Interview about Quzhou Landmark Mixed Use Towers, winner of the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award 2025
Quzhou New City presents a visionary urban development that reinterprets traditional values through contemporary architectural expression. Anchored by two landmark towers along the Quzhou West Station axis, the project establishes a dynamic and recognizable skyline. A defining feature of the design is its fluid connection to the surrounding landscape, where architecture and nature converge in a continuous dialogue. The integration of greenery extends from the ground plane to the rooftops, fostering an environment that promotes ecological balance and urban livability.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe phrase “Heaven as Courtesy, Earth as Culture” became the philosophical backbone of the Quzhou Landmark design. Rooted in traditional Chinese cosmology and Confucian ideals, it reflects a worldview where the sky (heaven) embodies principles, order, and aspiration, while the earth grounds human experience in culture, memory, and emotion. My goal was to interpret this duality through contemporary architectural language—not to replicate traditional forms, but to extract their essence.The towers themselves represent the vertical pursuit of “Heaven as Courtesy.” Their slender, soaring proportions are composed with a sense of reverence and restraint, speaking to civic dignity and aspiration. They act as modern ritual markers, framing the skyline with symbolic presence. In contrast, the landscape that anchors them—the undulating green belt and cultural podium—is a manifestation of “Earth as Culture.” It’s where human activity unfolds: cultural programming, gathering spaces, and ecological systems. Together, these two realms don’t exist in hierarchy but in dialogue—symbolizing a holistic worldview that is both deeply philosophical and urgently contemporary. The integration of this Eastern lens gave the project not only aesthetic clarity, but spiritual grounding.
Integrating greenery at a vertical scale of 150 meters is as much a technical challenge as a poetic ambition. One of the foremost concerns was survivability—ensuring that plant species could withstand high wind speeds, solar exposure, and changing microclimates at various elevations. My solution involved a zoned planting system: Different plant species were selected for their tolerance and ecological compatibility at each height band, with lower levels incorporating broader-leafed, shade-tolerant species and upper levels using wind-resistant, drought-hardy varieties.Another key challenge was the integration of irrigation and maintenance systems. Rather than treat green façades as afterthoughts, I embedded planters and drainage directly into the tower envelope through a modular façade system. Each green module includes automated drip irrigation, soil sensors, and drainage weeping systems, all connected to a centralized water management platform. These systems were coordinated with façade engineers and landscape consultants from the early design phase to ensure coherence between aesthetics and operations.Ultimately, this green layer is more than visual—it filters air, shades interiors, and reconnects urban life to the cycles of growth and decay. Its successful implementation required the fusion of design sensibility with deeply technical, interdisciplinary coordination
Quzhou’s topography is defined by soft hills, river basins, and a kind of primordial calm that deeply resonated with me. As I explored the city’s geomorphology and cultural landmarks—from the Shuiting Gate to the surrounding mountains—I was struck by how its landscape reads like a continuous scroll: layered, gentle, and fluid. I wanted to mirror that terrain in architectural form, turning the project’s base into an extension of the city’s natural narrative.The undulating green belt at the foot of the towers was conceived as a contemporary interpretation of Chinese garden design principles, particularly the concept of shan-shui (mountain-water). But instead of enclosing nature within walls, I unfurled it into an open, civic terrain that connects different public programs—performance spaces, retail, leisure zones—underneath and around the towers. The flowing contours invite movement and rest, reflecting the tempo of the landscape rather than the rigidity of typical urban grids.This approach was only possible after an immersive research process—studying historical texts, walking the region through satellite mapping and topographic modeling, and analyzing traditional feng shui patterns that shape the city’s spiritual geography. The design’s smooth interface between architecture and terrain is, in essence, a spatialized homage to Quzhou’s identity.
The sustainability strategy for Quzhou Landmark was both passive and active, beginning with the core premise that energy performance must be integrated from the earliest site decisions. The towers were oriented to minimize heat gain while maximizing access to natural daylight. I used parametric modeling to analyze sun paths and wind directions, which informed the shape and articulation of the towers’ façades. Shading fins, operable louvers, and double-skin glazing were positioned based on these simulations to balance thermal performance with aesthetic clarity.A significant portion of the cooling load is mitigated through the green façade system, which not only insulates the building but also enhances evapotranspiration at the tower surface. At the podium and landscape levels, bioswales, green roofs, and permeable paving systems support stormwater management and reduce the urban heat island effect. The mixed-use program was also carefully calibrated so that complementary occupancy schedules (e.g., offices vs. cultural programs) reduce peak energy demand and enable more efficient HVAC zoning.Finally, I integrated photovoltaic arrays into roof areas and explored geothermal exchange systems beneath the green belt. The key was seeing sustainability not as an applied layer, but as an architectural driver—resulting in a form that is at once responsive, performative, and expressive.
The site’s adjacency to Quzhou West Station presented a dual challenge: it was a gateway into the city—a highly visible and programmatically intense urban node—but it also required sensitivity to cultural memory and regional character. I approached this by thinking in terms of civic choreography: how people move, gather, and perceive space as they transition from transit infrastructure into the everyday life of the city.The twin towers serve as visual anchors, but their base is open, porous, and deeply informed by local culture. Rather than a sealed podium, I created an open-air cultural plaza that hosts exhibitions, performances, and seasonal events. The landscape elements recall local rock formations and water meanders. Materials like textured stone, bamboo composites, and terracotta panels reference regional craft, even as they are made with contemporary precision.Functionally, the project embraces the tempo of modern life—housing offices, retail, and community services—but does so through a lens of ritual and continuity. The circulation strategy borrows from temple and garden precedents, where spatial progression is slow, ceremonial, and contemplative. In this way, the project doesn’t just accommodate both heritage and progress—it binds them into one spatial narrative.
