Xixi Wetland Estate

Xixi, a national wetland park located on the outskirts of Hangzhou, is a built landscape and an area of nature, which has been shaped by man for over a thousand years.

The omnipresent relationship between landscape, architecture, and water is key to the atmosphere in Xixi. This atmosphere has been integrated into a new development of apartment buildings.

The apartment buildings are surrounded by a water garden, which, as a reference to the wetland park, is a mostly wild landscape. In contrast to these green surroundings, the buildings appear as dark stone volumes embedded in the water garden. They are, as is typical for villages in Xixi, placed on a stone plinth that sits in the water. This plinth forms the base of a village group with various levels, walls, and balustrades creating a sequence of exterior spaces, which enable access to the buildings. The interiors are characterised by floating spaces. Room height windows allow for natural light and views over the water garden.

Xixi Wetland Estate, Hangzhou, China
Program: apartment building
Architects: David Chipperfield Architects Berlin, Shanghai
Client: Hangzhou Westbrook Investment Co. Ltd.
Design: Mark Randel
Project manager: Libin Chen
Project architects: Ilona Priwitzer, Manh Kinh Tran, Sascha Jung, Samson Adjei
Contact architect: ECADI (East China Architecture and Design Institute)
Landscape architect: Belt & Collins
Structural engineer: ECADI
Services engineer: ECADI
Project manager: Hangzhou Westbrook Investment Co. Ltd.
Area: 11,800 sqm
Completion: 2015