Zhejiang Gate Towers are an iconic entrance to the city of Hangzhou. The design of the two towers is based on the Chinese characters for ‘gate’, and feature a shimmering façade of fins.
LAVA’s masterplan for the mixed-use development, currently under construction, consists of five buildings housing offices, residential, and retail. It features fluid building masses, improved positioning of the towers from different viewing directions, logical pedestrian movement and the removal of cars from the complex.
The high-rise towers are an interpretation of the Chinese characters meaning ‘gate’ or entrance to a city. Utilising extensive view studies the tower ensemble was positioned so it is recognisable as a twin structure, a gate, from both near and far. LAVA articulated the façade as two groups of long vertical fins wrapped around the buildings. Fluid lines create zones within the tower elevations, whilst different colours of glass and varying depths of vertical fin elements generate refracted light effects animating the façade.
A third 90m high tall building and two pavilions are placed around the central public space.
