Vanke Flagship Building

2020 Winner – Building Architecture

Project Narrative

Vanke—one of the worlds’ biggest housing developers in Bazhou, China a sends an enticing message: We’re everywhere you want to be.

A singular flagship project, strategically located on a busy thoroughfare, combines three distinct programs—marketplace, showroom, and inviting urban plaza with—all under one roof.

The building’s angular shape creates spaces for Vanke’s model housing units, as well as retail zones; its transparency invites people inside to linger in the café and browse the flower shop and bookstore. Together, the form and transparency create an urban living room, a family friendly gathering point to explore, lounge, read, relax, and meet up with friends.

The triangular configurations push and pull space within the urban plaza, creating visitor circulation where people get the unusual experience of interacting with three building planes instead of the customary two. A single cantilevered roof brings it all together under a unifying form.