Sky Gallery

Superimpose designed an iconic sales gallery for real estate developer Vanke as the ‘Pivot Point’ for a 1 million square meter development in a new Hangzhou CBD district. The development is set to become the future ‘Silicon Valley’ of Hangzhou West with Chinese market-leading companies such as Alibaba and Tencent.

The architectural appearance of three stacked boxes pragmatically corresponds with the three programmatic functions of the sales gallery: sales of residential developments; sales of office developments; and a showcase of the concept of Transit Orientated Development (TOD). Each box is pivoted independently offering views towards the corresponding future developments. The central void offers a 3D LED screen, wrapping around the central lift and stair core, which displays video clips of the future developments.

The arrival lobby on the first floor is combined with a central atrium void, which connects to the other floors and programmatic functions with two spiraling staircases. The TOD showcase and residential sales area is located on the second floor and the office sales and VIP development on the third floor.

The sales gallery uses different façade materials for each floor matching the unique requirements of each function behind. The first floor, which situates public functions and the masterplan physical model, is covered with clear glass in order to get as much daylight in as possible, to absorb the green surroundings, and to display the activities to the surrounding roads. Polished stainless steel panels are applied to the second floor to block direct sunlight from the sides and to reflect the surroundings. Mirror glass is placed on the short sides to provide views out towards the residential development without allowing for views into the sales areas. The second floor also uses skylights to get enough indirect daylight into the sales offices. On the 3rd floor, white fritted glass is proposed to allow for direct daylight without allowing for views into the sales areas from street view as well. The sales gallery is designed in such a way that it is flexible to be converted for future office use.