Hangzhou Wulin Art Museum / CCTN Design

Architects: CCTN Design
Area: 489,054 m²
Year: 2023
Photography: Pei Wen
Manufacturers: Xiang Jie
Lead Architects: Youfen Wang
Architectural Design: Youfen Wang, Difeng Zhu, Ming Sun, Bo Hu, Liguo Chen, Jiarong Li, Xiaoyi Luo, Shenglin Ji, Lihua Jiang, Ziyu Song, Kai Yue, Jingman Wang
HVAC Design: Peifeng He, Jun Pan, Ruibing Wang
Electrical Design: Pengzhan Li, Xiao Wang, Hua Yang
Water Supply And Drainage Design: Danqun Shen, Yingchun Yang, Diange Ji, Dan Lu
Structural Design: Xuchen Yang, Wei Zhu, Xinying Zhang, Hanjie Ding, Yan Lv, Youqing Zhao
Curtain Wall Design: Hanjia Curtain Wall
Landscape Design: TOPOS Landscape Architecture
Interior Design: Hangzhou Dianshang Architectural Decoration Design Co., Ltd.
Lighting Design: Shanghai Maisho Lighting Design Consulting Co., Ltd.
Signage Design: Beijing Feirui
Clients: Gongshu Urban Construction Group Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, Zhejiang Zhejiang Kuamao Town Construction Investment Development Co., Ltd.
City: Hangzhou
Country: China

Hangzhou Wulin Art Museum, a cultural complex designed by CCTN Design in Hangzhou, China, integrates art exhibitions and cultural industries. Completed in 2023, this project fosters interaction with the surrounding urban environment, creating a vibrant art museum.

Hangzhou Wulin Art Museum is located in the southern part of the Xintiandi Complex in Gongshu District, Hangzhou City. The densely built area comprises offices, commercial establishments, and residences. The design aims to establish a dialogue between the new building and its surroundings, creating an art museum filled with urban vitality.

The site is elongated and irregular, about 60 meters wide and 240 meters long. High-rise offices border the west and north sides, while a kindergarten lies to the south. The southwest corner features a city park. The building is positioned towards the north to align with high-rise clusters and reduces in height towards the south to minimize volume. The open courtyard layout along the street, combined with community service functions, fosters interaction with the kindergarten and city park.

The art space, occupying one-third of the building, is the most significant area. However, due to lower utilization frequency, it interacts less with daily city life compared to the cultural industry and community services spaces, which occupy two-thirds of the building and are closely related to daily activities.

The art space is situated in the high zone, accessible through ground-level entrances and elevators, while cultural industries and community services are in the low zone, near the street, incorporating commercial spaces and flexible layouts. Sky gardens connect the high and low zones, providing cultural spaces and restaurants, accessible to the public via a separate elevation.

The building integrates well with urban streets and residential areas. Pleasant pedestrian walkways along the west side, small-scale street corner parks, and community activity spaces enhance interaction and reduce the building’s oppressive presence. Alternating solid and void spaces, along with open sky gardens, contribute to a refreshing atmosphere.

Oriented east-west, the building incorporates strategies for indoor lighting and energy efficiency. Staggered cantilevered blocks in the lower zone provide shading and use vertical grilles and low-emissivity glass to block direct sunlight. Higher zone exhibition spaces feature double-layer breathing curtain walls for ventilation, reducing heat load. Layered green roofs enhance energy efficiency and aid in urban heat island mitigation.

The art museum’s spatial structure highlights the interplay between functional spaces and the city. The serene upper parts, vibrant lower parts, and open middle sections present a dynamic human landscape, showcasing a blend of tranquility, activity, and openness in public life.