Base is located in the middle of xinjiangkaramay city, near Karamay City People's Government and the Municipal Intermediate People's Court, around the base will become Karamay important administrative office center with public cultural and sports center, it is an important node in the city functions.
The project is located in the Xinjiang Oilfield headquarters office area is the development of Xinjiang energy science and technology industrial base, development office and a variety of functions in one, is to demonstrate an important window for the outcome of the development of Xinjiang in the new era.
Oil industry is a pillar industry in the development of xinjiang, the design of a building form has raised the bow, is about to set sail. Looking out from the entrance to the square to the building, construction is like an open door, to meet the people across the country to witness the new development of xinjiang.
Project Background
Petro China’s Xinjiang Regional Data Network Control Center in Karamayis a new headquarter building forproduction management,data monitoring andserver facilities.Toimprove itsproduction management and strategize an information network for its oil fields, PetroChina Xinjiang Oilfield Company organized a competition,in whichShanghai HuaDuArchitecture and Urban Design Group (HDD) had won and was commissioned to design the building.
The project will function as an efficient, centralized headquarter for information resource management that will further assist Xinjiang to develop its municipal information infrastructure.With a gross floor area of 48,961 m2, and aplanning area of 65,521 m2,the building intersectsserver rooms for Digital City Data Center, PetroChina Data Center, andCloud Computing Center.This converges urban information resources including multimedia information networks, geographic information system and other information infrastructures.With a long-term goal to construct an organized, multifunctionalsmart city information system, the frameworks for e-government, e-commerce, science and education information, social security information, distant learning and telemedicine will be gradually set up.
Design Concept
The data network control center took the design concept of “an ark floating on the wavy dunes of the Gobi Desert”,ina dynamic geometric form that symbolizesa ship’s bowrising from tides. The concept is articulated througha set of modern design languages.The entrance spaceframed by a 30m cantilevered steel structure and horizontal steps creates an imposingspatial experience.Its bold figure reshapes the skyline of the Karamay oil field’sadministrative area.
The façade is composed of warm greyaluminum honeycomb panels to emphasizesolid massingincontrast with the foyer’slarge glass wall.To balance the visual heaviness of the upper part of the building, the floor and entrance steps are tiled with dark stone. Viewed from a distance, the center’s volume conveys a sense of momentum and vigor.
To accurately unite itsform of an ark floating beyond the base and its high-standard function, the design uses a staggered plan. With the height of the roof falls from 31.17m to 11.20m, floor plans and enclosing walls become irregularas floors spilt into staggered layers.The project was listed ‘exceed-code irregularbuilding structure’ in China, and thus has gone through an examine-and-approve processin terms of seismic performance.With anin-depth research and unique technical breakthroughs supported by data, the design team demonstratedthe projectin a jury formed by exceed-code structure specialists and eventuallygained approval from the authority.
T4 Standard Data Center
The data network control centeris vertically zoned by two major programs:1) Server rooms and related facilities that locate on the ground floor and basement, using the base of the building volume and the space below the entrance steps. 2) The exhibition area that takes up the upper part of the building,includingspace for reception, leisure and office. First floor is for commandcenter and auditorium. Second floor, third floor, and staggered floors in between are for offices.
The server facility space is designed under high security standards due to its municipal significance. HDD cooperates with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)to develop its design, by introducing the standard Tier Classification System created by Uptime Institute into designevaluation.Uptime Institute is the most renowned and authoritative third-party organization to evaluate data centers and setstandards at present. The center’s design follows a Tier IV standard of the Data Center Site Infrastructure Tier Standard, which ensures the infrastructure’sserviceability, reliability, functional capacity, andeasymaintenance. This will provide international first-classstandard physical environment and data services to PetroChina Xinjiang Oilfield Company.
Circulation
The project’s circulation design is also conceived through overlayingsecurity requirementswith program zoning. Different user groups and interflows of goods have separate access control. Vertical program zoning minimizes the chance of visitorcirculationintersecting with service circulation. The majority of office staffs and visitors are directed to the first floor entrance through steps. Two entrance halls separated by an atrium channeldifferent groups of visitors, one for inspectors from the authority, the other for group visitors.Devices and staffs working at server rooms enter through service entrances on the east and west side of the building.
The internalvisiting route is separated by hi-tech measures. A ramp gallery wanders through staggered floors and surrounds the command centerhall. The emergency response center is isolated in glass walls with electric blinds. To maintain a goodacoustic environment for the center, the electric blinds can be automated into different modes, and thus adaptfor various visitingpurposes.
External visiting activitiesfollowa circular routewith a rich spatial hierarchy of landscapes. Following a circular ramp surrounding the central courtyard, different layers of landscape will unfold before visitors reaching the top of the rooffor a open view.The project’s landscape design is conceived with different spatial conditions created by the massing. The waterscape and parterreform a coherent interface with the horizontal entrance steps.Vegetated green spaces surrounding the building create a dialogue and a rich layer of landscape. Green atriums shape beautiful micro-environments within the building, so as to form a balanced, humanistic relationship between nature and the built environment.
