Architect：MLA+;CAPOL

Location：Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; | ;

Project Year：2020

Category：Apartments

Located within Liu Xian Dong High-Tech district, this housing project provides home for some of Shenzhen’s booming talents. The 150.000m2 small-scale apartments and 20.000m2 hotel are complemented with 15.000m2 amenity spaces and 5.000m2 commercial space surrounding courtyard and towards the street.

While we had experience with small residential units, the scale of the Tropical Metropolis was a new challenge. Organizational principles typically used for studio apartments became even more important in this building where every square meter saved immediately had an effect multiplied hundreds of times. Optimizing did not stop at finding the most efficient floor plan. Structure, installations, facades, fit-out all bear potential for optimization – knowledge we were able to evolve during this project.

Micro living’s qualities not only lie in the residential units. More than in other residential projects, the quality and usability of the shared spaces and shared facilities are important. We, therefore, put extra emphasis on allocating them in the best places in the building within an environment that helps them thrive.

We make buildings that land in the city in an integrated way and enhance the urban environment. This applies even more so to this complex. The plinth of the building is designed as a continuous colonnade which varies in height and depth. It unifies all the functions that can be found on the ground floor: retail on all sides, the hotel entrance to the north, and a regional post office to the south.