Architectural design is no longer solely about rational thinking or purely sensory expression. Every technological decision and perception is grounded in reason and logic.
Amid the country’s vigorous push for construction industrialization, rapid construction methods have become increasingly mainstream. This approach employs prefabricated systems to design and build structures. But does this shift from traditional construction imply “rough” or “low-quality” results? How can industrialized architecture convey its own poetic essence?
The B1 building at the Zijin Campus of Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute (hereafter referred to as the B1 building) is located in Hangzhou’s Zijin Innovation Town. This town is a joint development by the People’s Government of Xihu District, Hangzhou, and Zhejiang University. As a demonstration project for prefabricated buildings recognized by the Ministry of Construction in 2019, the project boasts a prefabrication rate of 85% and an assembly rate of 96.8%. It is classified as a national AAA-level prefabricated building and a three-star green building.
From the outset, the design philosophy was clear: technology should serve the design, not constrain it. Through an integrated design approach involving comprehensive system coordination and full professional collaboration, the goal is to create spaces rich in humanistic qualities. The emphasis is on proving that “industrialization can also be poetic,” challenging the stereotype of prefabricated buildings as rough, crude, and cold.
Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute Zijin Campus
The poetic quality of architecture emerges from the thoughtful integration of life and site experience—it is fundamentally an expression of care for people. Prefabricated buildings, as products of their time, are inseparable from their temporal, spatial, and human contexts. While technological advancements drive architectural industrialization toward precision, efficiency, and economy, this focus can sometimes weaken regional and cultural connections.
When architectural design overly emphasizes either technology or humanities, the balance of the building is disrupted. Societal progress relies on technological innovation, but human habitation demands poetic life. Architects, therefore, must communicate their designs in ways that translate “poetry” into a shared language accessible to all.
1. Creating Architectural Poetry Through Spatial Order
The B1 building’s form consists of three interlocked cubes. The northern and southern cubes serve as expansive open office units, while the central connecting volume forms a high atrium. The office exterior walls utilize uniform UPHC external wall panel modules, arranged in two colors and four concave-convex patterns. By combining these basic units differently, subtle curved shadows emerge under sunlight, creating a rhythmic and dynamic façade.
Reflected in the entrance water feature, the building transcends the constraints of a typical industrial park setting.
△ Project Functional Diagram
△ UPHC External Wall Panel
△ Main Entrance
△ Façade Details
Accessing the building through a path that crosses the waterfront, the steel structure allows for flexible and relaxed spatial configurations in this prefabricated design. The three-story communication hall connects the entire space, fostering interaction.
Visitors can engage on the main steps, rest at the UAD Café, stroll through the side hall to explore regularly updated architectural exhibitions, or pause before the vertical green atrium and gaze through photovoltaic glass at the sky above. This indoor public space centers on human movement, with fluid spatial interfaces seamlessly blending together.
△ Indoor Staircase and Public Space
△ First Floor Side Hall
△ UAD Café
△ Second Floor Vertical Green Atrium
The building resembles a three-dimensional garden, complemented by multiple vertical circulation options that make moving through the north and south office spaces enjoyable. The interior is decorated in bright white, creating a sense of openness and light. Decoration is minimal to preserve spatial clarity and visual coherence.
Structural columns, beams, and floor slabs are prefabricated; the floor slabs overlap partially to reduce the volume of cast-in-place concrete. Honeycomb beams serve as main supports, with neatly arranged equipment pipelines running through them. This design maximizes ceiling height and turns exposed ceiling spaces into showcases of technical aesthetics.
This approach blends technology and art, driving a new way of working.
△ Office Space
△ Equipment Pipeline Crossing Beam
Exhibition Space for Prefabricated Structural Pipeline System
2. Perceived Experience Inspires Poetic Architecture
Time is essential for spatial diversity. Perceptual experience in architecture is not fragmented but rather a convergence of energies. Using time as the narrative spine, specific spaces are crafted to leave direct impressions on users. The elements, materials, and forms used shape the atmosphere that architecture seeks to evoke.
