Hall of the Sun, located in Shanghai’s large-scale residential community, Rui Hong Xin Cheng, is a combination of lifestyle, and commercial center, comprising office as well as retail and transportation hub. This giant 180,000 square meter space, not only has Shanghai’s largest skylight roof canopy, and a three-story super atrium space, but also creatively located dining blocks and markets from the fifth floor to the seventh floor, creating a unique urban experience. This is another successful exploration and creation for ARQ in the field of innovative commercial centers. As a high-profile project with high expectations and attention from citizens, Hall of the Sunwas completed after eight years and opened to the public on September 19th, 2021.

In the Internet Age, which way should commercial buildings go? As a design company with rich experience in the planning and design of commercial buildings and urban complexes, ARQUITECTONICA has been thinking about this issue and diligently pursuing forward-looking design and leading innovation for commercial buildings. The disruption caused by the popularity of online shopping has created new opportunities for the development of commercial buildings. In ARQ’s thinking, the key function of traditional commercial centers has changed from being primarily a place of consumption to being a place for social life. Instead of only looking at the prosperity of the mall as an outsider, people should join into the prosperity and become part of it.

▼瑞虹天地太阳宫 external view of the Hall of the Sun ©SFAP

In this context, commercial spaces should be designed as places that encourage interaction and allow for different experiences while also respecting local cultural practices, creating spaces with a scene-oriented commercial atmosphere. Hence, ARQ’s design approach started from the topic of “FOODIE SOCIAL”, challenging the traditional thinking of commercial design, so that green ecology, quality of life and social culture permeated through it, creating an ecologically innovative urban complex.

According to “foodie social” and food culture, Hall of the Sun is divided into two main zones: traditional mall and food hall. The area occupied by the food hall is almost 30% of the total proportion of the building, almost the same amount of area occupied by the traditional mall. Therefore, from the initial stage of planning, the design separated the traditional shopping mall from the food hall in elevation to differentiate the spatial experience as much as possible. Placing the food hall on the lower levels would inevitably have decreased the commercial value of the upper spaces, so the design team placed the food hall on the top of the entire building in a non-traditional way, transforming the higher floors, that are subject to rental pressure in a traditional commercial complex, into a dynamic and attractive themed space.