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Vitasoy, a cultural icon featured prominently in Hong Kong cinema, is increasingly present in our everyday lives. On a midsummer night, I found myself enjoying cold, smooth Vitasoy soy milk while chatting with friends and savoring grilled skewers. Its rich, mellow bean aroma delivers a distinctive flavor, while the abundant protein and carbohydrates fully meet the nutritional needs of every diner. Beyond social gatherings, this emotionally resonant beverage invites deep immersion in its unique taste.
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At the Vitasoy factory in Dongguan, Guangdong, workers engage efficiently with premium natural soybeans sourced from China’s golden planting region at 45° N latitude. Featuring state-of-the-art production equipment, thoughtful spatial planning, and excellent working conditions, this modern facility prioritizes operational efficiency over mere aesthetics. Here, design is driven by functionality and seamless workflow.
© Shranimage
© Shranimage
© Shranimage
Maximizing Production Capacity: The Core of Industrial Construction
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The development of the Vitasoy Dongguan Food and Beverage Production Center spanned four years from initial design to completion. While maintaining the industrial architectural scale, the design emphasizes practicality, cost-efficiency, and streamlined organization as its primary drivers.
△ Production Area Planning
Production area planning must align with the production process, ensuring continuous material flow in a single direction that follows the process sequence. This approach shortens transfer paths from raw materials to finished products and improves transfer speed.
At Vitasoy, raw materials move seamlessly from storage through to becoming delicious beverages. The materials—including raw, auxiliary, packaging, and finished product components—are vital to production. Therefore, planning the logistics and warehousing spaces poses a major challenge. If the coordination among logistics, warehousing, and production workshops is not carefully managed, it can lead to layout disarray, overlapping or reversed processes, and inefficient warehouse material handling. Over time, these issues impair factory operational efficiency.
© Shranimage
© Shranimage
Beyond process considerations, we prioritize the user experience within the factory. The Vitasoy Dongguan facility spans approximately 150 acres, accommodating production, office spaces, and employee dormitories simultaneously. While this “three-in-one” functional setup is common in Dongguan factories, our design distinguishes itself by avoiding the typical emphasis on subpar working environments. Instead, through zoning management and a perimeter system, we enhance the factory’s front, living, and production areas, ensuring quality work and life for the workforce.
△ Functional Analysis Diagram
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© Shranimage
24/7 Continuous ‘Big Logistics’ Operation
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The logistics flow ratio at the Vitasoy factory is approximately 1:10 for inbound to outbound materials. Behind these figures lies an intricate design ensuring the smooth operation of a complex internal logistics system. On average, about 20 trucks deliver raw materials daily, with 100 to 200 vehicles picking up finished products, and peak traffic reaching 300 to 400 trucks per day. To support this nonstop logistics demand around the clock, safety and psychological comfort for both personnel and vehicles are critical considerations.
△ Logistics Streamline
A designated waiting area for trucks ensures that vehicles transporting raw materials avoid other factory zones, eliminating the need for reversing or turning around and enabling efficient departures.
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© Shranimage
The logistics area design integrates space, lighting, and signage systems. The 15-meter column-free cantilever structure provides a clean, unobstructed space with clear visibility, ensuring the safety of AGV forklifts and large trucks during reversing maneuvers. Canopy lighting enhances safety during night shifts, while a dedicated waiting room offers rest for long-distance drivers.
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© Shranimage
Enhancing the Workplace Experience for Generation Z
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Employees are central to production and the primary users of industrial buildings. Generation Z workers seek not only personal fulfillment but also dignity in their work environment.
△ Perimeter System
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Through the implementation of a perimeter system, we effectively separate living spaces from work areas and enforce access control via card swiping. This design not only enhances employee safety but also honors their psychological need for a sense of ceremony, promoting a balanced work-life environment.
△ Non-Motorized Vehicle Pathways
△ Motor Vehicle Pathways
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The semi-open ground floor of the employee dormitory integrates various shared amenities from the park. Utilizing elevated and shaded designs, the outdoor public spaces are optimized for Dongguan’s climate. During downtime, employees connect with friends, read, exercise, relax, and enjoy leisure activities—making work life more fulfilling and enjoyable.
△ Employee Dormitory © schranimage
△ Employee Reading Room © schranimage
△ Employee Cafeteria © schranimage
Outstanding Visitor Experience
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△ Visitor Flow
The visitor flow path offers a modern factory’s ideal channel for showcasing corporate culture. Unlike traditional factory tours limited to exhibition halls and workshops on the ground, this design employs vertical spatial planning. Double-layered, elevated visitor passages run through the production core and elevated warehouse areas. Visitors enjoy clear and direct views into workshop operations through a 15° inclined glass corridor. Utilizing vertical space prevents visitor and employee routes from intersecting, thereby protecting production efficiency.
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© Shranimage
© Shranimage
The internal operations and management order of the facility reflect the enterprise’s status and values. Through spatial planning, we established clear logistics, pedestrian, vehicle, and maintenance systems. These distinct, well-organized flow paths embody the logic of internal management and form the backbone of Vitasoy’s “big logistics” factory. This project fully reveals the implicit order embedded within industrial architecture.
© Shranimage
© Shranimage
Technical Drawings
△ General Layout Plan
△ Workshop Elevation View
Project Information
Project Name: Vitasoy Dongguan Food and Beverage Production Center
Architectural Firm: ZZT Industrial Architecture
Website: www.zztang.com
Contact Email: vivien.wei@zztang.com
Company Location: Shanghai
Project Completion: November 2020
Building Area: 96,368 square meters
Project Address: No.3 Sizong Road, Changping Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province
Client: Vitasoy International Group
Main Steel Structure and Enclosure System: Butler Shanghai Co., Ltd
Process Design: Guangzhou Light Industry Institute
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