Times Central Sales Center
Location Xiamen, China | Client Longfor Xiamen | Photographer Terrence Zhang | Size 13,044 square meters | Status Completed 2018 | Tags Parks and Civic Spaces, Corporate and Commercial
With its location in the Xiamen Xiang An district, north of the Xiamen city center, the ‘Times Central’ Development Area is envisioned to become the new central hub of Xiamen, where diverse crowds of people from different geographies, age groups, and businesses will connect.
To generate enthusiasm and advance sales for the development, the client required that a Sales Centre be created to introduce the development to the larger community. In addition to communicating the benefits and design ideology of the future Longfor Xiamen development, the design had to visually balance the view of the nearby lake with that of the existing building, allow for ample customer parking, and address circulation challenges with the adjacent street.
Design Solution: Skimming Stone
An early Chinese poet once described Xiamen as “a city that leans on stones like a flower; where millions of mountains embrace the sea.”
Among the city’s many striking natural assets, most memorable is its proximity to a number of bodies of water. As such, water became the leading and symbolizing design element to connect between the sales center and development site.
Symbolizing the act of skimming stones across a calm reflective lake in such a way that creates ever-increasing ripples, the concept epitomizes how every throw and every bounce signifies Longfor`s future development. These expanding, concentric ripples radiate outwards across the site in representation of the thoughts, ideas and philosophies of Longfor moving forward.
At the end of the ripples, there is a calm, reflective lake with a Floating Pavilion. This large and shallow water feature serves as a mirror for the surrounding building and plants. At one end of this water feature sits the Floating Pavilion as an iconic sculpture symbolizing the skimming stone. Accessed by a walkway sunken beneath the lake surface, the Floating Pavilion provides a quiet and comfortable space in which the client may meet in conversation with their customers.
Originally envisioned as a temporary installation, the client has elected to retain the Demonstration Zone permanently.
