Feidong County Government Affairs Service Center, located in the central area of government affairs and culture in Feidong County of Hefei, is an important urban space node on the main axis of the eastern new city. The government affairs and culture center area aims to build a comprehensive center for offices and high-end services with regional influence, focusing on the construction of four important projects in the "Ten Projects" of Feidong County in 2016 - "Three Halls and One Center" which includes a government affairs service center, a grand theater, a planning museum and a local books & archives museum. Feidong County Government Affairs Service Center has been put into operation at the end of 2019.

Situated in the public core area and landscape core area of the eastern new city, Feidong County Government Affairs Service Center joins the Planning Museum in the north, faces the Grand Theater across the lake in the south, and is adjacent to the Hemu Lake across the road in the west. It has become an important space node linking other urban functions on the main axis of the new city. Therefore, the goal of the design is to maximize the physical and spiritual pleasure and respect of the activity objects in the urban service space, as well as to unleash urban vitality through citizen activities.

The project is a courtyard building, covering an area of 57,862㎡, including a building area of 40,727㎡, four floors above ground and one underground. As a one-stop comprehensive citizen's office center, it combines several major departments in one which shortens the processing time for citizen services. The first to third floors are set up with a comprehensive government service area, license processing area and other types of government offices. The fourth floor is set up with office and multi-function hall and other functions.

Urban public life axis: harmony among people, building and nature

Given the urban layout and site conditions, the building stands in the middle of the base in a balanced and symmetrical manner, forming the main axis of the city with the important landmarks on the north and south sides. At the same time, the project is bordered by the waterside landscape of Hemu Lake to the west, forming an urban public life axis running from east to west. The open and friendly office hall located on the east-west axis of the project is an important node, which serves as a hub to link together various service halls. Also, visitors have easy access to the north and south areas after entering the hall through the front square of main entrance. Furthermore, the Government Service Center has set a vertical transportation hall, which enables citizens to reach service halls on all floors quickly via the scenic lift. This design significantly shortens the time for all kinds of procedures.

"Sunshine" and "openness" have become necessary hallmarks for urban public space, especially the large public space for functional services. The office hall extends the Hemu Lake Park urban green axis on the west, and features courtyard landscapes on both sides from west to east. The inside and outside of the building are integrated through sunshine and outdoor green space, and foster the harmony between man and nature. Moreover, the urban public life axis features open city function areas successively including plaza area, open-air performance area, landscaping pedestrian area, courtyard rest area and supporting catering service area to fulfill different demands for walking, rest and performance watching.

The fifth façade: connection among human, city and culture

The building design inherits the concept of "converging water" typical of traditional Huizhou Architecture. The roofs on all sides are metallic roofs inclined to the inner courtyard and combined with flower stands and roof greening, creating a comfortable environment. The design has drawn inspiration from the well-spaced roof arrangement of Huizhou courtyards. The office hall traversing from the west to the east has used wave-type curve metallic roofs, which forms the fifth façade of the building.

Inside the building the design concept of Huizhou architecture is also manifested. The inner curves injects vitality into the space, and the integration of glasses, stones and metals of curve roofs endows the whole space regional characteristics as well as modern fashion. The overall atmosphere showcases high cohesiveness, which is the most vibrant highlight of the building.

The façade of the building features the modern design concept integrating the metallic curtain wall with the glass curtain wall, and adopts the façade design method characterized by diverse dynamic rhythms. The design creates a building image with rich traditional conceptions and represents the collective memory about the Horse-head Wall of Huizhou architecture in the past. Reflecting the government image, the building appears graceful and magnificent with a simple design.