就如藝術(shù)逐漸脫離白立方概念，建筑的特定功能也正在悄悄消散。不論是何種類型的建成環(huán)境，都似乎正在向“綜合用途”的方向發(fā)展，而背后的原因同出一轍，就是務(wù)求賦予空間使用者更大的主導(dǎo)權(quán)，讓他們根據(jù)個(gè)人生活方式、到訪目的和社交需要，選擇如何游走、如何使用，以帶來(lái)綜合、多元化的空間體驗(yàn)。這些具啟發(fā)性、能誘使人們投入其中的建筑空間，正如LWK + PARTNERS 一直相信的，好的設(shè)計(jì)能為人們創(chuàng)造可能性，同時(shí)對(duì)他們的生活給予正面的影響。

綜合用途：賦予人們主導(dǎo)權(quán)

“體驗(yàn)”是一種當(dāng)代特有的商品。雖然電子商貿(mào)似乎大行其道，但生活中尚有千百種需求需要人們親身參與和感受。當(dāng)消費(fèi)成為一個(gè)過(guò)程而非最終目的，商場(chǎng)運(yùn)營(yíng)商也開始尋求提供更多元化的空間，例如舉辦工作坊、藝術(shù)展覽或與商戶合辦特別活動(dòng)等；同時(shí)越來(lái)越多零售商將其品牌打造成“生活風(fēng)格品牌”，透過(guò)提供滿足生活各方面的配套產(chǎn)品，涵蓋衣服、飾品、文具以至家具、電子產(chǎn)品及食品等等，從生活各個(gè)層面幫助顧客體現(xiàn)他們心目中的理想自我。

購(gòu)物中心傾向透過(guò) “浸入式”設(shè)計(jì)，精心策劃顧客體驗(yàn)。以 LWK + PARTNERS 設(shè)計(jì)的中國(guó)華山西環(huán)宇城為例，項(xiàng)目靈活運(yùn)用室內(nèi)外空間，通過(guò)“花見(jiàn)”、“云見(jiàn)”、“泉見(jiàn)”、“林見(jiàn)”四景，串連商業(yè)空間及室外景觀，為訪客提供一個(gè)置身山水之中的游歷式休閑體驗(yàn)。零售設(shè)計(jì)師采用實(shí)體和數(shù)字工具，從視覺(jué)、聽(tīng)覺(jué)、觸覺(jué)、氣味、情感等等多方面的感官刺激，規(guī)劃以探索、社交和知識(shí)為重心的商業(yè)空間，連系人、地方和社區(qū)。

中國(guó)華山西環(huán)宇城旨在塑造一個(gè)都市中的現(xiàn)代桃花源及社區(qū)熱點(diǎn)，設(shè)計(jì)提煉華山、鵲山的巍峨輪廓，轉(zhuǎn)化成層疊交錯(cuò)的建筑體量，延續(xù)附近一帶的自然環(huán)境，豐富視覺(jué)享受，同時(shí)創(chuàng)造社交互動(dòng)和空間轉(zhuǎn)換的體驗(yàn)。該項(xiàng)目展示了一個(gè)地方如何吸引人們到訪發(fā)掘生活新點(diǎn)子，甚至與親友分享到訪體驗(yàn)。

人們將社區(qū)生活帶入零售環(huán)境已經(jīng)好一段日子，零售環(huán)境早已成為“第三空間”。但隨著第一空間（家庭）和第二空間（工作）基本重疊，他們正在超越“第三空間”的時(shí)代。工作人脈與個(gè)人領(lǐng)域特別在近年開始相互交織，與人見(jiàn)面和相處的重要性日益增加。

