The Shimao Smart Gate project is located in Binjiang District, a nationally designated new district in Hangzhou. Positioned at the junction of the airport expressway and the Qianjiang Third Bridge leading into Hangzhou’s central urban area, it overlooks the Qiantang River to the north and sits adjacent to the Olympic Sports Center, a landmark for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. The site benefits from excellent transportation access and a thriving ecosystem of innovative business models.
Designed by Jiang Ping, chief architect of EID Arch, the Smart Gate complex rises nearly 280 meters, creating a striking urban gateway along the Qiantang River. It not only defines Hangzhou’s skyline but also leverages its strategic location to become a city landmark, radiating energy into the surrounding smart industry belt and serving as the core of the national IoT base.
The project encompasses a total built area of 370,000 square meters and comprises five buildings catering to diverse functions including offices, apartments, commercial spaces, and urban parks. The two super high-rise office towers, labeled A and B, form the core of the complex. Buildings C, D, and E serve as annexes for residential, commercial, and community services, complementing the overall operation of the development.
The architectural layout centers around a large green space, optimizing open public areas within the dense site and establishing key urban nodes throughout the district.
Guided by a focus on public space, this new urban complex introduces the “Gate of Wisdom” through the abstract architectural form of twin supertall towers. Serving as the southern terminus of the urban axis, the twin towers act as a gateway, harmonizing with the surrounding urban fabric and the overall city design.
The design opens outward in four directions, enclosing a central green space that invites public interaction. Within the cluster, commercial facilities are arranged like an open market, creating a dynamic landscape that transitions between the high and low volumes of the super high-rise buildings.
This permeable urban interface attracts visitors from all directions, activating the community. Unlike typical high-density commercial complexes, Hangzhou Shimao Smart Gate explores innovative urban typologies, prioritizing optimized open spaces that serve the public.
Public art is seamlessly integrated with the architecture. Functional elements such as ventilation and smoke exhaust systems are creatively concealed within copper-aluminum paneling, blending utility with artistic expression.
An art installation positioned between the two towers provides a gathering space, enhancing connectivity and offering a vibrant public venue. The sculptural, futuristic canopy linking the lower floors complements the central green space and public art, creating a unique pedestrian experience.
The three-story Building E functions as a community service hub and houses equipment rooms for the towers. Its human-scale design contrasts with the towering skyscrapers, offering an approachable environment. A ramp from the entrance flows to the second floor, with horizontal surfaces evoking the undulating river, providing a welcoming and transparent interface.
The roof lines extend outward, merging building and landscape into a cohesive artistic composition. Despite differences in scale, the design vocabulary—materials, forms, and elements—remains consistent across the site, ensuring a harmonious spatial experience.
In dense urban settings, iconic buildings should embody more than just uniqueness or height. Contrary to the common pursuit of supertall structures as outward symbols, Hangzhou Smart Gate adopts a reserved and introspective stance along the Qiantang River. It reflects the city’s cultural identity and embodies the spirit of Binjiang New Area.
The architect describes the design inspiration as rooted in the Qiantang River—the largest river in Zhejiang Province, known for its rich history and the famous tidal bore phenomenon. Leveraging its prime location, the Smart Gate’s architectural concept draws from the “Qianjiang Tide” landscape, blending Hangzhou’s natural and cultural heritage with the design of these supertall towers.
The motto “Smart people enjoy water” resonates with Smart Gate’s vision as a hub for the urban Internet of Things industry, symbolizing an elegant, solid architectural presence articulated through refined and restrained design techniques.
The twin super high-rise towers complement high-rise residential apartments and multi-story support buildings. Drawing from local architectural elements, the design abstractly interprets the Qiantang River’s unique tidal phenomena. It also responds dynamically to the continuous flow of urban life shaped by surrounding transportation corridors.
The towers’ forms emulate the elegant, rhythmic rise and fall of the Qiantang tide, creating an urban sculpture that is both graceful and dynamic. The exterior facades feature finely detailed vertical lines, clad in ultra-white glass curtain walls with aluminum strips outlining the gaps. This design enhances facade depth, emphasizes verticality, and intensifies visual impact.
