The Fuzhou mixed-use project is located at the centre of Fuzhou, Fujian Province. The site area is 420,000 sqm, and the building area is 1,540,000 sqm. The project includes 540,000 sqm of residential area, 850,000 sqm of commercial and office area, and 150,000 sqm of schools and other supporting facilities. The major challenges in this project are the balance and the relationship in between commercial and residential areas, as well as how to transfer huge amount of relocated council houses into a renovated and sustainable community.

The design concept comes from the urban context of the Tai Jiang district in Fuzhou. We attempt to bring the charm of these organic and dynamic city spaces into this project, creating a representative landmark based on the genius loci of Fuzhou. In the master plan layout, we implant a branch structure consist of pedestrian street and open space. This Banyan tree, symbol of Fuzhou city, starts to grow from the South-west corner and links the North Guang Ming   harbour, forming the main circulation of commercial area. The other main trunk leads the pedestrian toward the east through a sunken plaza. The small branches located in the North and South residential area become a well connected eco-system with green path and open space.

The design of the high rise commercial buildings is a reinterpretation of traditional vertical city spaces. Normally, the high density skyscrapers have impacts on the sunlight and ventilation conditions to its surroundings. By cutting, rotating and reconnecting the different building volumes, we combine the vertical and horizontal space, and further create different outdoor area on top of the roofs. Here, in these three-dimensional plazas, citizens can still enjoy the nature within the high-dense commercial area in the city.

In the design of the relocated residential buildings, the one side corridor arrangement allows each unit to have two side openings. The residential buildings are between 9 and 14 floors high, and their heights gradually increase from South to North. The differences of the building height enrich the skyline of the city landscape. In between the residential buildings, there are ecological corridors. There are also roof gardens on top of the buildings which provide the public spaces for residents to gather together and enjoy the nature. Moreover, from the sustainability point of view, the roof garden could reduce the impact of strong sun light in the summer, and also collect the rain to reduce the daily water usage.