In collaboration with the urban planners DPZ CoDesign, we designed a master plan for a riverfront retail development in Wuxi, China. The plan organizes the buildings along the river with new pedestrian and vehicular bridges to foster walkability and circulation. The overall dimensions and column grid of the new buildings were determined in part by the need to accommodate underground parking.
We were also asked to design a prototypical building for the retail development. We proposed a two-story building with ornamental screens inspired by traditional Chinese lattice patterns wrapping the upper level. These metal screens are set off from the surface of the translucent glass façades so that at night the entire volume glows from within like a lantern. LED lights on the second level behind the screen can be programmed to change colors. The screens would vary in pattern from one store to the next.