The concept for this new mixed-use community in Beijing focuses on maintaining the heart of the existing factory around which it will be built and making it a central landmark of the new master plan. The existing building, with its four large exhaust stacks, will be converted into museums, restaurants and cafes, set within a large open public park encircled by an elevated ‘oval’ boasting its own monorail infrastructure and main line rail links.

The oval, housing mainly commercial space, is the primary new structure in the design, while the scattered surrounding towers offer residential accommodation in the upper storeys. All the buildings will harness renewable energy sources and be designed to maximise natural ventilation. Water storage, ground water levels and grey water usage are also key aspects of the design. The oval development creates over 5 million square metres of usable commercial space while the towers add a further 2 million square metres for mixed use.

Underground tunnelled roads provide vehicular access and parking for the site, maintaining the openness of the public park. Pedestrians rather than vehicles will rule the landscape above ground, reducing congestion, noise and air pollution, and further enhancing the people-friendliness of the space.

The park is the soul of the project and will become a fantastic destination for tourism, leisure and commerce. Scattered with large round lakes and nature reserves stocked with fish and wildlife, the public space creates opportunities for recreational and sporting activities such as boating and fishing. The design allows sweeping views from all vantage points across the park, framed by the oval, with the dramatic backdrop of the cityscape and horizon beyond.

The objective of this design is a new and progressive community within the vibrant metropolis of Beijing, a unique concept for working and living. Cars and roads will not dominate this cityscape, but rather, well being and the principles of Feng Shui are at the core of the design. Integrated seamlessly into the rest of the city by major new infrastructure, this development respects the historical keystones of the past by retaining the heart of the old factory, yet embraces the modern, sign-posting the future of Chinese life.