An Eco-Friendly Market Associated with the City
NEXUS, a future community developed by Chinese real estate company Vanke, is guided by three principles: vibrancy, low carbon, and smart living. It is the first realized “Ideal Unit” under Vanke‘s Future City initiative, launched in 2018. CHUNXI Marketplace and GULANG Gymnasium are among the first buildings completed in the community. Both serve everyday needs while promoting ecological sustainability.
CHUNXI Marketplace occupies the southwest corner of a major intersection within the NEXUS community. Bringing together retail, dining, cafés, and bakeries, it serves as a gathering place for local residents. The design brings urban spaces such as streets and plazas indoors, incorporating a planted courtyard and green atrium. Modular shops and stalls inspired by traditional market booths reflect local culture and can be reconfigured over time. The roof and façades were carefully scaled to suit the surrounding streets and alleys. Staggered roof ridges break up the double-pitched roof and reduce the gable height, softening the building‘s overall mass.
Portal-style shop units line the ground floor at regular intervals, while the second floor is set back to create staggered terraces beneath the eaves. Beneath the main roof, each dining unit has its own smaller canopy, creating an intimate setting along an indoor street that wraps around the second-floor atrium.
Low-carbon prefabrication techniques were used throughout the project. The primary structural system combines steel and timber. The façades feature horizontal strip windows, dry-hung ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) panels, and modular steel-and-timber railings. The roof is clad in aluminum-magnesium-manganese alloy sheeting and fitted with photovoltaic (PV) modules. Stainless steel planters provide green roof areas in selected sections. An integrated modular grid governs the façade and roof profiles, minimizing the need for custom components.
Energy efficiency is central to the project. With guidance from low-carbon consultants, the design combines enhanced building-envelope insulation, microclimate regulation, efficient HVAC systems, renewable energy, energy storage, and recyclable materials to bring energy consumption close to zero. These measures reflect NEXUS‘s commitment to ecological sustainability, low-carbon construction, and passive environmental design as foundations for future living.
Project: CHUNXI Marketplace, NEXUS / Location: 398 Hezuo Road, Jiading New City, Shanghai, China / Architects: ZHOU Wei+ZHANG Bin / Atelier Z+ / Client: Shanghai Jia Future Real Estate Co., Ltd. / Use: Retail Marketplace, Dining Marketplace / Building Area: 3,500 m2 / Gross Floor Area: Above Ground 3,400m2, Basement 1,800m2 / Structure: Steel-Timber Hybrid Structure / Design: 2022.08~2022.12 / Construction: 2022.12~2023.10 / Completion: 2023.10 / Photograph: ©YANG Min (courtesy of the architect)
