Meisha Terraces
Two new urban blocks are placed just a throwaway from the famous Xiaomeisha Beach, which some regard as ‘Oriental Hawaii’.
The proposal, produced in collaboration with LAB Architecture, contains beachfront offices, retail and hotel resort, reacting to the fragile coastal ecology and the local tradition. The design grounds on the beachfront terraces, where most of the pedestrian passages are external, spaces naturally ventilated and shaded atriums open to the sky. Unlike conventional shopping malls, which are per definition introverted, most of our Meisha Terrace’s public circulation is external; it lives and breathes with the neighbours.
Similar to the ocean water system, that formed the bay, the rounded segments are moulded into the pre-defined planning volumes. They create the central public spaces that connect office towers and retail podiums into the one unified whole. This first principle of urban atriums forms the design concept that delivers a system of terraces for external use, pedestrian circulation, and natural vegetation to green the space. It’s a climate-driven concept that offers uncomplicated architecture, beautiful public realm, and yet supporting a place for each individual use.
The design aims for carbon-neutral standards. The atriums generate a chimney effect, which moves air into and out the of buildings. Two central atriums are a spot of convergence and grandeur for the retail visitors. These green light courts are spaces where you slow down for a casual meeting or simply enjoy the magnetic gathering spot. The terraced atriums are also environmentally crucial spaces; they provide natural cooling and ventilation of the building. The building sucks the breeze of the sea and the shaded promenade and naturally swaps them with the tower terraces. We all want to have zero carbon building at no additional costs.
The novel topology for the ground-bound and podium retail intuitively generates new gathering spaces for the locals and visitors, while boosting the local economy with the spree of services, communal areas and recreational amenities. The open atriums connecting the two lots form a new, well-shaded boulevard, with the pedestrian-only porosity in all directions, including the metro line.
Working next to the beach is a condition of unique richness. It’s an offering that will attract particular commercial tenants who want to embrace the coastal workstyle and the beachfront amenities. These are not your inner-city offices; it’s the opulence of amenities, which makes the office workstyle coastal. You want to have the beach at your footstep, that’s’ why the podium tops of towers are your saltwater pool decks. They include gyms, meeting spaces and a plethora of beach-like amenities: bars, decks and pools, stretched into the green roof gardens.
We all know the workstyles are continuously evolving and post-pandemic, agile working won’t go to traditional settings. The structural condition is here to stay and with Meisha Terraces facilitated with the coastal statement.
