The inspiration for the pleated and woven facade was drawn from the former presence of the old textile market on site.

Pixelated Workplaces

Jing Mian Xin Cheng on Beijing’s Fourth Ring Road mediates between the scale of the large urban development, busy road arteries and pedestrian foot traffic. CLOU engaged in designing a new landscape as well as two office towers linked by a retail podium in between.

The landscape reacts to a more intimate and friendly human scale while the distinctive façade design signals its presence at a distance and to those passing by. The appearance of both the landscape and the facade shifts as observers move around the development – large pleats on the retail podium cast dynamic shadows, while the towers’ curtain walls undulate creating reflections and shadows.

These projections also allow for small and easy-to-operate openings for natural ventilation, creating another dimension for the flow and fluidity between indoor and outdoor spaces.