The architectural language is simple yet refined, with fluid linear surfaces that reflect light and metaphorically depict the surging tides. The lower-level complex extends horizontally, with building elements reaching into the landscape, echoing the pulsating rhythm of the tidal natural phenomenon.
As a LEED Gold pre-certified green urban complex, the project incorporates a flexible structural framework and smart green office concepts developed in collaboration with the renowned American structural consulting firm LERA. The towers use a multi-lateral mega-frame core tube system with slant supports, featuring eight massive columns located at the building corners near the facade.
This structural system reduces steel consumption while maximizing flexible, column-free office spaces. To achieve a two-story high lobby without internal columns, gravity columns are redirected through slanted supports and ring trusses, resulting in only eight steel-reinforced concrete giant columns extending to the ground.
The flexible framework allows adaptation between office, hotel, and apartment uses as market demands evolve. The twin towers feature aluminum high-performance glass curtain walls with sunshade functions to reduce glare and solar heat gain, enhancing indoor comfort and energy efficiency.
Vertical water-drop shaped facade components vary in depth, creating an organic form and rich texture that balances visual complexity with a clean, rational office design. The project integrates BIM 3D visualization, VR, and other technologies to create smart office and business environments, maximizing comfort and sustainability.
The rise of super high-rise buildings reflects the advanced urban economy and represents key spatial nodes in urban development. EID Arch Jiang Ping Studio places strong emphasis on local urban characteristics, integrating historical and cultural elements alongside practical design and functionality.
The design carefully considers terrain and landforms, refines spatial layouts, and employs advanced materials and technologies to realize the concept with precision. Hangzhou uniquely blends tradition and modernity, nature and culture, offering world-class business and technological environments alongside serene natural landscapes.
Within Binjiang New Area, the Smart Gate enriches the city skyline with a quiet yet powerful presence, embodying Hangzhou’s calm and elegant urban spirit. It stands as a model urban node with a humble and respectful attitude.
Project Drawings
△ Model Diagram
△ Base Schematic Diagram
△ Functional Zoning Diagram
△ Texture Generation Map
△ Structural Schematic Diagram
△ Exploded Diagram
△ General Layout Plan
△ First Floor Plan
△ Second Floor Plan
△ Standard Floor Plan
△ Tower Floor Plan
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Section Diagram
△ Analysis Chart
△ Detailed Structural Drawing
△ Detailed Structural Drawing
Project Information
Architect: EID Arch
Area: 370,000 m²
Project Year: 2022
Photographers: Qingzhu Imaging, Existent Architecture, Chen Xi Studio, Hu Yijie
Manufacturer: CSG HOLDING
Lead Architect: Jiang Ping, FAIA
Design Team: Lu Shengyun, Lin Xiaohai, Li Hong, Ding Kai, Tang Dan, Alberto Canero, Ratima Suwanrumpha, Li Boyang, Xie Ben, Fan Di, Sun Xiaoxu, Yang Fan, Chen Xingrong, Wang Wenjia, Zheng Tong, Zheng Yushi, Huang Kaini, Meng Jin, Fang Guanting, He Fangzi, Wang Xiaowei, Song Yu, Li Peng, Chen Chen, Jiang Zhongzhou, Wu Di, Hu Juntao, Zhang Wei, Nong Yuandi, Zhang Tinglei, Lu Xinyi, Wang Huiwen
Domestic Partner: Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research
Planning Consultant: SOL
Structural Consultant: LERA
Mechanical and Electrical Consultant: WSP
Landscape Consultant: AECOM
Curtain Wall Consultant: Schmidlin
Interior Consultants: Hangzhou Tangchao Tianyi Interior Design Co., Ltd. (Tower A) / Shenzhen Matrix Interior Decoration Design Co., Ltd. (Tower B) / G&K Guiruishi Design (Building E)
Location: Hangzhou
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