Xianfu Cloud City Responds to Improve Quality of Living in The Urban Environment

Xianfu Cloud City, situated near Xinglong Lake in Chengdu, China, responds to how evolving cities should address their potential to improve quality of living and working in the urban environment. The project’s innovation lies in the Arroyo, a natural canyon-like feature, designed as an architectural gesture that overcomes the expansive width of the government-mandated Greenway. By carving into the ground, the Arroyo upholds local codes that disallow retail development on the Greenway, while also producing a vibrant, sun-filled retail and pedestrian ambiance below street level. 

Xianfu Cloud City

Designed for Vanke, one of China’s largest developers, the project commenced with the development of a master plan encompassing eight blocks and the Greenway. The master plan phase was conducted as an international competition. Upon winning the competition, Perkins Eastman was then commissioned by Vanke to provide architectural and landscape design services for the southern half of the site. 

The Arroyo, as a catalytic participant in the city, reduces what would be a nearly 100-metre Greenway width down to smaller 10-20-metre distances, creating more intimate moments for the ideal retail experience. 

The architecture along the Arroyo reflects the market demand for different office typologies. In order to promote a commercial district, the project envisions multiple types of office space, including corporate towers with maximised lake views, cotels for small businesses, flexible VMOs for start-ups and innovation, and headquarter campuses for established companies. In addition to office space, the commercial district also features hotels and residential towers, as well as ground floor retail spaces.