Circulation as Landscape — COFCO Shine Hills Courtyard Renewal
In Shunyi, Beijing, COFCO Shine Hills draws steady crowds with its open-block urban form, garden-like shopping environment, and a rich calendar of seasonal events. Yet at the north gateway of this vibrant precinct, Building 9 faces a paradox: the ground floor thrives while the upper levels remain quiet. This raises a central question in commercial retrofits: what should be done when the building’s “façade” becomes a barrier to vitality? Design is not mere beautification; it is the precise reactivation of space.
Building 9 occupies a prime position at the north entrance, on the route of nearly all foot traffic. Its original façade, however, suffered from a single fatal device—a vast decorative curtain wall—that produced three problems: ① no shop frontage: visibility of tenants above grade was completely blocked; ② broken sightlines: customers could not see through to activity and circulation upstairs; ③ illegible entry: vertical circulation was hidden, suppressing the desire to go up. Together these conditions created a “commercial dead zone” out of step with the surroundings.
At first our commission was to redesign the decorative curtain wall itself. On site we realized the root issue was concealment rather than form. Hence the strategy: demolish first, activate later.
We dismantled the decorative curtain wall to expose the structural frame and the commercial interior—an act of making by uncovering. Demolition set the precondition for activation. We then inserted new elements to rebuild both the physical and emotional connections between ground and upper levels.
The fountain plaza delights children, but parents lack comfortable places to rest and supervise, and passersby lack places to pause. We therefore expanded an underused staircase into broad grand steps facing the plaza. More than a circulation device, it is an invitation to dwell, guiding both eyes and feet upward. Parents can sit with unobstructed sightlines to the fountain—a precise response to a real need in public space.
At each level we add cantilevered decks that work as places to rest and take photos and as mutual viewing balconies between the plaza and the upper floors. They turn the façade from a flat interface into a three‑dimensional stage where urban life plays out; here, people upstairs and downstairs become both actors and audience to each other, composing a vivid public theater, while making activity above visible, reachable and participatory.
To echo Shine Hills’ garden character, planting is threaded through the façade. Planters and trees on each deck soften the hard lines and carry the ground’s greenery upward, forming a layered, living vertical garden.
The second‑floor gallery is transformed from mere passage into social nodes. Cantilevered canopies announce themselves to the plaza; their shade and shelter, together with timber counters along the railing, invite people to linger, have a coffee and look out over the square. We believe true vitality comes not from mere foot traffic, but from the willingness to linger. Those who stay become moving scenery—a signal that draws others upstairs.
Ceilings are not only functional but affective; they should lift the gaze from the horizontal plaza into the vertical depth of the building, turning seeing into yearning. We adopt an integrated grille system: on the top floor the elegant curved grille solves maintenance and heat‑gain issues of the glass canopy while filtering sunlight into a theatrical play of light and shadow; along the galleries, diffuse luminous grilles create soft interior light and, to the outside, a continuous luminous path that beckons more than it directs.
Through a sequence of “demolition—exposure—diagnosis—precise insertion,” the project shifts from superficial makeover to a direct response to site spirit, consumer behavior and user experience.
The renovated Building 9 re‑enters the public life of Shine Hills with a new openness. With the curtain wall removed, interior commerce, flows and light are released to compose a vivid, layered façade.
The new façade is calm and restrained: light‑gray concrete as the background; at key interfaces, refined anodized aluminum. Slender tie‑rods support the cantilevered canopies, giving visual lightness. Planters carry the vertical garden on each platform, extending the town’s greenery upward.
The grand steps become the plaza’s natural extension—urban bleachers that invite people to pause, gather and explore upward. On the second and third floors, the “check‑in” decks gain vitality with the canopies; people sit by the railside bar, drink coffee and watch the scenes below. These lingering, conversing, observing figures are themselves the façade’s most expressive element, attracting visitors from the ground.
As night falls, the layered lighting system comes alive. Luminous ceilings provide soft primary light in the galleries, while linear strips beneath handrails and along edges outline a warm silhouette; above, the curved grille takes on a different presence under light, crowning the building.
Through design intervention, Building 9 has transformed from a passive “commercial dead zone” into an upward-attracting, interactive and vibrant “vertical living room.” It is no longer a silent building, but an open stage in continuous dialogue with the plaza, families, and sunlight.
項目信息 | Project Information
項目名稱:中糧·祥云小鎮Courtyard改造更新
設計公司:申江海建筑師事務所
客戶:中糧集團
設計團隊:申江海,張龍瀟,史昊陽,具志堅強、孫春迪
建筑施工圖單位:北京天鴻圓方建筑設計有限責任公司
幕墻及燈光顧問:英海特工程咨詢有限公司
植物設計及實施:荒野造景設計工作室
項目類型:建筑改造
建筑面積:1800㎡
設計時間:2024年3月-2024年10月
建造時間:2025年2月-2025年8月
項目攝影:UK Studio
撰文:張龍瀟
Project Name: COFCO Shine Hills Courtyard Renewal
Design Company: SA Architects
Client: COFCO Group
Design Team: Shen Jianghai, Zhang Longxiao, Shi Haoyang, Gushiken Tsuyoshi, Sun Chundi
Local Design Institute: Beijing Tianhong Yuanfang Architectural Design CO., LTD.
Façade and Lighting Consultant: Inhabit Group
Plant design and implementation: Landscape · Design & Manual
Project Type: Building Renovation
Building Area: 1800㎡
Design Period: March 2024 - October 2024
Construction Period: February 2025 - August 2025
Photographer: UK Studio
Writer: Zhang Longxiao