Donghu Civic Center

Donghu National Innovation District Civic Center, or Guanggu Civic Center, is located at the core of Wuhan’s Guanggu District. It lies adjacent to the conference center and public cultural facilities, on a 20-hectare plot, with total built area of 147,391 square meters.

The program includes a municipal hall, exhibition space, archives, conference facilities, and administrative offices. Eight individual low buildings are organized into courtyards, with one basement level and up to ten levels above ground.

Design Concept:

1. Return to essence of civic center: To create a place, not an individual building

Civic centers originate from places where citizens meet. For example, Agora is a central plaza in a 5th century Greek city for public meetings. Our initial concept was to reconnect the civic center to a place where citizens can congregate and communicate.
The program is organized into low office buildings that define courtyards. A landscaped plaza connects several semi-enclosed courtyards, while the buildings form a continuous facade that open onto the plaza. The municipal hall, exhibition center, and conference center – the three most prominent single buildings - connect three plazas. The core of the project therefore lies in the plazas defined by buildings and surrounded by landscape, as well as the courtyard spaces.

2. Campus as spatial organization: utilizing natural features of the lot

In terms of spatial organization, the center is a campus that serves both enterprises and residents – a building cluster formed by individual low buildings. The buildings connect and form a series of courtyards. The difference in building heights evoke the imagery of Jiufeng Mountains beyond the site. Vertically, the porous ground floors of individual buildings open up the courtyards to the landscape of the campus, and preserves the natural fabric of the site.

The campus is characterized by the intertwining of landscape and architecture. Buildings form dynamic, recognizable spaces; the landscape provides a backdrop for appreciating the beauty of buildings, while becoming something with its own identity.  

3. Approaches to Green building: Comprehensive ecological architecture

The project utilizes multiple energy conserving methods specific to local climate conditions, including: shallow building depth (18-20m) in the office building to utilize natural light from both sides; shading devices on the south and east-west facades; an open ground level; a system of walkway that connects individual buildings on the plaza level; planting and shallow pools in the plaza to cool the parking level; shading on the roof and parking lot, and use of solar panels.