因此，零售環(huán)境的本質(zhì)已演變成不僅僅是交易場(chǎng)所，而是一個(gè)與其他人見(jiàn)面和分享的地方。包括藝術(shù)文化、娛樂(lè)、學(xué)習(xí)和社交聚會(huì)在內(nèi)的各種社交需求，都在一個(gè)連續(xù)空間中緊密相連。商業(yè)空間的定義不斷轉(zhuǎn)變，對(duì)租戶類型也產(chǎn)生了巨大影響：商場(chǎng)租務(wù)人員不斷調(diào)整商戶組合，以滿足顧客各方面的期望，但空間始終有限，為了適應(yīng)轉(zhuǎn)變，逐漸演變出一種多元共存的城市空間。

為了提供足夠的靈活性，讓使用者自主安排自己的空間體驗(yàn)，LWK + PARTNERS不斷鉆研動(dòng)線設(shè)計(jì)。提高空間的透明度成為了增加選擇權(quán)的一種手段。近期開張和即將開張的零售綜合體展示出一種擴(kuò)大訪客視野的趨勢(shì)。不論是在同一樓層或跨樓層來(lái)說(shuō)，提高可視性能夠給予訪客一個(gè)更佳的空間概念，讓他們更清楚眼前選擇的多樣性，以決定用何種節(jié)奏游走及探索。

另一個(gè) LWK + PARTNERS 項(xiàng)目中國(guó)成都西宸天街提供開放通透且高可達(dá)性的空間，貫通人、社區(qū)和自然環(huán)境。多首層式設(shè)計(jì)讓訪客從不同樓層進(jìn)入購(gòu)物中心，帶動(dòng)人流到較高樓層，同時(shí)將購(gòu)物中心自然融入周邊社區(qū)，模糊兩者的邊界。購(gòu)物中心的主入口擁有最佳視點(diǎn)，可以仰望大部份的零售樓層，而緊湊相通的人流動(dòng)線則為顧客提供充裕的彈性，讓他們創(chuàng)造獨(dú)一無(wú)二的購(gòu)物體驗(yàn)。

創(chuàng)新型樞紐：未來(lái)辦公趨勢(shì)

都市人每天約有三分之一的時(shí)間花在工作上，而工作本身卻與生活的其他部分越見(jiàn)融合。LWK + PARTNRES 發(fā)現(xiàn)隨著斜杠一族和自由工作者在年輕一代中漸成趨勢(shì)，社會(huì)需求也會(huì)隨之變化，反映價(jià)值觀、人們重視的事情和生活方式一直在變。

員工的生產(chǎn)力及健康質(zhì)量息息相關(guān)。尤其在今天的亞洲，企業(yè)高管意識(shí)到矽谷模式的優(yōu)勢(shì)，并在此基礎(chǔ)上投資，按照?qǐng)龅匦枰驮诘匚幕蛟靹?chuàng)新型樞紐辦公建筑。這現(xiàn)象已陸續(xù)擴(kuò)展到高科技領(lǐng)域以外的行業(yè)。這些新型綜合體涵蓋了生活中不同元素，鼓勵(lì)工作生活平衡，營(yíng)造出一種有助創(chuàng)新、互動(dòng)和建立歸屬感的辦公環(huán)境。

中國(guó)杭州鎵谷科學(xué)園提出一種新型的“園林辦公”發(fā)展模式，公共空間滲透多個(gè)樓層，包括位于三層的環(huán)型空中平臺(tái)，連接餐廳、空中花園及其他康樂(lè)設(shè)施。LWK +PARTNERS設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)特意把較高層建筑外殼做了大筆切割，創(chuàng)造公共陽(yáng)臺(tái)空間，并大量引入自然風(fēng)和陽(yáng)光。

在理念上，創(chuàng)新型樞紐的辦公設(shè)計(jì)須提供相應(yīng)硬件以及增值設(shè)施，以創(chuàng)建出符合綜合用途的 “行動(dòng)平臺(tái)”，鼓勵(lì)人們自主開拓各種空間可能性。隨著移動(dòng)文化興起，幾乎任何地方都可以成為辦公場(chǎng)所，而同時(shí)必須滿足生活中的其他需求。別說(shuō)咖啡店早已發(fā)展成兼容各種數(shù)字設(shè)備的共享辦公空間，辦公空間也正蛻變成富趣味性、啟發(fā)性和多元性的混合空間，滿足員工的健康、心靈和社交所需，提供各種餐飲、康樂(lè)設(shè)施、公共空間、露天空間，甚至多功能文化藝術(shù)表演場(chǎng)地。

