In 2018 Ant Group required a new global headquarters in Hangzhou that would match its ambitions to take finance into the future. ASPECT Studios won a hotly contested international design competition for the landscape design of the campus, with a people-oriented proposal that emphasises social interaction.
The campus is nestled within Hangzhou’s picturesque mountains, and it was important for the landscape design to respect and reflect the surrounding natural environment, increase connection to nature and bring biodiversity to the former industrial site. In honoring the natural world, it was also vital that the campus had sustainability at its core, and a systems-based approach was adopted to recycle and reuse 100 percent of the site's rainfall, and to increase biodiversity and pollinator attractor species.
The experience of those using the campus is carefully shaped by a rigorous, research-based approach. ASPECT Studios undertook a series of studies looking at how users experienced existing facilities and used this information to shape its proposal. The result is an intricate series of patterns and networks based on ant colonies, and a design language that encourages interaction that benefits workers socially and in their work.