Tianjin Vanke Plaza

The Tianjin Vanke Square project transformed an existing, abandoned 3 level super market into a 25,000 m² community retail center, including restaurants, boutique retailing, bookstores and a 2,00m² market & food court.

The building itself, located on the edge of the Five Avenues Historical Zone in Tianjin, can be seen as a trans-formative element that mediates between the rich colors and textures of the historic district and the chaotic jumble of recent developments. The building is a marker on the cross roads of both location and time. This change reflects the mediocre urban life that accompanied the rapid urbanization.

The project concept was conceived as a “Renaissance”, conveying the rebirth of both the historic district of Tianjin and the manner in which the existing building was transformed to meet the demands of its new use. The new life, breathed into the lifeless hulk, is expressed through a series of colorful geometric elements that break out from its previously uniform exterior, to form a composition that reflects entrances, internal courts and the dynamic new uses within.

The large scale of the existing building was broken down into a more manageable human scale that express the red and white traditional material palette. The new façade engages and stimulates the vitality of the surrounding streets and plazas.

Introducing of micro urban space, the original big box volumn is scaled down and transformed into a rich and belonging "urban living room".

We hope this is a community center first, then a shopping center.

There should be more than visual bombardment and consumer stimulus. This is a comfortable and relaxed living room, a warm spiritual home in the city. Like a spirit at the intersection of time, she infuses the spirit of history into daily life, inspires youth, and brings about the revival of city and culture.