Lula Light Mall by MVRDV

MVRDV's LuLa Light Mall in Chengdu is a stack of boxes that makes use of the local climate for an outdoor lifestyle...

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From the architect: MVRDV has revealed its design for LuLa Light Mall, a largely open-air shopping centre currently under construction in the developing Luxelakes Eco-City district of Chengdu. Taking a cue from the lush natural qualities of Luxelakes, as well as the outdoor lifestyle that Chengdu is known for, the design takes the shape of a loose stack of boxes with generous openings between them. This results in large terraces, walkways, and staircases for visitors to enjoy Chengdu’s climate and the views of the neighbouring lake.

Luxelakes is an eco-town that, for the past 20 years, has been gradually developing in the southern part of Chengdu. Covering 5.5 square kilometres, it is notable for its 1.4 square kilometres of winding lakes and its abundant greenery, which lend the district a park-like quality – as well as a significant amount of lakeside projects. LuLa Light Mall’s location, with a section of this lake and greenery to the south east of the site and dense skyscrapers to the north west, place it at a liminal position between city and nature.

MVRDV’s team therefore set out to minimise the barrier created by their design, creating a porous project in which views towards nature are ever-present, with inspiration coming from the many pavilions of Chengdu’s parks. The project comprises two main elements, with a 99-metre-tall, 19-storey tower on the western end of the plot, and a four-storey plinth occupying the rest of the site. Rather than a typical mall typology, in which a shell of commercial spaces encloses an atrium, the plinth section breaks apart these commercial units into smaller boxes and stacks them to allow light, air, views, and people in the gaps in between – the “light mall” concept. On the eastern end of the site, a series of large boxes are stacked and rotated in various directions to take full advantage of the views of the lake.

All of these stacked boxes have the benefit of creating multiple large outdoor terraces, and they are connected together by walkways and stairs, which also lead down to the water’s edge, meaning a visit to LuLa Light Mall also serves as a promenade by the lake. This is reinforced by the colourful façades of the boxes. Each box is clearly expressed by a thick frame along its edges, inside which are glass walls with colourful mullions that reference colours in the existing pavilions in the parks of Chengdu.

An additional benefit of this approach is to reduce the cooling requirements of the project, lowering the amount of energy required for operation. Part of that energy will be supplied by solar panels on the roofs of the building.

“LuLa Light Mall will be a crucial hub for commercial space in Luxelakes, but in our design we move away from the typical closed, air-conditioned shopping typology towards an airy indoor-outdoor experience”, says MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs. “By opening up space in between units, we extend the park. By shifting boxes, we create outdoor terraces and alleys. Visual connections and inviting staircases will make it more appealing to use the stairs than the lifts and escalators. It will feel like walking through a village with great views towards the lakes and nature, making the most of the climate of Chengdu.”

By contrast to the plinth, the tower is more in keeping with the neighbouring towers of the city, with a more monochrome colour palette. The different floors continually shift in size and placement, such that the west façade of the building forms a single vertical wall, while the other three facades feature terraces and overhangs. The largest deviations are found on the lower levels, so that the tower blends with the more loosely arranged boxes of the plinth where they meet.

The various approaches to stacking and combining spaces in LuLa Light Mall result in a great deal of versatility. Commercial spaces come in a wide variety of sizes; some are accessed by walkways, while others are reachable by elevator; some sit near the lake’s edge, while others feature wide open terraces with panoramic views. As a result, these spaces can accommodate a huge variety of different commercial activities: shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, spas, salons, and gyms can all find a comfortable home alongside nature here.

Architect: MVRDV
Client: Chengdu Wide Horizon new town development co., Ltd
Location: Chengdu, China
Year: 2019 -
Founding Partner in Charge: Jacob van Rijs
Partner: Wenchian Shi
Design Team: Steven Smit, Marco Gazzola, Zheli Cai, Sen Yang, Enrica Perrot, Echo Zhai, Michele Tavola, Ruochen Zhang, Cosimo Scotucci, Anastasia Voutsa, Elisa Paneni, Yan Ying Zhang, Shanshan Wu, Albert Parfonov, Ming Kong, Cai Huang, Daehee Suk, Shanshan Wu, Alice Huang, Jammy Zhu, Kevin Zhao, Yihong Chen, Chi Zhang, Martin Chen
Visualisation: Antonio Luca Coco, Pavlos Ventouris, Angelo LaDelfa, Lorenzo D’alessandro, Luana La Martina, Jaroslaw Jeda, Stefano Fiaschi, Priscilla Antinor
Co-architect, structural engineer, MEP: Zhoyu Design group Co.,Ltd
Landscape Architect: UrbanX
Images: © MVRDV