Situated between two Hangzhou landmarks—West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Grand Canal—Westlake 66 reinvigorates a deteriorated neighborhood with a new, green pedestrian link and office space suited to technology startups and young professionals.
Located one street away from a main boulevard and nestled behind a series of large-scale buildings, the design establishes a new pedestrian path and creates a greenway through the dense urban site. This green space connects the project’s four podium blocks with terraced towers and it echoes the rich, natural landscape of West Lake and its surrounding mountains.
The development comprises five office towers, a boutique hotel, several public parks and an active, retail podium. To determine the optimum position and shape of each of the buildings within the site, the design team utilized a proprietary KPF Urban Interface algorithm to parametrically optimize the buildings’ massing, floor plate size, and views to and from the site, while minimizing the shadow impact on the surrounding buildings.
Each of the buildings’ facades are designed to maximize the amount of daylight into each building while reducing the overall energy consumption. Additionally, the building facades have been tailored to respond to the immediate context as part of their expression. Westlake 66 reflects the material heritage of the city and its craftspeople, utilizing local materials such as terracotta, stone, and wood.
