Giving back green to the city was one of the main focal points when designing ‘the Valley’ near the famous Westlake in the Chinese lake-city Hangzhou.

The Valley is an elegant mixed-use development of 210,000 square meters with office towers, a hotel and retail. The mountains and valleys in Zhejiang Province inspire the design of ‘the Valley’ and the appearance is dictated by the volumetric expression of the towers. The top part of the towers is leaning towards the periphery of the site to create space in between the buildings. Together with the landscape, this gesture makes the development look like a valley.

All towers, roads, fire climbing zones, parking entrances and drop-offs are strategically placed at the periphery of the site allowing for a central green heart of 10,000 square meters. A green patch in front of the site and belonging to the government is integrated in the design and merged together with the central park of the development. The landscape of the central heart gently slopes upwards towards the north allowing for retail units underneath.

A cultural exhibition pavilion in the park gives the development an even more public character.

Light colors and materials are being used for the façade. Together with the massing strategy this is giving the project a light and modern appearance. The façade makes use of a grid with minimalistic detailing to emphasize the massing gesture instead of anything else. The glass has been set back depending on the solar load of the façade.