香港終審法院大樓 (中環(huán)前立法會(huì)大樓)

The Court of Final Appeal (Former Legislative Council Building), Hong Kong, China

重慶長(zhǎng)嘉匯彈子石老街一德堂Yide Catholic Church at Landmark Riverside Danzishi Old Street, Chongqing, China

與人接觸是人們與生俱來(lái)的基本需要，而LWK + PARTNERS作為建筑師及城市設(shè)計(jì)師正對(duì)之重新審視，并通過(guò)開放布局、連續(xù)空間和多方向動(dòng)線設(shè)計(jì)，使偶遇和親身對(duì)話變得更加容易。

世界無(wú)邊 體驗(yàn)無(wú)間

“邊界”將會(huì)從未來(lái)城市逐漸消失，各種功能場(chǎng)所相互融合，形成一個(gè)連續(xù)的共享空間。建筑和城市設(shè)計(jì)的“地標(biāo)性”不再依托標(biāo)志性的外型，而是源于建筑空間所能激發(fā)的是社區(qū)活力和創(chuàng)造潛能。

在不久的將來(lái)，高度包容性和彈性將會(huì)是成功建筑的必備元素?？臻g通透度成為促進(jìn)共存的途徑。開放式辦公室也成為一種管理手段，用以提高員工的工作效率和溝通互動(dòng)，同時(shí)激勵(lì)團(tuán)隊(duì)動(dòng)力和培養(yǎng)歸屬感。這種模糊邊界的趨勢(shì)也早已蔓延到零售業(yè)，寬廣的店面傾向與外部空間銜接，甚或直接把墻面去掉。

隨著綜合空間風(fēng)行，開放空間和園林綠植成為了不同功能區(qū)域的自然黏合劑，但不止是純粹的過(guò)度空間，同時(shí)賦予這些公共區(qū)域具有真正意義和趣味。引入不同品種的花草樹木、各類水體、有趣的公共家具和藝術(shù)品等等，都能促進(jìn)社交互動(dòng)或提供一點(diǎn)生活喘息空間。若進(jìn)一步提升至城市規(guī)劃的層面，隨著步行文化成為其中一項(xiàng)宜居城市指標(biāo)，公共空間亦有助推廣步行文化，鼓勵(lì)行人自由探索，以清新的生活體驗(yàn)吸引居住人口、勞動(dòng)力以及企業(yè)投資。

室外與室內(nèi)之間的界線持續(xù)模糊，而空間融合也體現(xiàn)在不同層面、不同樓層的建成環(huán)境。屋頂花園對(duì)辦公場(chǎng)所和商業(yè)空間來(lái)說(shuō)曾是奢侈品，但隨著社會(huì)對(duì)社交和休閑空間的需求增加，加上越來(lái)越多人關(guān)注碳足跡，親自然的建筑設(shè)計(jì)以各種形式不斷滲入功能空間。高層建筑的設(shè)計(jì)出現(xiàn)切割缺口以引入室外景觀，露天庭院從地面向上穿透建筑物多個(gè)樓層，而傳統(tǒng)上預(yù)留給高管人員用作角落辦公室的樓面空間也逐漸被公共陽(yáng)臺(tái)取替。

以中國(guó)杭州奧體萬(wàn)科中心為例，LWK + PARTNERS 通過(guò)引入不同形態(tài)的公共空間，開拓人與人之間的交流機(jī)會(huì)。其商業(yè)裙樓由層遞式開放平臺(tái)包裹著，設(shè)計(jì)上透過(guò)逐層旋轉(zhuǎn)，令每層的開放程度各異。加上空中花園以及“侵蝕”各層樓面的特色綠化空間，讓上班族及訪客更容易透過(guò)交談開拓人脈。

