Architects Studio55 imagined the heart of Wujin to build an impressive building of the Lotus exhibition center in the city of Changzhou in China. The building is not just the name it is in the form of a lotus flower. And of course, has already acquired the status of a city attraction.
This project cost approximately AUD $ 12 million and offers lotus in three forms with incredible architecture. The lotus building and the 3.5-hectare People’s Park has been designed to act as cultural anchor and civic landmark. The project is establishing a symbolic commitment to the local government’s ambitions and future aspirations.
Therefore Lotus Exhibition Centre was briefly called a public building and park that’d embody an exclusive variability of civic nodes and public spaces. The lotus building is an existing double-story subterranean municipal facility situated beneath an existing artificial lake.
The Lotus building houses parts of the planning bureau as well as new exhibition halls meeting rooms and conference centers. The physical form of the Lotus building has been determined by the need to form a structure that has an idiosyncratic presence; a key character piece in a city that can be in parts anonymous like so many other quickly developing Chinese cities.
The ultimate development is to seek and generate participation to build an ownership of the place that builds ties to the community and induces people to stay and flourish and not to be drawn away. However; this stunning landmark’s goal is to bring longevity and depth to the community; make new standards of architectural motivation in the area and inspire further urban development.
The landmark is conceived as an inhabited sculptural form, emerging naturally from the lake; the visitor will enter from beneath and be greeted with a cathedral-like revelation of space. Its colors and light combination produce illumination, creating a bright and uplifting interior atmosphere, no matter the weather.
The Lotus Exhibition Center building transitioned and graded color is applied to the side of the petal ribs, forming a deep hue only at the edge of the structure. Hand-laid and varied white, beige, and stainless steel hexagon mosaic tile appearances cover all external and internal surfaces; merging flawlessly to make a continuous form with studio505’s bespoke 7m high suspended chandelier at the apex, becoming the focus of attention, inside and out.
The project has been designed to minimize energy usage with over 2500 geothermal piles driven through the base of the artificial lake. The whole lake water mass and the ground beneath are utilized to pre-cool in summer and pre-warm in winter to air conditioning systems for both the lotus and the two-story building underneath the lake.
The Lotus Exhibition Center is a mixed-mode and naturally ventilated. It utilizes evaporation cooling from the lake surface to drive a thermal chimney within the main flower pod. Architects Studio 505’s design produces a vibrant public territory. Which main key is a night lighting system devised to hold a series of changing natural color combinations for twenty seconds before gradually transitioning to the next scene over ten seconds.
The Lotus Center and People’s Park have become one of the most widespread landmarks in Wujin with a constant contribution to the social and cultural life of the city.
