Stefano Boeri Architetti has won an international competition to design "the largest and most innovative Rehabilitation Centre" in Shenzhen, China. 

The new complex will be built over the next three years in Shenzhen, a large city in south-east China which is currently undergoing considerable development and expansion. 

"The jury, which included Chinese and international administrators and technicians such as Peter Cook and Sou Fujimoto examined numerous projects and recognized the value of the project presented by Stefano Boeri Architetti, because of its innovative approach to disability issues," said Stefano Boeri Architetti. 

The complex will comprise a large volume that is divided into smaller volumes on the top levels, one point of the complex acts as a tower that marks the building. The volumes, on the upper levels, continue as cascaded terraces and gardens. On the ground level, the building provides porosity taking visitors directly to the complex. 

The SBA Rehabilitation Center will take the form of a building that is both fully accessible and integrated into the urban fabric in the Longhua district, adjacent to an urban park and directly connected to the city's light mobility system.

The construction consists of a set of green terraces and overlapping spaces in a sustainable system combining nature, architecture and biodiversity and including internal gardens dedicated to rehabilitation.

"Our project opens up a new perspective on the architecture of large rehabilitation centres," said SBA founder Stefano Boeri. 

"This is firstly because it perceives the concept of motor and/or cognitive disability not as an example of fragility suffered by a minority of people but as a condition that is common to us all, even if only during one phase of our life." 

"Secondly, it offers an idea of total accessibility to spaces and rehabilitation services and thirdly because in recognizing the extraordinary therapeutic quality of greenery and nature, it offers an astonishing amount of accessible green and open spaces dedicated to all different styles of rehabilitation," added Boeri.

The Rehabilitation Centre - entirely dedicated to people with disabilities aged from 16 to 60 – is thus a pilot project for China with a pioneering concept of social inclusion and cohesion for the disabled. 

The building includes a wide range of functions such as rehabilitation, training, recreational and artistic activities, accommodation, education and work spaces and a museum. 

There is also a sports centre for competitions, individual and team training and numerous structures and training courses dedicated to the various disabilities - physical, sensory, psychic, intellectual, mental and multiple - with the aim of giving support and accompanying patients towards their newfound daily life.

"Though inspired by the dynamism and climate of Shenzhen, Stefano Boeri Architetti China's intention was to offer a kind of architecture capable of offering the strength and stability of classic design. In fact, our rehabilitation center will be able to blend nature and landscape in search of the mature, safe and welcoming character of the city," said Xu Yibo, partner at Stefano Boeri Architects China.

There is ample space for vegetation in the therapeutic roof garden which houses native plant species thereby maintaining continuity with the adjacent public park and strengthening the relationship between inside and outside.

The trees and plants, including aromatic herbs and healing plants are harmoniously arranged in the open spaces to mirror the changing paths and architectural volumes, thus becoming fundamental elements of the design. 

The green spaces thus conceived are integrated with advanced renewable energy production systems in order to satisfy the building's needs as well as taking advantage of natural ventilation and collected rainwater.

"The project combines aspects for a rehabilitation centre in China that have so far not been investigated. These include architecture that is innovative and reassuring, the integration of green spaces in continuity with all the different functions and at every level, the desire to open up the structure towards the city and a welcoming and permeable building, not a fence or barrier," said Pietro Chiodi, Architecture Design Director of Stefano Boeri Architetti China.

"There is a need for a break with the past and the desire, shared with the local authorities themselves, is that of creating a new model. In order to do this, we will also make use of Italian excellence," he added. 

The building, with an open public courtyard in the centre that acts as a focal point linking different functional areas and uses appears in its entirety as an eco-friendly hill facing the natural landscape and a healing environment surrounded by greenery. 

Accessibility to services and the comfort of spaces are therefore the keys to a project that challenges conventions and opens up a new perspective on the today crucial issue of disability.

Project facts

Stefano Boeri Architetti China

Partner: Stefano Boeri, Yibo Xu

Project Director: Pietro Chiodi

Competition Phase

Concept design: Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro

Schematic design: Juan Liu, Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro, Mohamed Yasser Elsarif, Jinye Du

Structure Consultant: Lei Gu

Design&Development Phase

Design Team: Juan Liu, Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro, Mohamed Yasser Elsarif, Jinye Du, Yinxin Bao,Yitao Huang

Client: Engineering Design Management Center of Bureau of Public Works of Shenzhen Municipality

All images © Stefano Boeri Architetti China

> via Stefano Boeri Architetti