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Next Architects completed a new Apartment Complex in the capital of the Fujian Province. The project is located on a complicated site, in the old city centre of Fuzhou, the capital of the Fujian Province. With a Floor Area Ratio of 5,0 and many limiting conditions, a U-shaped floorpan manifested itself as optimum. The program required 400 apartments of 45-110 m2 in size, which could result in a staggering mass of identical units, to prevent this variety and diversity is created by manipulating the balconies around the building.

Like the famous local ‘seal-stone’ or ‘shouxi-stone’, the balconies are crafted around the main building volume. This crafting creates a wide variety of individual apartments, each with their different exterior space. On the ground floor, between the U-shaped volume, a collective ‘living-room’ for all inhabitants is created. Fuzhou Shouxi building was awarded the ‘Gold Medal Chinese Architectural Housing Design Competition 2012.’

Project Facts

Project name: Fuzhou Shouxi building

Type / Program / Purpose: Apartment building, Commercial space, Underground parking

Floor area: 48,000 sqm

Completion: 2015

Client: Citychamp Real Estate

Architect / designer: NEXT architects

Team: John van de Water, Jiang Xiaofei with Wopke Tjipke Schaafstal ,Wang, Bo, Wang Yan, Zhou Tong, Yu Peng, Yin Ya Ling, Jiang Ci Ai, Liu Feng, Qin, Ren Wan Ting

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