d+a | Issue 123 • 2022

51 – was elevated to serve as an urban corridor leading to Jinmao Science City. In this way, various future functions, such as the display area for the 3D property model, sales negotiation area, and property office can be accommodated here at a later stage. The biggest technical challenges for Lin and his team were constructing the unique shape of the building within a tight construction deadline and building the brick courtyard wall on the first floor. “The design of the brick facade on this wall was inspired by the local classical gardens. This brick wall follows the trend of architectural modelling to form a cone with a certain angle of inclination. “To ensure safety, the position of each brick needed to be connected by steel rods to ensure that the wall is secure. For this reason, we used parametric design to precisely control the arrangement position of each brick and the interval of the brick itself. “Even so, the construction of masonry was not very smooth. But the project architect and the construction personnel repeatedly revised and adjusted on site to reduce construction errors and improve construction quality to deliver results we were all very happy with,” Lin said. “With the completion of the entire project, the function of the ‘urban parlour’ will change accordingly, which is one of the key considerations raised by our client. “Therefore, it was crucial that this first phase be novel, eye-catching and harmoniously unified with the upcoming second phase.” 06 05. The design of the facade integrates motifs from Chinese classical gardens but made with modern materials to give the project a futuristic aesthetic. / 06. Lighting is used to accentuate the frame of the building, gently illuminating it come nightfall.