Honor of China Sales Center: A Floating Sculpture

GEEDESIGN's Innovative Approach to Sales Center Design

The sales center, located in Nanjing, China, is a two-floor structure with a total area of 2,700 square meters. The challenge faced by the designers was to create a strong visual impact within a limited space without exerting excessive pressure on the city and streets. To achieve this, the designers put more content on the second floor, creating a cantilevered structure that released more space, giving the building a feeling of floating and a sense of art. This innovative design approach not only solved the space and function problem but also ensured the inclusiveness and friendliness of the city and streets.

The contrast between the light and transparent glass on the first floor and the thick and steady stones on the second floor brings out a strong visual impact and a floating feeling. To increase the sense of art and weaken the pressure and rigidity due to the heavy volume, the second floor uses the same kind of stone but three different mechanisms to form a rippled surface. With the help of natural light and lighting, different shades appear on the building, and the vertical combination brings rhythm to the facade. The inner atrium on the second floor uses U-glass as the facade material to create a tranquil beauty of natural light.

Functions and spaces are combined naturally and ingeniously in the sales center. At the entrance, there are two concavoconvex stone walls, with a limited height that won’t obstruct the view of passers-by on the sidewalk. The stone steps twist upwards, bypassing the first stone wall, revealing a waterway with water waves. The low stone walls separate the sales center from outside noise, and the turbulent water can soothe the nerves. The heavy stone is implying the Ming City Wall and the waterway on the ground implies the wave on the Qinhuai River, echoing the deep and unique history of Nanjing. The stone and water replace the usual gate, not making a construction, but achieving a more ideal effect.

During the day, the side facing the street has a strong sculptural sense, including the gray space under the large cantilever, and waterway with reflection. The hollow design of the inner atrium creates an open urban space and a flexible exhibition area. Through the interaction between space and light, the designer tries to enrich the contents and experiences in the limited area. At night, on the second floor, the lighting effect on the walls emphasizes the floating feeling of the building, while the bottom space only has basic lighting on the path for the passers-by. The building brings the people inside a feeling of tranquility, and also arouses the curiosity and exploration desire of the passers-by.

The Honor of China Sales Center project started in June 2016 and finished in August 2018. The project was awarded Silver in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2019. Silver A' Design Award is rewarded to top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation. These designs, admired for their strong technical characteristics and splendid artistic skill, showcase a remarkable level of excellence and introduce positive feelings, amazement, and wonder.