SOHO Century Avenue, Shanghai Interior Design, Lujiazui Office Tower
SOHO office tower Century Plaza, Shanghai : Lujiazui Building
Century Avenue Development, China – design by AIM architecture
21 Sep 2012
SOHO Office Tower Shanghai
Design: AIM architecture
AIM designs for SOHO Century Avenue in Shanghai
photograph : Jia Rui
AIM Architecture is proud to present the completed interior design of SOHO’s brand new office tower Century Plaza in Shanghai’s Lujiazui. AIM has set out to design energizing bold and bright creative spaces to suit Shanghai’s Brave New World.
photos : Jia Rui
The office lobby is simple and powerful. A high and bright space uses transparency and reflection to welcome its visitors in an abundance of light. Visitors enter through a crisp and sharp portal made of polished stainless steel chrome mirror panels, mirroring the visitors’ image in the green landscape that surrounds the building.
The climax of the space are the three huge chrome “pods” that energize the lobby through their gentle curves and unexpected reflections. They blur the boundaries between inside and outside, reflect, multiply, glamorize and distort. They offer unique and private environments for chats and meetings. Throughout the white and light lobby space various groups of chrome furniture form casual gathering spots.
The surrounding pebble landscape pervades the glass membrane, connecting the interior to the outside. The vertical plexi light rods play with the light, both in the day and in the evening.
In sharp contrast to the height and brightness of the main space, the shiny black lift lobbies offer a very different experience to the visitors, signalling the transition to the upper floors.
Overall, the lobby aims to be a light and seductive space, reflecting the positive energy of the ‘brave new world’.
photos : Jia Rui
Show offices
High up in the tower two sales offices are built as two different explorations of future working environments.
The first one is the Cork Office. It explores how we can architecturally use or radicalize different working cells within an open space. Based on the traditional cubicle, four small spaces provide concentrated yet inspirational work areas. They offer very different conditions: view, concentration, interaction and reception. The friendly material cork is durable, sustainable, soft to touch and good for acoustics.
The second office is the Sky Garden. It examines how a green environment can exist in the artificial condition of an office tower. Forest walls, grass carpets, Shanghai skylines seen through the leaf printed windows create unexpected peacefulness.
A large white island in the centre of the room allows for different ways of working behaviour. It’s also referred to as a modern ‘kang’; the central piece that organised the use of traditional north Chinese buildings. Altogether the sky garden offers an almost spiritual tranquillity to the background of vibrant modernity. Soundless, except for the birds.
The interior of JiaRui Plaza is the most recent project in the ongoing cooperation between AIM and SOHO.
About AIM
AIM architecture seeks to derive uniqueness by being exceptionally dedicated to the design problem.
Based in Shanghai AIM was founded in 2005 by Vincent de Graaf and Wendy Saunders. The office focuses on original and high quality solutions in design, architecture and urban planning. Like the founders, the design attitude is rooted in the North European design tradition.
photos : Jia Rui
SOHO Century Avenue office towere images / information from AIM architecture
Location: Lujiazui, Shanghai, China
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