Shanghai Xintiandi Style II

SHANGHAI CHINA，2023

Xintiandi Style II is a playful dialogue between old and new, its community, and a much needed statement about recycling and sustainability. Together we have been striving to express an unseen design approach, with great attention to the community, environment, and sustainability.

The building itself is a city block and operates as one, with several entrances on opposite streets that connect its residential, office, and commercial surroundings. Intensifying this connection was our intention. By activating and opening the building, we invite people in, and let it function as an interior street, leading visitors through the building. The mall becomes then a modern public space, in a dynamized neighborhood, where people gather and connect.

Towards Long-term Ecological Balance

It aims to rebuild and redefine the concept of retail, with effective architectural interventions that bridge the gap between the luxury of mall architecture and the eco-friendly approach experience. Three keywords inspired the new Xintiandi Style II: reusing, recycling, reducing. The concept is expressed throughout the overall mall, by using recycled materials, recyclable surfaces, sustainable solutions. 

Demolishing a building always produces a lot of waste. As sustainable design strategy, AIM keeps the most important original elements that characterize the existing mall, while the demolished materials are crushed, reassembled, and reused in other forms and shapes. All materials from the construction site are transformed into new finishes, furniture, and objects.

Building with the Existing

The design aims to instate a dialogue between old and new, past, and present. On one hand, the overall space shows the real nature of the building, exposing the existing concrete columns and beams. The several layers of the buildings are revealed and not hidden under a big layer of unnecessary material finishes. 

The canyon, an urban element, transforms the lower ground into a sequence of recycled aluminum ‘rooms’. Creating a continuance of experiences, each characterized the brands within them, unique furniture configurations inviting people to stay and interact with the brands. A space changed from a long straight corridor to a string of tailored experiences.

The rooms built of recycled aluminum, a refined material, stand out and guide the visitors through the mall. Emphasizing the contemporaneity of the space, creating a contrasting combination between past and present, surprise and wonder.

Community-centric Design

Three main entrances invite people into the mall. By removing the existing glass facade and pushing the mall boundary inwards, AIM creates a friendly intermediate outdoor space open to people and to the city. A place to be, where people can gather and meet. 

With three different themes, all related to sustainability, each access is different and act as an experiential “city living room” itself, providing a unique experience to the customers. The north entrance represents the beauty of simplicity and balance of elements, expressing the value of reducing to the essentials.

The middle entrance explains the importance of recycling, displaying sculptural elements created with recycled elements form the construction site. 

The south entrance is the green portal, to remind everyone that nature is an essential part of our life, especially in urban contexts. 

Client: SHUI ON XINTIANDI STYLE II
Location: 245 Madang Road, Shanghai, China
GFA: 26,613 sqm 
Completion: January 2023
Design Scope: Interior renovation, Landscape design
Design Principals: Wendy Saunders, Vincent de Graaf
Project Manager: Lei Zhao
Project Architect: Davide Signorato
Design Team: Caddie Qu, Chen Yuan, Jin Kang, Luqian Lin, Mia Lei, Yi Zhang
FF&E Team: Lili Cheng, Weisha Dai
General Contractor: SHUI ON CONSTRUCTION
Lighting Supplier: Studio Illumine
Planting Consultant: Shanghai Huayou Gardening Co., Ltd
Executive Architect: ECADI
Interior LDI: DOP design
Main Materials: Metal terrazzo, Washed stone, Stainless steel plate
Photography: Wen Studio
CN Copywriter: Carmen Xu