Dongguan Institute of Technology, Guangdong, 2004

The first floor of the Liberal Arts Department Building is partly buried into the terrain and merges into the landscape. Because of grade changes, two sides of the first floor remain open and enjoy the nice views towards the nearby pond. The rest of the first floor receives sunlight through an L-shaped internal courtyard. The roof of the first floor creates an open terrace among the undulating topography, while the square upper floors are elevated above the terrace. The combination of courtyard, arcade and terrace create a focused public open space. In the direction of the main circulation, the building mass is broken down and the pressure on the surroundings asserted by the building is relieved. When people look beyond the elevated building and see the rising slopes in the distance, they might be able to imagine or remember how the original landscape looked like.

Liberal Arts Department, Dongguan Institute of Technology
Design: 2002
Completion: October 2004
Location: Songshan Lake, Dongguan, Guangdong
GFA: 9.150 sqm
Site Area: 73.000 sqm (for the 3 buildings)
Primary Material: concrete, stucco, panel-glass
Electrical Engineering Department, Dongguan, Guangdong, 2004
The Dongguan Institute of Technology is a new campus situated on the undulating hills of the Songshan-Lake New Town in Dongguan. The hills are covered with beautiful Litchi trees, while the valleys form natural ponds.
Because of its program-determined large size, the Electrical Engineering Department Building adopts a horizontal posture parallel to the elongated contours, juxtaposing with the undulating hills. This brings the two distinctive forms into sharp contrast. Along the slope, several passages and stairways cut through the building and recreate the experience of climbing up the existing hill. While walking inside the building along the corridors, the alternating open spaces give way to the scenic views of the surrounding. The natural scenery of the northern hill filters into the building through glass panels on either side of the penetrated space, thus establishing a special relationship between the building and the landscape.

Electrical Engineering Department, Dongguan Institute of Technology
Design: 2002
Completion: August 2004
Location: Songshan Lake Dongguan, Guangdong
GFA: 20.860 sqm
Site Area: 73.000 sqm (for the 3 buildings)
Primary Material: concrete, stucco, pannel glass
Computer Department, Dongguan, Guangdong, 2004

The Computer Science Department Building is placed along the gentle slopes of the valley and oriented perpendicular to the Electrical Engineering Department Building. In order to receive enough daylight, the slopes around the building are partially cut and sustained by retaining walls. The single-sided corridors on the first two floors are open to the internal courtyard, while the corridors on the third and fourth floors are facing towards outside. The long and short corridors facing the outside, meet at the north end, with the best view to the highest and best-preserved hill of the entire campus. The corridors are like two streets leading to a plaza, or the two wings of a boat meeting at the foredeck. A straight flight of stairs connects the internal courtyard with the northern terrace on the third floor, thus tying together the inside and outside corridors.

Design: 2002
Completion: May 2004
Location: Songshan Lake, Dongguan, Guangdong
GFA: 15.310 sqm
Site Area: 73.000 sqm (for the 3 buildings)
Primary Material: concrete, stucco, glass

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