Atelier Archmixing

Pocket Plaza

Pocket Plaza
Unit structure. Image © Qingshan Wu

POCKET PLAZA

Atelier Archmixing

LEADER DESIGNERS
Shen Zhuang, Hao Ren, Yu Tang, Jie Zhu

CLIENT
Shanghai Xuhui District Construction, Transportation Committee, Xuhui Tianping Road Sub-district Office

DESIGN TEAM
Shen Zhuang, Jie Zhu, Lide Li, Xinhui Ding, Jidong Yin, Hongbang Chen, Shuijuan Lu, Xin Qiu

MANUFACTURERS
Hong Di Lai, Shanghai Skf Builder, Shanghai Zijia Metal Decoration Co., Ltd.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Pingnan Chen, Yu Tang, Pingnan Chen, Qingshan Wu, Lide Li

AREA
773 m²

LOCATION
Shanghai, China

YEAR
2019

CATEGORY
Community

A SMALL PLAZA ENCLOSED WITH GALLERIES

Yongjia Road is located in a historical downtown district in Shanghai, with many old residential blocks scattered in its neighborhood. This road is of pleasant scale and luxurious greenery, crowded with small retails. One can sense a strong living atmosphere here.

Pocket Plaza
Aerial view of Pocket Plaza. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
Pocket Plaza, Yongjia Road. Image © Yu Tang, Pingnan Chen

The Pocket Plaza in lane 309 sits in the middle of Yongjia Road. Taking the opportunity of old quarter renovation, Xuhui District Government decided to dismantle two rows of shabby residences with fire hazards and transform the site into a public urban space.

Based on observation, we believe that an open plaza with appropriate scale would be most necessary and suitable for this neighborhood.

Pocket Plaza
Public space for residents and the public. Image © Pingnan Chen
Pocket Plaza
Public space. Image © Lide Li

After demolishing those old buildings, the site turned out to be a rectangular area, 18 meters in width and 40 meters in depth, almost at a right angle with the street. It is enclosed on three sides (the east, south and west sides), shaped like a pocket.

We created here a small square fully enclosed with open galleries. The ground of the square is 0.5m higher than Yongjia road, providing a sense of territory and an interestingly elevated view of the cityscape. Inside the square, a dry fountain can be switched on or off on required conditions, which serves as a soft management strategy to control the usage.

Pocket Plaza
The gallery with suitable height. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
The gallery with suitable height. Image © Qingshan Wu

The south end stands two secluded auxiliary rooms of continuous folded surface, separating from the square as a notable boundary, covered with weathering steel wall.

The entrance connects to the street with a gentle slope, defined with a logo wall and a framed flower bed with low shrub beside the sidewalk. An iron sliding gate was installed at the northeastern corner to achieve better management.

Pocket Plaza
Temporary maket. Image © Pingnan Chen
Pocket Plaza
View from the southwest of plaza to the city street. Image © Qingshan Wu

The iron-gate and the shrubs keep the height at about 1.2 meters as a boundary for the plaza. The residential pediments of both the east and west sides were repainted in its original appearance, for the west side, the old surface texture was also preserved. They are partially hidden behind the bamboo grove planting along the open galleries.

TIMBER-STEEL STRUCTURE AND RED TILES

Four galleries with a basic beam frame formed a windmill shape, enclosing the rectangular plaza. The ceiling of the open galleries is intentionally lowered to 2.1m-2.7m, a friendly height harmonious with neighboring buildings. The open gallery adopted a timber-steel structure. Based on its rational architectural form, we added dramatic details to build public attention.

Pocket Plaza
Friendly to pets. Image © Pingnan Chen
Pocket Plaza
Temporary maket. Image © Pingnan Chen

Each typical unit of the timber-steel beam frame is composed of steel pillar, wooden beam and steel cable. The steel pillars consist of two pieces of flat steel. The wooden beams are multi-layered. Their cantilevered parts are used to bear the light metal roofing.

The weight of the building is transferred from the wooden beams to the steel pillars. The end of the beams is fixed with steel cables in order to keep its balance.

All joints are assemblage ones. These joints are rotatable only in one direction, so that they can restrain the rotation of beams and counteract the wind force pushing roof upwards.

Pocket Plaza
Details of gallery. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
Vanishing pillar in the bamboo. Image © Qingshan Wu

The residence in the neighborhood is mainly painted with warm-toned color or built with ganged bricks, which are very common in Shanghai’s urban area.

Therefore, the plaza ground was paved with common red water permeable brick; its wooden beams, soffit and benches are made of light color logs and the weathering steel wall is painted rust red.

Pocket Plaza
The site surrounded by residential buildings. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
The night view of entrance. Image © Qingshan Wu

In this warm-toned context, the steel pillars were painted into astonishing bright green by fluorocarbon spraying. Such a sharp color contrast has brought a kind of everyday relaxing atmosphere.


Pocket Plaza
The entrance. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
Under the gallery. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
West gallery and fountain. Image © Qingshan Wu
Pocket Plaza
The night view of entrance. Image © Qingshan Wu


Pocket Plaza
Original site. Image © Lide Li


Pocket Plaza
1-1 section
Pocket Plaza
2-2 section
Pocket Plaza
First floor plan
Pocket Plaza
Axonometric analysis of unit structure


Pocket Plaza
Sketch
Pocket Plaza
The model of the area. Image Courtesy of Atelier Archmixing

Atelier Archmixing
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Atelier Archmixing
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