The Yowant Headquarters Building is situated at the intersection of Lianchuang Street and Haiyuan Road in Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City, with a total floor area of approximately 42,000㎡. Positioned as a "technology-driven new consumption service platform," the Company aims to integrate architectural space, form, and function, making the building both part of the urban landscape and a space that inspires creativity and fosters innovation.

01 A Building Form That Engages the City While Standing Out

The surrounding architectural environment is complex, with varying heights and diverse facades. The first design consideration was how the building could interact more with the city within the limited site while becoming a distinctive yet understated presence in the area.

On the north side, the building steps back from the boundary and features a cantilevered volume, creating a spacious main entrance plaza. This plaza serves not only as an outdoor hardscape for corporate gatherings but also as a small public square that aligns with the street scale for urban users.

The south side, serving as a secondary entrance, features a sunken courtyard and a ground-floor garden within the limited site, creating a secluded small park for the office space and forming a natural continuity with the nearby riverside landscape. This optimizes both the office micro-environment and the urban environment.

With a height limit of 45m, the design ensures functionality while creating a multifaceted, diamond-like form through spatial layout, as the building cannot rely on height to stand out.

The facade uses anodized aluminum panels to express the structural framework. In the curtain wall design, custom diamond-shaped clamps secure the glass to achieve a frameless effect. The delicate clamps, combined with the glass's gradient texture, create rhythmic variations across the large continuous facade. Hidden ventilators address airflow issues without visible opening sashes. These measures achieve an exceptionally smooth and pure facade. The building's futuristic form, materials, and details reflect the pioneering and unique nature of the tech company, making it "stand out" in its environment.

02 Creating Rich Spatial Experiences within Limited Building Volumes

For the interior space design, we created a north-south atrium with partial double-height ceilings to connect the primary and secondary entrances on the ground floor while organizing internal functions. The interwoven corridors within the atrium serve not only as circulation spaces linking floors and enriching pathway experiences but also as integral components of the building's structure, while providing diverse live-streaming scenarios for the Company's broadcasting operations.

The ground floor accommodates commercial, dining, and limited office spaces, enhancing the building's public and open character through spatial, formal, and functional design. The 2nd to 8th floors feature flexible office areas with adaptable partitions to meet practical needs. The 9th floor functions as a reception, exhibition, and club space, with an elevated viewing terrace positioned at the southwest corner facing the urban park.

Thus, within the limited building volume, we've crafted rich spatial experiences and versatile usage scenarios across varying scales and configurations.

The design of Yowant Headquarters represents our spatial practice considering multiple dimensions of city, nature, architecture, and users, as well as our architectural interpretation of Yowant's corporate spirit.

Project Name: Yowant Headquarters Building
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Address: Building 1, No. 8, Ronggu Lane, Wuchang Sub-district, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province
Type: Office
Year of Completion: 2024
Land Area: 10,461㎡
Gross Floor Area: 41,862.26㎡
Plot Ratio: 2.5
Client: Hangzhou Yowant Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Design Unit: gad
Interior Design: Shen Jianghai Studio
Landscape Design: Hangzhou Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Lighting Design: Hangzhou Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Curtain Wall Design: gad
MEP Design: gad
Design Director: Zhang Wei
Architectural Design: Chen Gang/Mao Liang/Xu Xiang/Song Chunya
Technical Support: (Structure) Zhang Ganglei/Guo Junfeng (MEP) Liu Rong/Pan Xiaoyan/Wang Yue/Chen Dechuang/Fu Xuhui/Hong Lijing/Hong Zhiyan (Curtain Wall) Xia Fenghui/Liu Qianlong/Chen Changqing/Zhao Lei/Hu Jiayuan
Photography: Right Angle Architectural Photography, Chen Gang