RAFFLES CITY

BEN VAN BERKEL

Architects: UNStudio Programme
Year: 2017 Comprehensive mixed use development; including
Two 250m tall twisting towers retail program, class A offices, five-star hotel, high
10 storey podium end residential, serviced apartments, strata
Location apartments
Hangzhou, China
Building surface
392,526 m2
Building site
40,355 m2
A Pertinent Context
• As Capital of the Zhejiang province, Hangzhou is steeped in tradition with a view to the
future. While the city’s heritage focuses on the picturesque UNESCO heritage-listed West
Lake, its future points to a new economic, political and cultural centre orientated towards
the river. With strong future ambitions especially concerning sustainability, economy and
livability, Hangzhou is a city on the move.
• In the design of the two towers, the urban face of the project twists towards the
landscape, while the landscape aspect, in turn, acknowledges the urban context. Through
this, the urban context and the landscape of the city are consolidated in one gesture.
• The main entrance to the south of the corner site appears as a prominent gateway from
the city park and civic centre, as it borders both the urban built-up context and green
axis/city park that connects West Lake to the Qiantang River. Reflecting the movement in
the river, the tower design features a wave-like motion.
• These concentric waves increase in their dynamism, starting calmly at the base and
building up more vigorously along the vertical axis.
• Situated in Qianjiang New Town near Qiantang River, this mixed-use
development becomes a major landmark along the green axis of the
city’s new CBD.
• A rich mix of 24/7 functions occupies almost 400,000m2 within two
streamlined towers set atop a podium and landscaped plaza.
• Conceived as a lively vertical neighbourhood and transit hub and featuring stunning views of
the river and West Lake areas, the sixty-storey, 250 metre-tall highrises contain residential units,
Grade A offices, the Conrad Hotel and a rooftop helipad; the 116,000m2  six-storey podium
accommodates retail, restaurants, leisure facilities and parking and has a direct underground
connection to the metro.
• Ben van Berkel:“Raffles City Hangzhou will be a point of confluence, a hub for business conduct
and a new destination for visitors and residents alike; an ‘all-in-one’ destination for working,
living and leisure in a highly sustainable environment.”
• Capital of Zhejiang province, the city is steeped in tradition with a view to the future. Located
50 minutes by high-speed train from Shanghai, Hangzhou has become an economic powerhouse
within China today thanks to a strong tech sector.
• While the city’s heritage focuses on the picturesque UNESCO heritage-listed West Lake,
its future points to a new economic, political and cultural centre orientated towards the river.
• With strong future ambitions especially concerning sustainability, economy and livability, 
Hangzhou is a city on the move .
Landscape
• Informed by the city’s famed natural landscape, UNStudio’s design creates a local
identity for Raffles City, while celebrating its trademark ‘city within a city’ concept.
• Reflecting the movement in the river, the tower design features a wave-like motion.
• These concentric waves increase in their dynamism, starting calmly at the base and
building up more vigorously along the vertical axis.
• These formal expressions enabled us to connect the wide variety of programmes
throughout the building into one seamless flow.
 
• The design contributes to the landscape character of this green city.
• Situated diagonally opposite the civic centre, the corner site borders both the urban built-up
context and green axis/city park that connects West Lake to the Qiantang River.

• The architecture of the two towers consolidates

these two contexts in one gesture whereby the
urban face of the building twists towards the
landscape, while the landscape aspect, in turn,
acknowledges the urban context.
• The towers are not identical but, rather,
complementary, as if engaging in dialogue.
• The plan is organised as two diagonal and
intersecting figure-of-eights.
• Positioned on opposite corners, each tower
consists of an ‘urban facade’ that frames the urban
corner of the site, and a horizontally articulated
‘landscape facade’ that descends into the inner
courtyards at podium level.
• The main entrance to the south appears as a prominent gateway from the city park and civic
centre.
• The east-west orientation of the towers minimises overshadowing while maximising daylight
for the residences and offices.

Articulation
• The design of the tower and podium facades
interplay contrasting textures.
• Clad in a shimmering scale-like skin of
aluminium tiles, the podium facades reflect the
building’s activity and landscape to offer
pixelated perspectives.
• The towers feature an outer layer of rotated,
vertical solar shading fins, placed atop the
curtain wall system. Accentuating the tower’s
characteristic twist, they also frame internal
INTERNAL ARTICULATION
Interior
• Situated at the centre of the retail spine, a spectacular
atrium forms the organisational and visual focus of the
podium interior.
• The atrium is designed as a spiral of overlapping layers,
creating seamless connectivity and extensive sightlines
between the spaces.
• As a feature detail the bamboo handrail echoes the
building’s curvilinear form.
• Winding its way around the podium as a continuous
ribbon, it adds an element of tactility and natural contrast
with the futuristic interior.
A Spiralling Centre
• Situated at the centre of the retail spine, a spectacular atrium forms the organisational and
visual focus of the podium interior. The atrium is designed as a spiral of overlapping layers,
creating seamless connectivity and extensive sightlines between the spaces.
• As a feature detail the bamboo handrail echoes the building’s curvilinear form. Winding its
way around the podium as a continuous ribbon, it adds an element of tactility and natural
contrast with the futuristic interior.
• From here, two diagonal voids ascend seven storeys through the opposite wings of the retail
spine. As an intuitive finding device, the voids guide visitors along each wing that spans almost
150 metres in each direction. Abundant daylight streams through the atrium and voids right
down to the lowest floors, introducing a unique outdoor quality to the podium interior. Looking
up through the skylights, the towers are always visible from the main atrium, changing
appearance depending on the viewing point.
• As the scale of the fluid forms transition from the architecture to the streamlined interior and
winding handrails, this results in a cohesive spatial experience – as if outside merges with inside.
“Raffles City Hangzhou will be a point of confluence, a hub for business conduct and a new
destination for visitors and residents alike; an ‘all-in-one’ destination for working, living and
leisure in a highly sustainable environment.”

