In the 1960s, a Harvard professor wrote an article about how higher-education institutions establish themselves not only as learning and research environments but also as generators for new urban forms. We believe the same is true for science and technology parks.
We view urban forms as various components of an urban system, such as buildings and negative spaces around them, road networks, public infrastructure, landscapes, and parks. In recent decades, science and technology parks have been changing the ways urban forms are generated. From the world’s very first science park built in the 1950s, these parks have opened up and are integrated with the surrounding urban fabric. As they incubate new ideas and new technological innovations inside these parks, these parks are also shaping the urban forms as well.
Responding to specific program requirements of various science and tech parks, SAAN put in the effort to create innovative urban spatial elements and forms that have not been tried before. Our designs aim at stimulating progress and positive urban change. These new spatial forms serve as experimental laboratories for new urbane functions and democratic ideals to be born.
One example is SAAN’s recent design for Beijing University’s science and technology park in Hangzhou China, not too far from Alibaba’s world headquarters campus. We brainstormed over a dozen schemes to formulate the best master plan concept for the park. The final design blended in elements from the Chinese garden, western piazza, and forum, and from the cooperative workshop and retail shop, as containers for the exchange of new ideas.
Our design not only provides a specific solution for Hangzhou but also intends to work as a prototype for development elsewhere. It includes two towers of R&D research and incubating technology as the park’s flagship functions, clusters of small buildings of HQ offices, and three larger buildings of regular commercial offices. The total building area is about 160,000 square meters. Small-scale courtyards are designed with intricate water landscape gardens as inspired by traditional Chinese gardens. The design establishes a formal frontal plaza of the park with the two towers paired together. The remainder of the buildings read as the backside of the park and hence more private. A contrast of open versus hidden is emphasized as an analogy of Western ideals versus Chinese tradition, which is the perceived strength of Beijing University.
In recent years, science & tech parks have been built in large numbers in China. These parks typically range from 30 acres to up to 200 acres in land size and are seen as economic engines that will promote rapid growth and enable innovation for positive changes in the region. Like many universities in the world, Beijing University has ventured into the real estate market as a developer with academic advantages. This typically involves more high-tech and research, but less of higher education. SAAN designers see this park as a generator for new urban forms, which should protect the urban contexts that surround them, and ensure a healthy urban life.