The decision to use dual towers was both symbolic and urbanistic. Quzhou is a city in transition—poised between historical legacy and future ambition. I wanted the towers to act as a gateway, not only spatially in the master plan but culturally in the city’s evolving identity. The dual forms reflect balance, duality, and dialogue—key concepts in Chinese philosophy. Instead of a singular monument asserting dominance, the twin towers create a visual rhythm, like architectural punctuation marks on the skyline, suggesting openness and coexistence.From an urban perspective, the configuration enhances connectivity and orientation. The space between the towers becomes an important civic axis, aligning with Quzhou West Station and framing views into the city. It allows sunlight to reach the landscape and reduces wind tunnel effects—problems often caused by bulky single-tower developments. This openness supports a porous ground-level condition, ensuring permeability and blending the towers into a larger green spine. The twin forms become not just objects but participants in the city’s daily life.
Collaboration with local experts was essential to grounding the design in Quzhou’s cultural and spatial DNA. Conversations with urban planners revealed the city’s ambitions to define a new civic identity while preserving its ecological heritage. This guided my approach to making the greenbelt not just a buffer zone but an activated public realm—a modern interpretation of the Chinese garden as a civic commons.Historians shared stories and documents about Quzhou’s traditional architecture, its temple rituals, and how historical cities in the region mediated transitions between sacred and mundane space. These insights shaped my use of thresholds, layering, and materiality. For example, the progression from the transit plaza through the cultural podium and up into the towers echoes ritual ascents in temple complexes, where movement corresponds to a shift in spatial and emotional experience.The façade treatment—specifically the integration of texture and vertical layering—also draws inspiration from ancient city walls and calligraphic scrolls. This collaboration reminded me that innovation doesn’t preclude tradition; in fact, some of the most forward-thinking designs emerge when we listen deeply to what the land and its people have to say.
The Quzhou Landmark Mixed Use Towers employ a side-core structural scheme for both towers, which was a deliberate choice to maximize open floorplates and flexibility in program distribution. This configuration allows for unobstructed views, efficient layouts for offices and hotel rooms, and spatial adaptability over time—key considerations for a project designed to be both iconic and functionally resilient.From a material standpoint, the structural system combines reinforced concrete cores with a steel-framed floor system. The use of concrete was strategic, not only for its structural robustness and fire resistance but also for its thermal mass properties, which contribute to passive environmental regulation. In a region like Quzhou with humid summers and cold winters, the thermal inertia of concrete helps reduce reliance on mechanical systems.Steel, on the other hand, was employed in the floor plates and cantilevered portions of the podium and sky gardens to enable longer spans and lighter construction. This hybrid system allowed for a balance of strength and elegance, with steel enabling the expressive, curved geometries of the landscape-integrated podium while concrete provided the backbone of the towers.Sustainability also informed material choices. Where possible, we specified high-performance concrete with fly ash and slag content to reduce embodied carbon. Steel components were sourced with recycled content and fabricated using modular construction techniques, minimizing waste. Additionally, the unitized curtain wall system is designed with integrated external shading and high-performance glazing to meet China’s evolving green building standards.Altogether, the side-core configuration, paired with this thoughtful material strategy, enabled the towers to embody both architectural clarity and environmental responsibility—qualities that reflect the broader ambition of the project to serve as a sustainable and symbolic civic landmark for Quzhou.
Its integration of public transit, green space, cultural programs, and mixed-use verticality within a single project creates a multi-scalar urban ecosystem. I hope this becomes a reference point for municipalities and developers who seek to design not just iconic buildings but enduring communities. The landscape-driven masterplan, porous ground plane, and high-performance façade are scalable strategies, adaptable to other cities with different geographic and social conditions.Ultimately, the project demonstrates that urban growth and ecological stewardship are not mutually exclusive. Through intelligent design and a reverence for local context, we can reimagine density as something humanistic, sustainable, and deeply rooted in place.
The greatest challenge was to harmonize the dense, vertical mixed-use programming—offices, cultural venues, retail, and public amenities—with a landscape that felt continuous and intuitive. My approach was to dissolve the typical podium tower model. Instead of a solid, monolithic base, I created a terraced, sinuous ground plane that physically and visually connects the towers to the park-like greenbelt. Public programs are embedded in this topography—partially sunken, partially open-air—to maintain fluidity while optimizing land use.Circulation was carefully choreographed. Each function has a dedicated access point, but movement is layered and overlapping in key moments to create encounters and a sense of shared civic life. Vertical zoning places quieter cultural functions closer to the ground and workspaces higher up, preserving tranquility while offering views. Every square meter had to work harder—not just as floor space, but as part of a larger ecosystem of movement, light, and atmosphere. By embedding architectural elements into a landscape logic, the project achieves a hybrid condition: dense yet open, monumental yet responsive.
Dive into a world of design excellence with our curated highlights. Each feature showcases outstanding creativity, innovation, and impact from the design world. Discover inspiration and learn more about these incredible achievements.