CONCEPT AND DESIGN

• The incorporation of natural ventilation, solar gain and daylighting principles tailored to the
local context, efficient structure and the ways in which materials are employed all work in
concordance with one another to lower the energy and material demands of the building.
• Raffles City Hangzhou is the first retail mall in China to use natural ventilation on a large scale
and has achieved Gold LEED certification.
FACADE ARTICULATION
• Both towers consist of an ‘urban facade’ with vertical fins, and a ‘landscape façade with
horizontal planters. The programme and orientation of the facades determine the depth,
width and angle of the façade panels. This maximises the openings with an optimal
window-to-wall ratio.
• From here two diagonal voids ascend seven storeys through the opposite wings of the retail
spine. As an intuitive finding device, the voids guide visitors along each wing that spans almost
150 metres in each direction.
• Abundant daylight streams through the atrium and voids right down to the lowest floors,
introducing a unique outdoor quality to the podium interior.
• Looking up through the skylights, the towers are always visible from the main atrium, changing
appearance depending on the viewing point.

• As the scale of the fluid forms transition from

the architecture to the streamlined interior and
winding handrails, this results in a cohesive
spatial experience – as if outside merges with
inside.
Sustainability
• Raffles City Hangzhou has achieved Gold LEED certification. An inclusive approach to
sustainability is integral to UNStudio’s design philosophy.
• The incorporation of natural ventilation, solar gain and daylighting principles tailored to
the local context, efficient structure and the ways in which materials are employed all work
in concordance with one another to lower the energy and material demands of the
building.
• Raffles City Hangzhou is the first retail mall in China to use natural ventilation on a large
scale.
• With social sustainability in mind, the programme mix creates a dynamic, continuous
24/7 cycle of activity that encourages public participation and engagement.
• Located in the emerging riverside CBD of Hangzhou in eastern China, this mixed-use
development features two 250m tall twisting towers, a double-curved podium and four link
bridges that provide connectivity for ‘the city within a city’. With a total GFA of 393,000m², the
urban landmark houses spaces for office, residential, hotel and retail use.
• Arup harnesses expertise in structural engineering, MEP engineering, building sustainability
and fire engineering to help the architect UNStudio realise the perfect combination of form and
function.
• The development obtained LEED Core & Shell 2.0 Gold certification, and won the Grand Award
(Mainland/Overseas Projects) at the Structural Excellence Awards 2017 organised by the Hong
Kong Institution of Engineers/The Institution of Structural Engineers Joint Structural Division.
The twisting towers
• We developed a simple yet elegant structural system for the twin towers to ‘dance’
towards each other, achieving the architectural expression while making it economically
feasible.
• The building envelope is formed through the outer moment frame of the structure with
each segment of the column inclined at a different angle with a different orientation. This
creates the twisting shape of the tower while ensuring efficiency of floor areas.
• The design makes extensive use of reinforced concrete (RC), which is comparatively
cheaper than structural steel construction. The external twisted frame is comprised of
concrete filled steel tubes (CFT) columns and steel reinforced concrete (SRC) perimeter
frame beams but apart from these structural steel elements, the tower is essentially of RC.
• This combination strikes a balance between the two materials’ respective stiffness and
ductility, and cost.
• We also developed an innovative refinement in the perimeter CFT column and steel SRC
beam connection detail, which facilitated construction and significantly reduced cost.
The double curved podium
• The dynamic double-curved retail podium posed major challenges to the design and
construction of the external walls. Working closely with the architect and contractors, we
developed various structural systems, including inclined wind posts with in-situ concrete panels
and steel backing frames with concrete panels to form the double-curved façade backing
surface. This was realised with creative use of parametrically-driven 3D geometric software and
tools.
Performance-based fire engineering approach
• The non-aligned, open and spacious podium atria extend complexity to fire and safety. We
adopted a performance-based fire engineering approach using the podium architecture to good
effect: smoke would ventilate naturally through vents in the roof should there be a fire. Fire
dynamics simulator (FDS) models were used to help the architect locate the smoke vents and
validate the performance of natural ventilation.
• The resulting design, without the need for exhaust ducts and fans, meant the architectural
aspiration to create an undulated roof was maintained, and a functional roof garden was made
possible. The simulation tool, STEPS (simulation of transient evacuation and pedestrian.
• The development has achieved LEED Gold certification with exceptional performance of
16% energy saving, 100% non-potable water sources for irrigation, 39% reduction of
potable water use by occupants and more than 20% green coverage in this tight location ”

Sustainability strategies
• They also designed an integrate sustainable strategy for the complex, which not only
enhances its performance but also benefits the local community with green public space.
• A wide range of energy-saving strategies were incorporated including free cooling, air-
side heat recovery, demand control ventilation with CO2 sensors, chilled water storage
system, high COP chillers, natural ventilation, daylight sensors, high efficiency luminaires,
daylighting and sunshine shading facade.