在世界各大城市，場(chǎng)地與周遭社區(qū)之間的邊界也正被抹除。建筑物的出入口被建在不同樓層、不同形式：位于地面的敞開式入口、地下鐵連接口、下沉式廣場(chǎng)、平臺(tái)入口等等，統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都可能成為訪客進(jìn)出建筑的地方。

這些轉(zhuǎn)變最終將會(huì)達(dá)致連綿無(wú)邊界的城市景觀、流動(dòng)的城市肌理，提高生活中的自由選擇彈性。綜合型設(shè)計(jì)的創(chuàng)新型樞紐和生活綜合體將讓多樣化的價(jià)值觀共同發(fā)展，大幅改變今天的社區(qū)面貌。同時(shí)，以用家選擇為導(dǎo)向的設(shè)計(jì)理念也將從個(gè)別項(xiàng)目擴(kuò)展到城市規(guī)劃。

制度變遷

公共及功能建筑不再以單一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的開發(fā)模式為主調(diào)。學(xué)校、醫(yī)院、政府大樓、市政廳及歷史遺跡之類設(shè)施的性質(zhì)，過(guò)去總被視為以便利運(yùn)營(yíng)為主，而不是以服務(wù)居民的真實(shí)需求為面向。但隨著社會(huì)價(jià)值觀傾向尊重自由選擇的文化，公共機(jī)構(gòu)和服務(wù)運(yùn)營(yíng)商越來(lái)越重視用家體驗(yàn)。

教育對(duì)個(gè)人成長(zhǎng)和發(fā)展影響深遠(yuǎn)，學(xué)校作為其中重要場(chǎng)所，正面臨一股新的教學(xué)風(fēng)氣。現(xiàn)今教育模式鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生制定自己的學(xué)習(xí)計(jì)劃，學(xué)校傾向提供一個(gè)鼓勵(lì)探索、擁抱多元、靈活的教學(xué)環(huán)境。LWK + PARTNERS 在其教育設(shè)計(jì)結(jié)合這種新的框架，以鼓勵(lì)主動(dòng)學(xué)習(xí)、創(chuàng)意和互動(dòng)。

有見(jiàn)學(xué)校運(yùn)營(yíng)商及辦學(xué)機(jī)構(gòu)希望促進(jìn)學(xué)生、教師及其他使用者之間的交流，LWK +PARTNERS正在做出更大膽的嘗試，包括更重視裝飾細(xì)節(jié)、房間之間和建筑物之間的聯(lián)系更鮮明、共享空間更寬敞、康樂(lè)設(shè)施更豐富。設(shè)計(jì)以幫助誘發(fā)年輕人全方位潛能為目標(biāo)，同時(shí)促進(jìn)教學(xué)及非教學(xué)人員的工作。

除了校園改革，當(dāng)今父母亦希望孩子能夠通過(guò)日常生活中累積不同面向的學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，不以校園生活為限。教育元素和兒童友善設(shè)施已成為住宅項(xiàng)目、公共場(chǎng)所、街道景觀以及商業(yè)設(shè)施的一部分。

與此同時(shí)，隨著世界各地人口結(jié)構(gòu)變化，特別是在老齡化經(jīng)濟(jì)體，醫(yī)療和保健早已受到廣泛關(guān)注，但今天真正核心的議題卻是如何通過(guò)設(shè)計(jì)表達(dá)關(guān)懷、同理心和聯(lián)系。從患者、家人，以至醫(yī)護(hù)及其他人員都希望從醫(yī)養(yǎng)空間中得到充分尊重。

醫(yī)療設(shè)計(jì)涉及復(fù)雜思維，而近年這類建筑的氛圍變得較為寬容，且對(duì)嵌入新技術(shù)更為敏感，也傾向加入更多公共空間。這不僅是因?yàn)榛I資機(jī)制發(fā)生了變化，還因?yàn)槿藗兿ＭM量減少孤立感或封閉感，并更愿意接受保健和醫(yī)院設(shè)施為日常社區(qū)景觀的一部分。未來(lái)的醫(yī)療保健綜合體將通過(guò)開放式布局、更通透的結(jié)構(gòu)和自然元素的采用，與周圍環(huán)境進(jìn)一步融合。

