Architect：SAOTA

Location：Chongqing, China

Project Year：2022

Category：Individual Buildings;Apartments

LuxeRivers is a new mixed-use development in Chongqing, a large city in southwest China, on a steep site at the confluence of the Yangtze and the Jialing Rivers. It comprises several blocks of luxury apartments, residential villas and commercial elements woven together with extensive infrastructure, including bridges and tunnels, landscaping, paths, water features and recreational facilities. 

South African-based architectural firm SAOTA was involved in several aspects of the design and planning of the development, including the design of the façade treatment for the apartment buildings and a series of standalone villas, which are included in future phases of the development. SAOTA also advised on aspects of the masterplan, particularly as it related to the placement and orientation of the apartments and villas, which were shifted to maximise views of the river and to relate better to topography and climate. 

The arresting sculptural façade and balcony treatment gives the apartments their striking aesthetic identity. However, among SAOTA’s challenges was the extent to which their design had to be visually powerful and dynamic while remaining simple and following the structural and organisational logic of the existing building. The apartments faced all directions, so the solution had to be versatile enough to remain effective whatever its orientation. 

SAOTA devised a faceted geometry with a seesaw or “zippered” effect that creates depth through the shifting interaction of light and shadow on the angled façade. The pattern of light and shadow as the sun strikes the façade animates the terraces, which are angled in elevation and in plan so that their appearance shifts and changes according to the time of day, light conditions and the viewer’s perspective. 

The balconies “kick out” at points, which adds to the effect, while the “kinks” also open up dual views in certain instances, particularly to the sides, which a more conventional box terrace would not have allowed. The balconies, as a result, are also deeper than straight balconies would have been. The overhangs shelter each other so that they are useful and habitable year-round.