Skylight

Project Background
The project is located in the core area of Choujiang Street in Yiwu City, which is the central old town. As a corporate sales centre, the project is divided into two floors. The first floor is consisted with the main areas such as the lobby reception area, model display area and VIP negotiation area; while the functional rooms for staff are on the second floor.

Design Strategy
The biggest problem the project designer faced is that the interior space is relatively deep. Also, there is no large glass curtain wall on the exterior of the building, which blocks the natural light and leads to poor indoor lighting. The design strategy is to employ skylights and introduces natural light in through the fifth facade of the building, thereby solving the problem of insufficient lighting in the interior space.

Design Inspiration
The introduction of the skylight is inspired by caisson patterns, the decorative art of the ancient Chinese architecture. Caisson ceiling , the unique decorative part of the indoor ceiling in traditional Chinese architecture, not only represents the aesthetic value of the Chinese people, but also a spiritual symbol of the communication between heaven and mankind.

Design Specification
Traditional caisson ceiling are generally in upwardly bulging well shapes, surrounded by various flower caisson patterns, sculptures and colourful paintings. It is mostly used on the throne in palaces, temples, and the most important part above the altar. Its shapes are various, including round, square, ellipse, thread shape, and Eight-diagram shape. The designer abstracts and deforms it through extracting and combing it with the skylight to form the final design result. The ever-changing light and shadow arouse people’s associations with life, awe and yearning for space.