在設(shè)計(jì)中國(guó)石家莊正定新區(qū)兆華醫(yī)院項(xiàng)目時(shí)，為營(yíng)造良好的復(fù)康環(huán)境，LWK +PARTNERS 采取了“以患者為中心”的方針。項(xiàng)目與傳統(tǒng)方盒子式的醫(yī)院外觀不同，以山地丘陵為原型，形成獨(dú)特的建筑肌理，強(qiáng)調(diào)與自然環(huán)境結(jié)合為一。大量綠化空間及花園亦為患者提供舒適的休息環(huán)境。

全新價(jià)值

“價(jià)值”的概念正經(jīng)歷本質(zhì)上的變化，并尤見(jiàn)于城市發(fā)展和房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的層面上。從資金豐厚的投資者到普羅使用者，只談經(jīng)濟(jì)和貨幣價(jià)值已不能滿足這些持分者的需求，他們正轉(zhuǎn)投一些激發(fā)多元可能性和支持可持續(xù)發(fā)展的項(xiàng)目。整體社會(huì)對(duì)環(huán)境、社會(huì)及管治（Environment, Social and Governance；ESG）的關(guān)注日益提升，意味著投資者和公眾都渴求一個(gè)更共融、宜居的未來(lái)。

未來(lái)幾年，建筑和城市空間的價(jià)值將取決于它能否讓人們過(guò)上自己喜歡的生活，并兼顧可持續(xù)發(fā)展。人們的健康質(zhì)量及社區(qū)意識(shí)將成為地方營(yíng)造的重點(diǎn)，私人及公共機(jī)構(gòu)將合作通過(guò)以人為本的設(shè)計(jì)方案，實(shí)現(xiàn)社會(huì)及環(huán)境目標(biāo)。

特別是在中國(guó)，公共交通導(dǎo)向型社區(qū)在香港、深圳和成都等城市蓬勃發(fā)展，形成以步行距離為尺度的城市體系。LWK + PARTNERS積極參與了這些城市的公共交通導(dǎo)向型社區(qū)，對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)丶斑@類型的規(guī)劃和發(fā)展有著深刻理解和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。隨著依賴汽車的預(yù)設(shè)生活模式轉(zhuǎn)向零碳模式，這些步行主導(dǎo)的社區(qū)正好提供先導(dǎo)功能，優(yōu)先考慮如何善用互聯(lián)互通的街道網(wǎng)絡(luò)，讓居民自由便捷地步行游走，以理想節(jié)奏過(guò)日常生活。

優(yōu)質(zhì)空間的建設(shè)與價(jià)值觀和生活方式密不可分，后兩者均會(huì)隨著時(shí)間不斷變化。當(dāng)代城市態(tài)度強(qiáng)調(diào)和諧共存、相互尊重和跨領(lǐng)域協(xié)作，綜合體建筑應(yīng)運(yùn)而生。建筑師和設(shè)計(jì)師作為空間策劃人，正陸續(xù)將空間自由度歸還給使用者。LWK +PARTNERS也正透過(guò)一系列靈活元素構(gòu)建物理環(huán)境，并以 “推助”替代 “主宰”為設(shè)計(jì)主導(dǎo)。 由于“難忘體驗(yàn)” 的定義因人而異，LWK + PARTNERS相信，人們必須參與共同創(chuàng)造體驗(yàn)的過(guò)程，才能建立深刻的地方觸覺(jué)和主導(dǎo)意識(shí)，享有更大的生活彈性。

香港柏傲灣 THE PAVILIA BAY, Hong Kong, China

成都西宸天街 Xichen Paradise Walk, Chengdu, China

成都西宸天街Xichen Paradise Walk, Chengdu, China

Architecture is moving away from designated functions just as art is moving out of the white cube.Different types of built environments are converging towards mixeduse programmes and with a common motive: to empower users with greater choice- in terms of how to navigate and utilise the space - for an integrated, diversified experience that is loyal to personal lifestyle, visiting intentions and social needs.These inspiring and engaging architecture creates possibilities to people and gives positive impact to their lives, as LWK + PARTNERS always believes what great design can do.

