ASPECT Studios has won a hotly contested competition for Alibaba’s headquarters Park C campus project in Hangzhou. Design inspiration is taken from the Xixi Wetland, an icon of Hangzhou city. Based on the local unique ecological texture, ASPECT created a design proposal focused on an interconnected network of layered design systems. Water, biodiversity, people and culture come together in a webbed network of experience and natural beauty to create a stimulating and engaging campus environment for over 30,000 Alibaba staff.The Alibaba Xixi Campus-Park C project in Hangzhou will be defined by a landscape that breaks new ground, creating an ecologically rich working environmentWith a focus on sustainable solutions, the design at its core looks to support the objectives of China’s target of being carbon neutral by 2060. To achieve this, standard approaches to design, construction and operation needed to be reconsidered. For ASPECT Studios’ Shanghai team, this focus gave birth to the “BioHabiNet” concept. The BioHabiNet system is a project specific evidence-based design approach to achieve an interwoven network of biodiversity, protected natural habitat, sustainable water systems and a community-orientated framework of places for people to engage with each other and nature.The new campus landscape creates a comfortable network of spaces by drawing the natural characteristics of the area into the heart of the complex. By creating a series of outdoor spaces immersed in natural beauty, ASPECT’s design reflects Alibaba’s vision of a people-oriented place that welcomes everyone.The winning design demonstrates deep thinking about how to build and operate a substantial campus in a carbon-positive way. ASPECT’s approach was guided by the quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from producing, transporting, and installing building materials. Wherever possible, local, recycled and sustainably-produced materials have been used, complemented by an virous green urban forest and extensive indigenous planting schedule.
ASPECT Studios has won a hotly contested competition for Alibaba’s headquarters Park C campus project in Hangzhou. Design inspiration is taken from the Xixi Wetland, an icon of Hangzhou city. Based on the local unique ecological texture, ASPECT created a design proposal focused on an interconnected network of layered design systems. Water, biodiversity, people and culture come together in a webbed network of experience and natural beauty to create a stimulating and engaging campus environment for over 30,000 Alibaba staff.The Alibaba Xixi Campus-Park C project in Hangzhou will be defined by a landscape that breaks new ground, creating an ecologically rich working environmentWith a focus on sustainable solutions, the design at its core looks to support the objectives of China’s target of being carbon neutral by 2060. To achieve this, standard approaches to design, construction and operation needed to be reconsidered. For ASPECT Studios’ Shanghai team, this focus gave birth to the “BioHabiNet” concept. The BioHabiNet system is a project specific evidence-based design approach to achieve an interwoven network of biodiversity, protected natural habitat, sustainable water systems and a community-orientated framework of places for people to engage with each other and nature.The new campus landscape creates a comfortable network of spaces by drawing the natural characteristics of the area into the heart of the complex. By creating a series of outdoor spaces immersed in natural beauty, ASPECT’s design reflects Alibaba’s vision of a people-oriented place that welcomes everyone.The winning design demonstrates deep thinking about how to build and operate a substantial campus in a carbon-positive way. ASPECT’s approach was guided by the quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from producing, transporting, and installing building materials. Wherever possible, local, recycled and sustainably-produced materials have been used, complemented by an virous green urban forest and extensive indigenous planting schedule.
