Johor, Malaysia Chengdu Future Science And Technology City @ Chengdu, China

Artist impression: A multi-level transportation hub with a circular, Barclays Centre-like topper will anchor the public cluster

(Source: OMA)

PROJECT AT A GLANCE

Classification: Mixed Development Location: Chengdu, China Approx. Project Cost: To be announced Approx. Commencement Date: 1Q 2021 Approx. Completion Date: To be announced

CHENGDU FUTURE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CITY

Dutch architectural firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and Hamburg-based Gerkan, Marg and Partners (GMP) were recently announced as the winners of the Chengdu Future Science and Technology City Launch Area Masterplan and Architecture Design Competition. This pilot project will be located in an area adjacent to the new

Tianfu International Airport east of Chengdu in Sichuan province of China. The new airport, scheduled to open later this year, is

Chengdu’s second and is expected to become the largest in China after the Beijing and Shanghai international airports. The Chengdu

Future Science and Technology City is intended to help spur

Chengdu’s innovation industry and will thus be oriented towards connecting the new airport as well as the extant Aviation College to the site’s northwest.

DESIGN COMPOSITION

As part of the first phase of the 4.6-sq-km-long masterplan, OMA will develop an International Education Park in the west while GMP will build a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the southeast. Local architects CAUPD and Swooding will also collaborate on the masterplan.

The masterplan will be in a space characterised by green CREDIT LIST

CLIENT: THE REFORM AND PLANNING ADMINISTRATION BUREAU OF CHENGDU HI-TECH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE MASTERPLANNERS: OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE (OMA) AND GMP ARCHITEKTEN LOCAL ARCHITECTS: CAUPD AND SWOODING

Artist impression: The The six clusters of the new Chengdu Future City will striate educational, residential, and scientific functions while adhering to the site’s existing topography and ecology.

(Source: OMA)

Artist impression: All the clusters will be car free, with a scale to ensure that all places within can be reached within ten minutes.

(Source: OMA)

hills and follows the site’s topography and spatial structure. The International Education Park, to span over 460,000 sqm, will include education programmes for multiple universities, dormitories, public programme, national laboratories and innovation offices.

Talking about the different sections of the masterplan, OMA explains: “Inspired by the Lin Pan villages in Chengdu – traditional rural settlements that practice small scale farming and deploy ancient irrigation systems – the masterplan will be divided into six clusters, each highlighting a specific architectural typology defined by its programme, as well as its relationship with the topography and local water systems”.

The Living cluster, with commercial programme on the ground level and residential developments above, will feature a reservoir at its centre to evoke the water elements on site.

The University cluster will feature buildings with landscaped terraces that resemble hills. These terraces will offer outdoor, dynamic spaces for academic activities. This cluster will also include a biofiltration system, where the large roof areas of the buildings will become rain gardens, filtrating water and collecting it in underground storage tanks and detention ponds. This cluster will be connected through a network of walkways and cycle paths to the Laboratory cluster. Located in a wetland area, it will provide research gardens taking advantage of the site’s conditions. Farming systems will be installed on roofs of the buildings, which will house facilities for innovative experiments. Also situated in a wetland area, the Market cluster will be an elevated grid structure with commercial and public facilities at the ground level, and residential developments and offices above. This cluster will be characterised by its use of hydropower.

The Public cluster will be a Transport Oriented Development (TOD) with public spaces and support research, exhibition and production program. It will reinforce the identity of the masterplan by integrating nature and architecture: an existing water basin will be built into a science and technology park. The central area of this cluster will be an elevated, circular volume where all trains and transportation facilities will connect. Below will be a space for landscape and greenery.

The Government cluster will sit on top of a hill along a river. Five office buildings will surround a central block, all of which will be connected by walkways extending into the landscape. The central volume will feature a public plaza, and the surrounding ones will include plant incubators alongside wetland incubators.

All the clusters will be car free, with a scale to ensure that all places within can be reached within ten minutes. They will be connected with the train station and surrounding urban developments through a smart mobility network for automated vehicles. Defined by clusters integrating architecture and landscape, the masterplan will result in a dynamic environment that will inspire innovative ideas.