Client: Haier Developments

Location: Xin Ye, Shandong Province

Status: Construction

Overview

The design criteria to build mass housing in the northern Chinese Provinces are exceedingly proscriptive. Exact dimensions between buildings must be met, no room can face north, only bedrooms can face east or west. Coupled with the ‘Feng Shui’ dictates of site aspect and configuration, Architecture can only influence the sectional use and the aesthetics of the tower. Xin Ye has broken with convention to design housing with a publically accessible ground floor and an active public realm between the towers. Each building has a base, a middle and a top, albeit designed with a European notion of proportion, which builds to give a greater sense of scale and presence than any other densely occupied site.