Summary: This urban design competition call for proposals for the future city base that will gather leading enterprises, headquarters of international organizations, and headquarters of “unicorn” enterprises both in China and around the world. Through the planning of underground, above-ground, output density, and development intensity, it will create an innovative place for the global headquarters and a dynamic future-oriented urban area. The Hangzhou Qiantang Bay Future Headquarters Base (QBFHB) is located in the core block of Qianjiang Century City in Hangzhou, adjacent to Asian Games Village of the 19th Asian Games in 2022 in the north and Hangzhou International Expo Center (the main venue of G20 summit 2016) in the south.
Description:
I. Background
Guangzhou is a millennial commercial capital with 130-year history of electricity use. The city is widely known for its practical, pioneering, open and inclusive mindset, while it is the common wish of all citizens to promote the green and coordinated urban development and facilitate the harmony and coexistence between human and nature.
Power grid serves as the large artery in the city’s power supply network to inject strong development impetus into the city. The power supply infrastructures, as the city’s energy arteries, have expanded continuously along with the urban development, winding through historical alleyways and connecting trendy commercial circles. Substations, as hearts of the power grid, are expected to not only facilitate electrical distribution, but also reflect the environment-friendly concepts of urban architecture.
In this context, Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau jointly launch the International Competition of Landscape and Functional Design for Substations in Guangzhou (the Competition). By establishing a world-class design competition platform, the Competition intends to solicit excellent landscape and functional design proposals from renowned design institutes, design masters, as well as individuals both at home and abroad, so as to create urban landmarks through design of artistic level and better integrate the landscape and functional design of the substations with the urban development of Guangzhou. We look forward to witnessing the perfect integration of mechanics and aesthetics in the Competition, so we could make meticulous efforts to promote the urban construction, enhance the city’s function as the core engine for the GBA development, and boost the city’s initiatives in revitalizing the historical districts and making new progresses in four aspects (urban functions, soft power, modern services and business environment).
II. Organization
The Competition is co-hosted by Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau.
The Committee of International Competition of Landscape and Functional Design for Substations in Guangzhou (hereinafter referred to as the “Competition Committee”) is set up as the decision-making body of the Competition. It organizes, coordinates, and renders guidance, supervision and inspection for the Competition, handles disputes relating to the Competition, and make decisions for key matters of the Competition.
III. Participant Categories
With three participant categories, namely “Design Masters”, “Professional” and “General Public”, the Competition intends to solicit landscape and functional design proposals for selected substations from global participants.
The Design Masters Category invites teams of academicians, fellows, or international architectural design masters who have won the Pritzker Architecture Prize to design one designated substation, and each substation will be provided with two design proposals for evaluation. By now, six design masters have been invited to the Competition, namely CAE academicians He Jingtang, Wang Jianguo, Cui Kai, and Meng Jianmin; Arata Isozaki, winner of the Pulitzer Prize + Hu Qian, and Philip Cox, RIBA International Fellow, AIA Honorary Fellow and RAIA Life Fellow.
The Professional Category is open to the registration of Chinese and international design organizations. Eligible design organizations shall, by the registration deadline, submit registration materials and conceptual proposals for two enlisted substations (See Appendix 1). Hosts of the Competition will, in view of their comprehensive strength, proposed project team, concept proposals and etc., select design organizations to participate in the Competition. The shortlisted participants are required to design the substations designated by the Hosts, including the existing or new ones in CBD, the waterfronts or academic areas of the city.
The General Public Category is open to the registration of organizations or individuals from home and abroad, including design institutes, universities and etc. No limitation is set on number of participants in this category. Participants need to select substation(s) out of the ten designated by the Hosts (See Appendix 2) for design.
IV. Work Contents and Detailing Level
(I) Design Masters Category
For each substation, individuals or organizations under the Design Masters Category are required to conduct designs including location and environment analysis, design concept and planning (including the naming of substation), overall functional design, master planning, architectural design (including façade and functional layout while excluding electrical design), outdoor space and garden, construction/operation/maintenance cost narratives, representation of design effect, etc. In particular, a standardized design approach is encouraged for the façade design, so that practical and cost-effective design components and combination methods could be worked out to create “standardized design products” that are easy for duplication.
The design deliverables should be detailed to the architectural and landscape SD level, and should include design narratives, drawings, display boards, multimedia presentation file within 2 minutes, and 1:200-1:500 physical model. The specific requirements are subject to the design brief of the Competition.
(II) Professional Category
Design institutes registered under the Professional Category need to select two substations from the given list (see Appendix 1) to prepare conceptual proposal according to relevant design requirements. The design contents include but are not limited to the design concept analysis (including the naming of substation), the overall spatial intent, and other contents that can show the highlights and features of the design proposal. Design documents for each substation is no more than 5 pages. The Competition Committee will select 15 design institutes as competition participants under this category based on comprehensive review on the submitted conceptual proposals.
Each participant under the Professional Category conducts design for two to four substations in a group of substations designated by the Hosts, and submits one proposal for each substation. A total of three participants will provide designs for each group of substations.
The design contents of each substation include location and environment analysis, design concept and planning (including the naming of substation), overall functional design, master planning, architectural design (including façade and functional layout while excluding electrical design), outdoor space and garden, construction/operation/maintenance cost narratives, representation of design effect, etc. In particular, a standardized design approach is encouraged for the façade design, so that practical and cost-effective design components and combination methods could be worked out to create “standardized design products” that are easy for duplication.
The submitted proposal should be detailed to the architectural and landscape SD level, and the deliverables should include design narratives, drawings, display boards, multimedia presentation file within 2 minutes for each substation, and 1:200-1:500 physical model, with specific design requirements subject to the technical documents of the Competition.
(III) General Public Category
Each participant selects project(s) out of the ten substations (see Appendix 2) designated by the Host and conduct conceptual design accordingly. The design mainly presents the creative ideas, while deliverables include design narratives, drawings and display boards.
You can find more information at the Bustler competition announcement and download the competition materials here: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1tcxgg… Code: 7ipk