The cube rising in the center of Building B1 is the main entrance hall. It serves as a nexus for pedestrian flow and a focal point of the building’s identity. This space functions as a lounge for rest and social interaction during work and leisure. It accommodates external receptions and hosts exhibitions and forums, making it the centerpiece of the design.
△ Entrance Hall
Natural light, often called the soul of architectural space, is masterfully manipulated here through the “bamboo forest light and shadow” technique, a highlight of poetic expression in prefabricated buildings. A natural bamboo forest photo was pixelated and vectorized digitally, its texture translated parametrically onto the building’s surface.
Using construction robots, the perforated aluminum panels’ flipping angles are controlled to modulate outdoor light entry, creating mottled light and shadow effects reminiscent of a bamboo grove. This achieves a dynamic spatial atmosphere where the “green bamboo shadows tower” and the mood shifts with the changing light, evoking the tranquility of “watching the sunset through bamboo.”
△ One-Time Molding with Secondary Personalized Processing
△ Perforated Aluminum Panel
△ Bamboo Light and Shadow Effect
3. Landscape Design Enhances Architectural Poetry
A key feature of the B1 building is the harmonious relationship between architecture and landscape, coexisting seamlessly within the built environment. Both respond sensitively to their context.
Besides the ceremonial water feature at the main western entrance, a rest platform made of volcanic stone and PC artificial boards is placed on the building’s east side. Bamboo groves and flower-lined paths enrich the spatial hierarchy of park roads and secondary entrances. Together with the indoor café and lobby lounge, this design fosters a visual and spatial connection between indoor and outdoor relaxation areas.
△ East Rest Platform
The rooftop landscape farm is another highlight, offering a lifestyle alternative beyond the workplace. Designed as a prefabricated structure, it uses lightweight, organic, soilless cultivation. Planting boxes made from eco-friendly plastic feature automatic irrigation regulated by soil temperature. These modular units can be assembled in various shapes, catering to diverse landscape designs.
Employees can manage sections of the rooftop garden themselves, growing their favorite fruits and vegetables during their free time.
△ Rooftop Landscape Farm
4. Conclusion
The B1 building exemplifies the delicate balance between technology, art, and nature in design. Poetic construction means moving beyond purely rational or emotional architectural thinking—every technological choice is reasoned and purposeful.
This project demonstrates that rational construction need not be confined by technology. Instead, it can embrace poetry, dismantling the common perception that prefabricated buildings are rough, crude, or cold.
Project Drawings
△ First Floor Plan
△ Second Floor Plan
△ Third Floor Plan
Project Information
Project Name: Zijin Campus of Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute (Building B-1 of Zijin Zhunqan Research Building Project)
Owner: Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute
Design Unit: Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute
Project Address: Xiyuan Eighth Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Project Type: Office Building
Structural Form: Steel Structure
Building Floors: Three Above Ground Floors
Project Scale: 8,888 square meters
Design Directors: Dong Danshen, Yin Nong
Project Leaders: Xiao Zhibin, Mo Zhoujin
Architectural Design: Wang Yuping, Lei Bin, Mao Hanxuan
Structural Design: Xiao Zhibin, Jin Xingxin, Li Shaohua
Water Supply and Drainage Design: Wang Jinghua, Shao Yuran
Electrical Design: Wu Xuhui, Xu Songjie
HVAC Design: Pan Dahong, Yi Kai
Weak Current Design: Chen Jia, Ma Jian
Landscape Design: Sun Dongming, Lou Xuantan
Interior Design: Chu Ran, Mei Wenbin
Curtain Wall Design: Xiangchun
Engineering General Contracting: Zhou Jiawei, Xu Quanbiao, Chen Haijun, Fang Chaojun
Construction Unit: Hangzhou Zijin Zhunqian Technology Development Co., Ltd
General Contractor: Zhejiang Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd
Subcontractor: Zhejiang Green Building Integrated Technology Co., Ltd
Design Time: August 1, 2016
Completion Date: October 1, 2020
Project Photography: Zhao Qiang, Zhu Xinliang, UAD 9+studio
Materials and Brands: UHPC external wall panels, digital perforated aluminum panels, modular glass curtain walls (brand: Yaopi Glass)
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