这座面积为2200平方米的商业建筑建造于1980年代，是静安区延平路一个旧住宅区的扩建部分。与上海几十年前的许多老建筑一样，这座低层建筑（及其塔楼）的外部都铺设以白色的“浴室”瓷砖。建筑的街道层已经被一系列酒吧和餐厅占用，上方的两个楼层则用作网吧和游戏室，年轻人们常常在这里组队刷夜。

This 2200㎡ commercial podium was built in the 1980s as an addition to a previously constructed residential compound. As with many of Shanghai’s aging buildings of decades past, this podium (and its towers) were clad with white ceramic ‘bathroom’ tiles. The street level was already being rented by a series of bars and restaurants. 2 upper floors of the podium were being used as an internet gaming bar, where young Chinese would play online games into the night.

▼建筑外观，exterior view

上面的楼层只能由一个位于巷道间的防火楼梯进入，其周围是首层餐馆的隔油池、公共厕所以及垃圾站。该项目的业主在这个被长期忽视的场所中发现了契机，试图将其转变为一座环境良好的甲级写字楼：除了要将室内空间改造为明亮而灵活的办公室之外，还要修建一个新的专用入口、一个富有特色的大厅以及现代化的卫生间。

▼作为旧住宅区的扩建部分，这座低层建筑被改造为全新的办公空间，as an addition to a previously constructed residential compound, the commercial podium is converted it into a Grade A office space

These upper floors were only accessible by a laneway fire staircase nestled between a ground floor tenant’s grease trap, public toilets and the garbage collection of the residential towers above. Our client saw an opportunity to take this long-neglected space in the heart of Shanghai’s buzzing Jing An district and convert it into Grade A office space.  In addition to gutting and consolidating interior spaces into bright, daylit, flexible office space, the brief also called for the addition a dedicated entry, a feature lobby and modernized restrooms. Finally, the building as a whole was an eyesore, with its stained ceramic tile cladding, collection of obsolete signage, loose wires and a plethora of decommissioned air conditioners hanging from the building’s main façade.

▼室内概览，interior view

为了在回应任务书内容的同时吸引到更多用户，设计团队使用了一种综合性的设计方法。项目的名称“拱廊”（arcade）十分有趣，一方面，它是一个建筑术语，最初表示那种包含一排商店的有顶长廊；另一方面，它也可以用来表示那种带有电子游戏机的游乐场所。正是在这第二个含义中，设计团队找到了为办公楼赋予审美和故事性的灵感——不论是整体的立面，还是细节部分。

In order to respond to this design brief and deliver a marketable building destination appealing to potential tenants, we undertook a comprehensive approach to designing the project’s image. The project’s name and identity is derived from its previous usage as an internet gaming bar, or ‘arcade’. The name “Arcade” was appealing as it has two meanings; firstly as an architectural term referring to a long covered walkway with a row of shops, and secondly as an entertainment venue where people would play video games. It was in this second definition where we found inspiration for developing a unique aesthetic story and identity for the office building – from façade to font.

▼设计中引入了“拱廊”的形式和空间语言，the design introduces “arcade” as the form and the narrative of the space