Huafa Wuhan City Hub is located in the Wuhan Central Business District area near Hankou Railway Station, a central node of the Chinese high-speed railway system. Benoy was commissioned to redesign the façade for the scheme that was undergoing construction while maintaining the original structure within a highly condensed timeframe. Tasked to create a new vision for the comprehensive reconfiguration, Benoy raised the perception of the buildings and the quality of the spaces to a whole new level – all without any impact on the already-built structure and the ongoing construction program.
One of the key concerns was that the original scheme design did not capture the identity of its physical and cultural context. Together with the client, the design team started by exploring different parts of Wuhan to understand how the local people spend their time and interact with the environment. Greatly inspired by the pedestrian-friendly areas along the bund in Wuhan, the team then developed a key strategy that brings a sense of human scale to the development. The aim is to create a welcoming and walkable streetscape that can evolve into a neighbourhood centre for the local community. The design is positioned to bring people together and bolsters the joy of walking around the bund area.
Gregory Kovacs, Design Director and Project Director, explains that when they started working on this project, all the structures were already built. Their goal was to transform the perception of the scale of the buildings while leaving all the structures intact, using only façade articulation, thus creating a human-scale, pedestrian-focused neighbourhood centre, a contemporary reinterpretation of the intricate, ever-changing, playful qualities of the historical bund area of Wuhan.
Design Concept
To ensure that the new concept could be completed within the tight timeline, the team worked closely with the client through constant communication and designing the scheme through sketching on-site. The development’s commercial section mainly consists of retail and F&B streets, generated by a series of blocks and the indoor mall sitting under the office towers.
Benoy developed an architectural language for the façades that offers a more intricate and human-scale articulation to the large-scale massing while simultaneously addressing the diversity of different conditions and requirements. Resembling the movement of an accordion, the serrated façade opens and closes, forming a dynamic rhythm along the streets. The serrations respond to environmental and functional requirements by shaping solid and open façade zones while retaining their visual consistency.
Benoy’s flexible façade system integrates a rich variety of shopfronts, cores, advertisements, signages, bridges, balconies, and greenery. We created a coherent language across the development that adapts to the changing requirements of the varying scales of the buildings. Furthermore, the façade is instrumentalised as an essential tool for place-making. The pure white typical parts of the façade frame provide richness and diversity, whether through the retail shopfronts or a series of carefully curated highlights.
Quick Facts:
- Project: Huafa Wuhan City Hub
- Location: Wuhan, China
- Client: Huafa Group
- Architect: Benoy
- Materials Used For Façade & Fenestration: Glass and aluminium curtain wall
- Commencement Date: March 2018
- Completion Date: 26 November 2021
