HENN has unveiled design for a Sino-French Aviation University Campus masterplan in Hangzhou, China. Commissioned by Hangzhou Yuhang and Aerospace Town Construction Company, the masterplan, encompassing a total of 1,5m square meters, will include research labs, classrooms, conference halls, canteen and sports halls, as well as public and shared functions distributed throughout the plan.

The studio arranged these elements around a central courtyard and linked by the interconnecting roof scape. Addressing to the traditional culture of Liangzhu, a UNESCO World Heritage site situated in the Yangtze River Delta of China, the design scheme skillfully combines the traditional elements with contemporary architecture and design. 

Considering the topography of the site, HENN followed a decisive formal and infrastructural focus lying on the water system: canals and docks are established within the existing water supply streams to form eight campus islands and two technology islands. Each functional cluster is surrounded by the river system and a large garden in a microclimate environment.

"An industry-academia axis and an urban landscape axis form the overall planning skeleton. The former connects the North and the South with courtyards, squares, and roads, while combining public teaching, labs and service function buildings," said HENN.

"The landscape axis connects the green corridor on the West side of the city with the East-West main entrance of the campus and extends to the mountain on the East side, becoming the main landscape corridor of the campus." 

The overall academic campus will cover 660,000-square-metre area of the site, and 930,000 square meters will host the science and technology park with corporate and commercial companies.

As the firm highlights, the central building and its flying roof constitute the most important design element of the project. The lightweight concave roof floats on top of the main building and opens itself towards the sky, like a plane taking off. 

Incorporating ancient cultural elements of Liangzhu, rough natural materials and masonry texture are used for the facades of the buildings. Modern technical components such as glass, concrete and steel subtly complement the traditional Chinese façade parts. 

The significant contrast between old and new, traditional and futuristic, heavy and light brings a brand new modern interpretation of the aviation campus.

HENN will be working on this masterplan with local planning partner Hangzhou Architectural Design&Research Institute. 

HENN was founded by Gunter Henn in 1979 in Munich, the firm is now led by Gunter Henn and twenty-two partners. The firm produces a great number of projects with more than 70 years of expertise in the fields of work space, culture, health, education and research as well as production and master planning.

HENN has offices in Munich, Berlin and Beijing. 

All images courtesy of HENN

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