Project Background
Lyf Hangzhou by Ascott Co-living Apartment at Vanke Mid-town Hangzhou is located in Gongshu District, a central urban area at the southern end of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal connected to all directions of Hangzhou. The Millennium Grand Canal has brought together the rich cultural atmospheres of agriculture, trade and industrial civilizations, and has become a popular place for official and folk cultural exchanges. The Co-living apartment is surrounded by tourism resources, right downstairs one can be directed to the small rattan street culture. Here, there are interesting Hangzhou local independent brands, boutique supermarkets, light food catering, sports and fitness, and all kinds of local businesses. For the new generation of hip and nomad travelers, it offers a place to meet, socialize, showcase your talents and get an up-close look at the city's fashion scene.
With 118 rooms filled with artistic imaginations, you can choose from thematic studio to four-bedroom suites. The overall design concept of the apartment uses a bold color scheme and is full of creative elements. The interior design and shared public space are fully integrated with Hangzhou's local art culture, creating a comfortable and freestyle space for guests to experience. One can experience the comfort and freedom of Lyf Co-living apartment here.
User analysis
Lyf is a unique shared living space for a new generation of travelers and like-minded people. Here, digital nomads, tech entrepreneurs and creative people can live, work and play together. The new generation of travelers has also been dubbed digital nomads, often referred to as the "smartphone generation." The launch of Lyf APP and the access of smart functions, such as online booking and payment, mobile phone door opening, online customer control (lighting and air conditioning), club membership integral management and other functions, are more convenient than any other technology to the life of digital nomads.
The concept of carnival
The Lyf Hangzhou Vanke Mid-town project design concept integrates the characteristics of Hangzhou local culture elements and Lyf brand identity as a crossover scenario with the carnival theme and Lin-an Siji (Hangzhou ancient entertainment opera). Hangzhou is a rapidly developing city these past few years with development of a large number of digital e-commerce companies, also famous for plenty of culturally rich heritages. The project has visualized a diversified space with local cultural elements and Lyf brand DNA through the concepts of artistic intelligence, weekend market, artistic life and 3-dimensional garden,
Layout planning concept, circulation planning and space function
Public space program planning includes Self-service public front on the first floor, say Hi Bar front desk on the second floor, Get together (co-working activity space), eat and meet friends (social kitchen), huanranruxin (self-service laundry).
The project is located above Hangzhou TOD subway station, with main access and circulation through the subway exit stair into the main plaza. User can access 2F from east side escalator or take elevator from 1F public front to say Hi bar on 2F. Since customers come from both directions, the front desk is designed as an island with frontal access on all sides. Overall spatial planning from west to east is co-sharing leisure space with different functional requirements and movable flexible furniture modules. The north side of the main communal lounge has a large auditorium stair – Wasi space that integrates seating, IP display and a graffiti cultural design towards the upper mezzanine level. Hotel guests can read, relax and play in this area.
The lower level houses the washrooms and bond social kitchen where towards the east end would be the dining zone and the bus station themed meeting room. The 2F façade comprises of glass curtain wall, together with the overhang colonnade and exterior terrace, provides opportunities to connect inside and outside and extend the interiors auditorium space into the terrace carnival zone.
The project mainly uses a core to reach all floors, and the core on the other side is mainly used for evacuation and back of house service. Pantries are installed on each floor to promote communications between residents, which is in line with Lyf Co-living concept.
Design concept elements
The design uses the concept of carnival to strengthen the project storyline. Besides the main functional spaces such as elevator lobby, elevator interior, hallway and other dynamic and static elements, the design solution integrates and connects the typical functions with miscellaneous service areas. By use of Hangzhou cultural elements such as Wasi Entertainment and Lin-an Siji, so that customers can feel the diversified style of hippie, joyful and collective Chinese Style Carnival in the project, and enter the multi-dimensional interactive space experience of real, virtual and spiritual life!
Lead Design Team: LOD | Laliving and Opr Design
Participating Team:
LOD Design Director: Ann Yan
LOD Creative Director: Yimei Chan
Project Manager: Xenia Cheng
Architecture Design: Zuotu Zhang ; Siqi Liang
Landscape Design: Leezy Yang
Interior Design: Guoxiang Qian；Ternence Sun；Leezy Yang
Construction Drawing: Jovine Zhu；Ternence Sun ; Guoxiang Qian ; Leezy Yang
Brand Design & Graphic Design: Colleen Fan；Karmen Zhan
Soft Decoration & Signage Design: Ying Wang ; Yinan Zhang ; Zuotu Zhang
Collaborative Partners:
IP Design : LOD；Egg Box
Signage Design: LOD ; IN Design
Photography: Shengyang Li
Client: China Vanke Co., Ltd.
Owner architect representative：Vanke, Hangzhou| Guang Ding ; Haifeng Fang ; Fang Zheng ; Yu Lei
