Hangzhou Joy City
China
View Project
Wuhan Guanggu Joy City
- Client
- Grandjoy Holdings Group
- Services
- Masterplanning, Architecture
- Sector
- Retail
- Location
- Wuhan, China
- Sustainability Accreditations
- China Green Building Two-Star Certification
- Awards
- Won numerous awards including: Asia Pacific Property Awards: Winner – Retail Architecture (Hubei Province)
A bold city landmark with a valley at its heart
Wuhan Guanggu Joy City is the third major collaboration between Benoy and Grandjoy Holdings and the second Joy City in the series. Located in Guanggu New Area, the ‘Valley of Light’, the development comprises a six-storey retail building, two office towers and a central outdoor courtyard known as Joy Valley.
Dates2022
Size
419,000m²
A social destination for young professionals
Joy Valley was designed to serve the entertainment, technology and social needs of Guanggu’s core demographic, young professionals aged 18–35. The design concept, ‘external light, inner valley’, organises the scheme around the contrast between its bold urban-facing façade and the human-scale environment within. A ring-shaped layout encloses Joy Valley, while themed atrium spaces along the internal retail loop maintain a visual connection between interior and exterior. A three-storey planted wall and an illuminated orange bridge give each elevation a distinct identity, carrying the light concept across the building’s exterior and into the landscape.
An 800m² LED screen within Joy Valley anchors the courtyard as an event and activation space. Pedestrianised walkways and bridges connect across the site at multiple levels, dissolving the boundary between shopping and social space.
Responding to Wuhan's climate
The sustainability strategy was developed in close collaboration with Tsinghua University, to optimise environmental performance for the city’s hot summers and cold winters. High-efficiency chiller reduces carbon emissions by around 894 tonnes annually, whilst photovoltaic panels and air-source heat pumps further improve clean energy use across the complex. The design is optimised for natural ventilation, reducing air-conditioning demand during transitional seasons, while the Joy Valley concept integrates rockeries, greenery and multi-layered landscapes indoors and outdoors enhancing the complex’s microclimate. A rainwater harvesting system supports irrigation.
