An opening ceremony was recently held to mark the opening of Wuhan Joy City shopping centre. It is the second Joy City designed by Benoy, following our project in Hangzhou. Looking back at the process, it has taken nearly six years since the tender was first announced in 2017. Thanks to the hard work of all parties involved, the project has finally reached a remarkable conclusion.
Comprising a total building volume of around 419,000m2, Wuhan Joy City includes the six-storey Joy City commercial building, and two office buildings with a total floor area of 114,000 m2. The project is located in the Guanggu New Area in Wuhan, a high-tech industrial zone well known throughout China. The name ‘Guanggu’ is formed of the characters ‘Guang’, meaning light, and ‘Gu’, meaning valley. Together, they form the name ‘Valley of Light’, referencing the local optoelectronics industry and the area’s reputation as a technology cluster. Playing on this theme, Wuhan Joy City adopts the design concept of ‘external light, internal valley’, emphasising the city’s iconic external image and creating a friendly valley environment within.
Taking the planning of municipal roads into consideration, the project adopts a ring-shaped building layout with the outdoor Joy Valley as the central courtyard. This creates a unique internal environment free from outside interference. In combination with the building layout, the internal commercial circulation path forms a closed loop on the first floor. Variously themed atrium spaces are created at key turning points and nodes. Some of these atrium spaces are completely surrounded by shops, while others face Joy Valley on one side and let in natural light. The inner valley can be seen directly from inside, creating connections between the interior and exterior. In addition, each indoor atrium has a unique look that’s easily distinguishable to customers, thereby improving orientation and the overall shopping experience. The atriums also create volumes of different layers and scales within the valley itself. The spaces are connected through outdoor terraces and staircases, providing visitors with a unique outdoor experience, as if they were walking through a valley and exploring its hidden wonders.
Set in the centre of the Joy Valley’s southern façade is a huge interactive screen measuring 21m x 37m, similar to the proportions of a mobile phone. Thanks to interactive display technology, the screen creates various ambiances at different times within the valley, becoming its main attraction and exhibition area.
In summary, Joy Valley is designed to create flexible interior and exterior spaces, provide a multi-dimensional, diversified and interactive shopping experience, and create a new-generation social and retail destination for young consumers.
If the focus of the internal-facing Joy Valley is to create a human-scale spatial experience, the building’s façade mainly features an urban-scale display of architectural images. The façade’s design is inspired by the high-tech industrial characteristics of Guanggu New Area. For example, the development of technology is essentially a process of breaking down layers of constraints, seeking change in stability, and allowing the light of creativity and wisdom to shine through. To a certain extent, this process coincides with the commercial development concept of the Joy City series. Consequently, this positive metaphor was used as the design concept for the Wuhan Joy City façade, imagined as a build-up of energy that splits rocks to form a valley, before bursting forth and shining brightly onto the city.
Thanks to the support of the property owner, Grandjoy Holdings Group, and the hard work of all the consulting teams, the project involved a dynamic process of continual improvement. Through a series of brainstorming sessions, rigorous design solutions were developed to maximise creative opportunities. Congratulations on the grand opening of Wuhan Joy City, which becomes a bright new pearl in the Joy City series.
Project Overview
Scope of Services: Masterplanning, Architectural Design
Category: Complex
Client: Grandjoy Holdings Group
Total Floor Area: Approximately 420,000 square metres (including 136,000 square metres above ground)
Principal Project Designer: Pang Qin
Design Director: Zhu Yejia
Project Leaders: Xu Ke, Ding Hao
Chief Designers: Xue Tielong, Wei Liu, Chen Xinyi, Xu Zihao etc.