Mixed-use programmes: letting people take ownership

‘Experience’ is a contemporary merchandise.Despite the rise of e-commerce,there remainsa whole range of demands in life which require physical presence.As consumption becomes a process and not the ultimate goal for customers, mall operators seek to respond to changing consumer behaviours by offering a more diverse programme with special events like workshops, art shows and tenant collaborations,while retailers are turning into ‘lifestyle brands’ that defines people’s way of living as a whole, marketing their products in packages that help customers become the type of people they aspire.From clothes, accessories and stationery to furniture, electronicsand the food you eat, retail has become a medium of self-expression.

Shopping malls are going ‘immersive’ to surround visitors with a curated experience.In LWK + PARTNERS’ project West HuashanUnipark in Jinan, China, an intermingling of outdoor and indoor spaces is strategically deployed to offer an exploratory customer journey that encourages freestyle, multidirectional circulation, together with a series of major attractions themed ‘blossom’, ‘cloud’, ‘spring’ and ‘forest’.By employing a host of physical and digital tools to stimulate the visual, audio, touch, scent, emotional senses and beyond, retail designers focus on elements of exploration, socialising and learning to connect people, places and their communities.

Designed to be a poetic urban retreat and a social hub for the community, West HuashanUniparkfeatures interlocking massing and bronze concave rooflines,extending the beauty of nearby landforms to offer a fully immersive retail environment and catalysing social interactions and movement between spaces.The project demonstrates how a place where people come to discover new, lifeenrichening ideas that they want to share with family and friends after the visit.

People have long made retail environments their ‘third space’ by taking their social life to the retail environment.Theyare now moving beyond the ‘third space’conception as the first space (home) and second space (work) substantially overlapped.Especially in recent years, the need to meet and mingle with people has escalated as work relationships have crisscrossed with personal realms.

The nature of retail environments has therefore evolved into being more than a marketplace, but a place to meet and share experiences with other people.Various components of social needs including arts and culture, entertainment, education and social activities have come together to be well connected in a continual space.People’s changing conception of retail has a huge impact on tenant mix, with leasing managers constantly re-configuring the retail programme to address the variety of customer expectations.In the face of space limitations, the result is often hybrid urban spaces adaptable to change and coexistence.

To grant users ample flexibility to curate their own visiting experience,LWK+PARTNERS looks into new ways of approaching circulation flow.Transparency has become a premium tool to achieving choice.Floor plans of newly opened and upcoming retail-led complexes are showing a trend to expand visual horizons of their visitors.Visibility, in terms of seeing what else are on the same floor and seeing across different levels, gives visitors a good idea of the diversity of choices they have,and allow them to navigate and explore the offerings in their own rhythm.

Chengdu’s Xichen Paradise Walk in China, designed by LWK + PARTNERS, is a great example that provides high transparency and accessibility to bring together people, their neighbourhoods and nature.Multiple ground floors give different points for attracting visitors and a higher accessibility especially to the higher levels, as well as blur the boundaries between the mall and the surrounding neighbourhood to encourage social interaction and community life.The inter-connected circulation enables users with ample flexibility to personalise their visiting experience.

lnnovation hubs: future of work

For us living in the cities, about one third of our daily hours are spent on our jobs,while work itself is increasingly comingled with other quarters of life.While slash careers and freelancing being increasingly popular among the younger generation,LWK + PARTNERS sees the changing needs of society that reflect a shift in values,priorities and the way of life over time.

