1,000 Trees is a new mixed-use development designed to emerge as two forest-capped mountains from the waterfront in Shanghai.
The 15-acre site is bounded by the river, the M50 art district and a park. The first phase provides a mix of shops, restaurants, cafes, lifestyle and everyday stores, new public spaces and promenades.
The project is inspired by the idea of making cities into social spaces, by breaking down the monolithic scale of a typical retail development into a multitude of human-scale spaces. 1000 Trees creates a place that brings together nature, commerce and wellbeing, turning an ex-industrial site into a new destination exploring the powerful relationships between art, landscape and architecture.
Including 166 retail units and 63 food and beverage units over more than 38,000sqm, this is a landmark mall with a wide range of tenants to appeal to various demographics.
Over 1,000 trees and 250,000 plants will cascade across the structures. The planting strategy delivers a significant net biodiversity gain on the site and helps to create its own micro-climate that will cool the environment.
The building is based on a flexible nine-metre grid, which is rotated to allow river views and align with the road boundary.
The site also sits next to M50, the city’s main art district, and the building’s southern façade is a canvas for a vast collection of street art. Sixteen local and international artists were commissioned to draw the energy and traditions of M50 into this first phase of the development. They also created 40-metre-high murals in the elevator shafts, visible through the glass cars. A different artist has worked on each lift shaft, giving the zones a distinct identity to help visitors find their way around.
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