Huaxin Business Center is a teahouse and exhibition centre designed by Scenic Architectur Office for the China Fortune Development Company. Located in Guilin Road, Tianlin, Xuhui, China, the architects decided not only to keep six old camphor trees on the site of the future building, but also to make them a part of their project.
Keeping the trees untouched, the authors arranged a significant part of the building in gaps between them. For this, they divided the whole volume into four separate parts, which were then linked by bridges. Also, striving to maximize the open green space on the ground and reduce the impact on the root system of the trees, the architects raised the main body on the second floor level. The completed building is composed by four independently suspended structures that are linked by bridges. 10 pieces of combined steel and concrete walls support the upper structures, they are all covered by reflective stainless steel panels, which contain all the vertical ducts and reflect the surrounding green environment. These walls are thus cleared up and help the suspension effect of the upper volumes.
The most interesting design solutions is probably hidden on the second floor. Approaching it through the stair in the atrium, a new spatial order will be unfolded along the path. Four suspended volumes that were realized by steel trusses stretch themselves horizontally with “Y” or “L” shapes among the old trees. The twisted and tensioned aluminum strips assembled the translucent walls of these volumes, which present the truss structure in an indistinct way and become containers and boundaries of a series of interior and exterior spaces.