Productivity is closely tied with employee wellbeing.Corporate leaders, especially in Asia, see the advantages of the Silicon Valley model and are investing to develop tailored, localised models of innovation hubs, a phenomenon that is beginning to extend beyond the technology sectors.These new complexes engulf different dimensions in life to ensure a work-life balance, building an environment that motivates innovation, interaction and a sense of belonging.

In Gallium Valley Science Park in Hangzhou, LWK + PARTNERS proposes a new officepark typology by emphasising shared spaces on multiple levels, with a communal ‘skyloop’ platform connecting office spaces with amenities like eateries, roof gardens and other recreational facilities.Major recesses have also been introduced to the building envelopes to create communal terraces flooded with fresh air and sunlight.

The idea is to provide the necessary hardware plus value-added amenities to craft mixed-use ‘platforms of action’ that encourages users to take over for diverse programmes.With the rise of on-the-go culture, virtually any place can be a workplace while other needs in life must be fulfilled too.While cafes have adaptively evolved into gadget-friendly co-working spots, workspaces are also evolving into exciting, inspiring and hybrid communities that reach out to employees’ health, wellness and social needs, providing a range of food and beverages, recreational facilities, public areas,terraces and multifunctional venues for arts and cultural expression.As architect and urban designer, LWK + PARTNERS has revisited the basic human need to be in touch with other people to make casual encounters and face-to-face conversations easier with open layouts, continual spaces and multidirectional circulations.

Borderless world, continual experience

Cities of the future are a borderless world where functional venues merge into one another to form a continual shared space.Architecture and urban designs will increasingly be recognised not because they are iconic landmarks, but because they are catalysts of social energy and creative potential.The most successful architecture in the coming years will likely be characterised by inclusiveness and versatility.Transparency is now a means to promoting coexistence rather than an objective per se.Open offices have become the tool for boosting work productivity and social interaction as well as motivating staff and nurturing a sense of ownership.This trend has moreover spilled over to retail, with shop fronts inclined to merge with outside space with wide-span shop fronts or doing away with walls altogether.

With mixed-use programmes on the rise, open spaces and greenery may appear to be a ‘stitching tool’ for different functional components, but these common areas can be truly meaningful and engaging rather than pure transitional areas.An interesting curation of botanic species, waterscapes, public furniture and artworks can provide ample opportunities for social interactions or inspire moments of reflections.Taking this to an urban level, public spaces are key to promoting walkability, whichhas become a parameter of liveable cities due to its conduciveness to free navigation,attracting residents, work talent as well as businesses.

Meanwhile, the outdoor-indoor distinction continues to blur, and spatial integration operates on different levels - literally.

Roof-top gardens are once a luxury for workplaces and commercial developments,but as the demand for social and relaxation spaces increase and to cut back carbon footprints, biophilic structures are encroaching functional territories for good, and in a variety of forms.High rises have elevations carved out to give ways for insideout pockets, open-air courtyards penetrate building masses from the ground up connecting different levels, and the parts of the floorplate traditionally reserved for corner offices are now exposed to sunlight.

At Olympic Vanke Centre in Hangzhou, for instance,LWK + PARTNERS seeks to enable people’s interactions through public spaces in various forms.The retail podium will be wrapped by cascading open terraces, with a landscaped void at the centre.Every floor of the podium is slightly rotated to offer a different level of publicness.Together with a roof terrace and distinctive green spaces that ‘erode’ the floor plates, the project looks to create a whole new layer of networking opportunities for office users and visitors.In cities around the world, boundaries between project sites and their surrounding neighbourhoods are further being wiped out.Buildings are increasingly welcoming their visitors through multiple points at different levels from wide-open cut-outs and patios on ground level, underground metro connection, sunken plaza to podium entrances.Ultimately, this will result in an interconnected, borderless cityscape where the urban fabric is fluid and oriented towards the choice of users.Fully integrated innovation hubs and lifestyle complexes are going to transform their neighbourhoods by enabling diverse values to thrive and coexist.It is also a time where the ideal of user-oriented design expands from projects to city-wide programmes.

lnstitutional change

Public and functional developments have ceased to be monotonous.Facilities like schools, hospitals, government offices, city halls and heritage sites used to be perceived as serving operational purposes rather than the authentic needs of individual citizens.But as social values shift towards a choice-oriented culture, authorities as well as service operators are placing far more emphasis on the quality of user experience.

