The Geek Community Project is a dynamic new intelligent district being developed across an extensive site in Chongqing, China. Within it, our competition entry for the South District has been conceived to house a range of research and development spaces within a smart and collaborative environment formulated around ideas of wellbeing and encounter – between people, between nature and culture, and between the past and the present.

Our 50,000m2 building is composed of two striking volume that curve away from each other – without touching – to create four wings that integrate and interact with surrounding parkland. The southern form is taller, establishing a welcoming gesture to greet arrivals into the building; the northern form is dropped down to optimise views towards nearby historic ruins. Each houses research and collaboration spaces catering for a variety of experiences and activity types ranging from group meetings to individual focused investigation.

The forms themselves are fully glazed and clad with shading fins to allow views into and out of the spaces they contain while controlling solar gain and offering options for privacy where required. They end in a series of planted vertical terraces to help increase connection with the surrounding landscape and provide protected outdoor space.