The Hangzhou Prism, designed by OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture under the leadership of partner Chris van Duijn, has been completed in Hangzhou’s Future Tech City, one of China’s leading innovation districts. Commissioned by Xinhu Real Estate Group, the 43,000-sq-m development integrates a hotel, residences, offices, urban amenities, and a public plaza within a striking pyramidal form defined by two dramatic diagonal voids that visually connect the new high-speed rail hub with the surrounding parkland.
© Tu Xi Meng Courtesy of OMA
Located at the center of one of Hangzhou’s fastest-growing urban areas, The Hangzhou Prism introduces a distinctive new landmark to the city skyline. Two large cuts carve through the building’s volume, shaping its pyramid-like profile while orienting the structure toward key elements of its context: the new high-speed railway station to the northwest and a public park to the southeast. This geometry also creates private terraces for each loft, offering generous outdoor spaces and panoramic views across the city and landscape.
© Courtesy of OMA
The project explores the relationship between private programs and public space. Connected to adjacent streets, waterways, and green areas, the building encourages direct engagement with the wider community. At its base, a large open-air atrium serves as the civic heart of the development: an accessible public plaza that extends toward the park and the collective spaces of Future Tech City, designed to accommodate both spontaneous gatherings and organized events.
Ph. © Zhu Wen Qiao Courtesy of OMA
The spatial organization is conceived to support a diverse mix of users and activities. Elevated residential areas provide privacy and independence, while shared gardens, terraces, and communal spaces foster interaction among residents, hotel guests, office workers, and visitors. This approach seeks to balance individual and collective experiences, transforming the building into a porous, socially active environment.
© Tu Xi Meng Courtesy of OMA
According to OMA partner Chris van Duijn, the project was driven by the ambition to rethink the conventional residential tower as a single, open, and interconnected structure. He describes The Hangzhou Prism as a “three-dimensional village” for young professionals and visitors, designed to maximize synergies, social exchange, and opportunities for community building.
Led by Chris van Duijn together with project architect Michael Hadjistyllis, The Hangzhou Prism reinforces the growing role of Future Tech City as Hangzhou’s emerging business and innovation hub while introducing a bold new architectural presence to the city’s evolving urban landscape.
Ph. © Zhu Wen Qiao Courtesy of OMA
Cover image: © Tu Xi Meng Courtesy of OMA
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