A new project from the Vienna-based Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA) in China combining net-zero design and a shifted zeitgeist that favors nature’s re-introduction into the built environment of cities has debuted in China's largest metropolis.

Located on a former industrial site that had been used previously as part of the Expo 2010 exhibition in Shanghai, the new Expo Cultural Park Greenhouse offers three distinct climactic pavilions connected via an overhead terrace and serviced by an adjacent pool with PV panels buried underneath.

The project's total construction covers 340.000 square meters (or 3.7 million square feet) with a total gross surface area equal to 41,000 square meters (441,000 square feet) and cost approximately $309 million to complete from 2020 to September 2024.

The use of single-glazing and operable windows in the perforated roof allows for natural ventilation while reducing the amount of heat loss in each structure. 

Circulation is then enlivened with the inclusion of incisive spatial "sequences" that afford "targeted interactions" in the walkways between the greenhouses while, finally, its glazed and parapet-dotted facade becomes a "leitmotif for not only the internal organization but also the new adaptable relationship between humans and nature," according to the architects.

They add: "The twin dualities of industry and nature and tradition and future mark the historical turning point at which Shanghai now finds itself. The municipal administration’s decision to refunction such a huge, centrally-lo-cated piece of land as a high-quality leisure area offers clear evidence of the overall trend towards the more intense planting of the core urban zones of Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world with a subtropical climate."

It follows a larger botanical gardens project beset by domed greenhouses that was completed in Taiyuan, China, in June of 2021.