Beijing Forum Stair
Type: office Location: Beijing, Third east Ringroad Client: HAYA group ed. Team: John van de Water, Bart Reuser, Marijn Schenk, Michel Schreinemachers met Wopke Schaafstal, Chen Song, Wang Yuan, Dou Jing Jing Floor area / size: 8000m2 Completion: 2009 Status: Realized
The project brief asked for a interior design for a young and ambitious Chinese architecture company in Beijing, China. The company had acquired five floors of a new office building. Each floor was to be organized with individual departments.
The design aims to address two key issues. Firstly it aims to create conditions to stimulate creativity. And secondly it aims to questions creativity in relation to Chinese office hierarchy. Based on Confucianist values, typically Chinese offices are organized according to strict hierarchy.
This office as well, was to be organized ‘segregated,’ on independent floors. In our
view, hierarchy would exclude creativity and as such, the very foundation of an architecture office.
The design starts from the conviction that creativity benefits from exchange. Conditions for creativity arise where there is maximum exchange possible between people and ideas. In order to to make this possible, two forum shaped staircases are introduced in the center of the office floors. The two circular shaped forums connect logistically and visually all floors. In China, a circular shape symbolizes unity and harmony. From our added perspective, anybody that uses the stair, automatically finds himself the be the center of the forum.
More than a just connection, the forums aims to functions as central meeting points of the
company. Next to informal meetings, the forums can be used for a myriad of activities like temporary exhibitions and Chinese celebrations. To our surprise, the forum space is now used for birthday parties as well.
HaYa mansion
Type: Lobby Location: Shangdi Beijing Client: Huan Yang Grand Land Team: John van de Water, Bart Reuser, Marijn Schenk, Michel Schreinemachers with Melle Pama, Michel van Tilborg, Yuan Duo, Hu Qin Floor area / size: 800 sqm Completion: August 2007
HAYA-mansion is a 1.700 sqm office building located near the North 4th Ring Road. The assignment was for the design of the 800m2 lobby; the client had envisioned a lobby where Chinese tradition and modern office-culture would blend.
The design follows the Chinese conception of an ideal lobby: a lobby should be large and to suggest it being large, it should be empty. This conception is translated into an architectonic concept in which the lobby wall is used to integrate all interior objects and functions that are required, such as the directory of occupants, visitor seating, art, planting and lighting.
To blend with Chinese tradition, the initial proposal is optimized in co-operation with a Fengshui expert. This led to specific shapes of the lobby-walls and to specific locations for red lights, paintings, fish bowls and ancient Chinese money. The wall colours are derived from an actual Beijing sunrise, aiming to provide an everlasting vital morning atmosphere.
Huan Yang
Type: Interior, office space Location: Xicheng District, Beijing Client: Huan Yang Group, JDSF consultancy, NEXT architects Team: Bart Reuser, Marijn Schenk, Michel Schreinemachers, John van de Water with Joost Lemmens, Geoffrey Moote, Froukje van de Klundert, Chen Song, Wang Bo and Zang Rui Floor area / size: 1.250 sqm Completion: 2005
The Beijing NEXT architects / Huan Yang-office measures a 100 x 25 meter typical open office floor. Four different companies and a number of departments share the same office floor. To connect and organize the individual companies, a concept was developed in which the traditional Chinese corridor - or lang - is used as a reference.
Traditionally, a lang connects places while providing a constant changing perspective over the landscape it crosses. Whilst following the traditional principles, the contempory lang is charged with extra meaning. By transforming constantly in section, it incorporates the functions of lobby, meeting rooms, benches, exhibition and projection areas and storage shelves.