangzhou is 12 million and its GDP is $500bn, both roughly equivalent to Sweden.
It is home to a number of well known Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Ant Group and NetEase, as well as some 10 universities, including the Zhejian University of Technology.
According to SOM, the CBD will “play a crucial role in the city’s development as a ‘world-class city axis’, a strategic initiative designed to elevate Hangzhou’s West Science and Technology Innovation Centre to the level of other major city hubs, driving regional integration and high-quality growth”.
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