UNStudio released renderings of its newly commissioned mixed-use design at the site of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre in China. The Hiwell Amber Centre project was announced in October 2023 and will be built on a site located in the heart of Hangzhou’s new city center, Qianjiang Century City. 

In homage to the local craft traditions of the region, UNStudio says they’ve designed the four-tower scheme to evoke a woven tapestry topping an expansive ‘Urban Living Room’ around and beneath it. Each 459-foot (140m) tower’s facade features a sweeping glass curtain wall tapering down parametrically to a shared plinth base. 

The scheme calls for a mixed Andaz Hotel/office component, another office tower, and two shorter additional residential towers. An art museum, conference center, and hotel ballroom complete the design. 

Principal Ben van Berkel says: “The architecture of the towers creates an effect of timeless simplicity. Within Hangzhou’s landmark-heavy skyline, the buildings are rooted in the city’s urban culture and its landscape through an open and welcoming gesture. Our design proposes a vibrant mixed-use attractor, both vertically and horizontally, that caters to working, living and leisure.”  

Layering of the base-level public plaza areas allows for the creation of a ‘permeable’ plaza area and other open spaces that allow the public places to gather while experiencing open views in all directions. 

"In addition to creating a large architectural gesture, it is essential to design a building that is open to all,” Partner Hannes Pfau adds in a statement. "Our strategy was to focus on the human scale, especially in the lower volumes. We worked with a concept by which the podium and the plazas act as an 'Urban Living Room.' This enables a human-centric community that shapes the civic spaces and forges connections with the city; places that people can easily access and where they can interact with each other.” 

The canopy-covered lower volumes of the design are further designed to reflect Hangzhou's ancient Liangzhu village. 

UNStudio has also recently completed work on an office concept for Düsseldorf, Germany, and another retail complex in Shanghai. The studio is also working to complete several other mixed-use designs in Germany, Romania, and Nanping. The city of Hangzhou is also expecting forthcoming projects from BIG, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Foster + Partners in the coming years. A construction timeline for the Hiwell Amber Centre was not made available at press time.