PROJECT: Woods Bagot To Design China Southern Airport City

Image courtesy of Woods BagotWoods Bagot was recently announced as the winner of a design competition for China Southern Airport City, a 41-million square-foot mixed-use development in Guangzhou, China. By positioning two wing-shaped parcels around a major highway, the Woods Bagot offices of London, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Beijing designed the winning proposal as a “legible identity” for arriving and departing planes. According to Richard Sherwood, Joint CEO/Director of Urban Design at Woods Bagot, Airport City is “China Southern Airlines’ vision for a new district that embodies its global leadership and supports ongoing innovation afforded an opportunity to really advance our thinking about the connections between economy, ecology, and culture.”

Airport City organizes its neighborhoods into three precincts. Business, cultural, and entertainment uses, as well as Southern Airlines University, make up the central precinct. The central district, intended as the heart of the city, includes executive complex including offices, a five-star hotel, and a VIP club located along the Liuxi River. Manufacturing, operations, and research uses form a second precinct to the northwest. Residential and “lifestyle neighborhoods” are found in a third precinct along the riverfront.
Woods Bagot teamed with Hargreaves Associates and Sherwood Design Engineers to develop the landscape architecture and ecological concept. Woods Bagot beat out a list of finalists that included Zaha Hadid and Paul Andreu.

Image courtesy of Woods Bagot