As an influential agency of a person’s formative growth and development, schools are adopting a new teaching and learning approach that encourages students to structure their own learning plans, leading to an inclination towards providing an exploratory environment that embraces diversity and flexibility.LWK + PARTNERS is emerging this new framework of schooling into its educational design with the objective to encourage active learning, creativity and interaction.

School operators and institutions are keen to provide a more interactive space for students, teachers and other users.In response, designers at LWK + PARTNERS are making bolder attempts with special attention to finishing details, more legible connections between rooms and buildings, generous shared spaces and more recreational facilities.All in all, the goal is to help unleash all-round potentials from young people and facilitate the work of teaching and non-teaching staff.While reforms are being carried out on campus, today’s learning experience is not confined to school environments, and more parents are keen to immerse their children in a wealth of learning opportunities in daily life.Elements of education and children-friendly facilities have therefore entered residential estates, public spaces,streetscapes as well as commercial facilities.

As demographic patterns evolve differently across the world, medical and healthcare have surely received their portion of attention, especially in ageing economies.But how their designs express care, empathy and connection has never been as cherished today, where respect is expected to be rendered to all users from patients, carers and staff.

Designing for this sector has come to involve some of the most sophisticated thinking processes, and recent designs have seen a more welcoming vibe, an enhanced readiness for ever-newer technologies and more public spaces.Not only because financing mechanisms have changed, but because people want to minimise the sense of isolation or enclosure and are more willing to include health centres and hospitals as part of the everyday community landscape.The future medical and healthcare complexes will further blend in with their surroundings through open layouts, transparent structures and greater use of natural elements.

To make Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital Development a convivial place for rehabilitation, LWK + PARTNERS takes a patient-oriented approach to upend the depressive atmosphere traditionally felt at hospitals.It diverges from the usual rectangular form and takes inspiration from mountain landscape, resulting in a distinctive design that creates harmony with nature.There are also ample green areas and gardens to create a comfortable environment for patients.

New values

‘Value’ as a concept is changing, and this is especially true for urban development and in the real estate market.Economic and monetary values are not enough to satisfy stakeholders from wealthy investors to everyday users, who are turning to projects that encourage possibilities and sustainability.The rise of environmental,social and governance (ESG) concerns means that both investors and the public are demanding a more inclusive and liveable future.

In the coming years, the value of architecture and urban spaces will be defined by how well it enables users to live the life they prefer, and sustainably too.People’s wellbeing and their sense of community will be the focus of placemaking efforts,with private and public entities collaborating to achieve social and environmental objectives through human-centric design solutions.

In China especially, transit-oriented communities have flourished in cities like Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Chengdu where LWK + PARTNERS have been involved in creating many of them,forming urban systems within a walkable distance to make daily lives efficient and easier to plan.As contemporary society calls for a long-term change from an auto-dependent culture to a carbon-free one, these walkable communities have acted as pioneers where priorities are given to an interconnected street network where users would freely navigate their daily lives within a convenient distance.

Quality space is inseparable from values and lifestyles, which are constantly changing over time.Today’s urban attitude is underlined by an emphasis on coexistence, mutual respect and interdisciplinary collaboration - a set of principles likely to be materialised through mixed-use programmes.As curators of space,architects and designers are giving choice back to the users.LWK + PARTNERS is now facilitating,instead of dictating, to structure a built environment with a flexible array of elements.Given the fluidity of what makes a memorable experience, letting users co-create their own experience would encourage a stronger sense of place and ownership, all serving a common goal to let people live the lives they aspire.

中國(guó)石家莊正定新區(qū)兆華醫(yī)院項(xiàng)目 Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital Development, Shijiazhuang, China