The Urban Gallery at Hyperlane, Chengdu

Hyperlane is a 2. 4km multi-level linear sky park, youth culture and lifestyle destination at the heart of the Sichuan Conservatory Of Music University in Chengdu. It establishes a vibrant and fun youth, music and life orientated linear space, linking the local transportation hub with the university community and campus in Chengdu. The Urban Gallery, the Initial phase of the project has recently opened. Hyperlane is invested, built, and operated by the core team that once operated Chengdu Taikoo Li project. The overall planning and design intents to create high standards and high-quality design. 60% of the commercial products is self-sustaining, adheres to the long-term business philosophy, provides professional support, and realizes long-term commercial value. ©Aedas The Urban Gallery The Urban Gallery was the first phase of the Hyperlane project and a sociality orientated, pocket place for the community to come together. Defined by the simple notion of ‘community and connection’, the Hyperlane Urban Social Gallery is a bold, vibrant youth-oriented point of identity that reflects the artistic and creative culture of the district. With the singular unifying expression of ”community”, the layered circular form playfully morphs, transforms and adapts to the varying functions and experiences of the place; from the urban promenade along the street edge, to the water carpet which acts as a threshold arrival scene to the space, to the performance gallery and the community terrace and the small social seating pods nestled intimately within the planting. The resulting urban gallery consists of both a curatable and a permanent programme. It is a social experiential place and point of community connection that supports the youthful creative arts and music culture. Designed pre-COVID-19, with construction completing shortly after lockdown, the socially defined space provides perfect response to social distancing with an urban space in accordance with local guidelines. Urban Promenade The Promenade consists of a network of connective walkways planters and multidirectional social seating that combined acts as a fringe and buffer to the main road set within a layer of trees. The "Water Carpet", is designed to allow for visual connectivity whilst creating an interactive & mesmerizing sense of arrival. The combination of shallow water, playful edges, lighting displays, textural contrast and planting offer a visual and physical theatrical experience and journey, between the urban promenade and the performance gallery. A place for people of all ages to play at the water's edge or relax on the seating nodes in shade of the trees. We developed a number of bespoke lighting features that playfully bring a unique quality to the daytime and night time experience. A submersed, double layer detail was developed that ensures visual control and clarity of line andilluminates the water’s edge. As a point of contrast to the shallow flat reflective water, our signature voids puncture the water’s surface creating a feeling of depth and a unique and interesting visual both during day and at nighttime. The Performance Gallery The Performance Gallery is designed to be a curatable urban catwalk, a vibrant exterior space that works in combination with the interior programme to encourage impromptu performances, arts exhibitions, cultural gatherings and open-air theatre. 24Hour Social Terrace Enclosed to the east is the sculptural terrace deck which is orientated to allow onlookers to gather in the shade of the trees to watch performances or to meetup and connect. The lighting and edge display of perforated steel creates a unique and vibrant night-time atmosphere and effect, providing a safe, well light 24 hour space. For the community to gather, in and around. To the north eastern perimeter ‘The Curtain’ creates a sinuous movement, a backdrop that holds the entire space as one, while screening to the carpark to the east. The northern most space consists of intimate scale, individual and connective spaces allowing for outside working, small meetings, and individual retreats nestled within the planting and movements of the curtain. Trees with a message The project is defined with a signature tree, one that is native (indigenous) and held strong meaning and relation to thenatural environment. Phoebe Zhennan () is an endemic species to Chengdu and the province of Sichuan, and one that is registered on the endangered species list due to habitat loss. The Hyperlane presented a wonderful opportunity to introduce this at-risk species on mass in the urban environment. It’s an amazing and unique species with a beautiful evergreen canopy, so ideal to use in close proximity to the water bodies with its limited leaf litter. With the potential to grow up to 30m in height it creates a dense shade at ground level for people to gather and rest from the strong summer temperatures. New Commercial Consciousness The Hyperlane leads the movement of a new consciousness within the Chinese development industry, one that stems from a clear understating that long term social, environmental and economic success of a development isn’t achieved by short term commercial gains, but with attention to socially and environmentally orientated systems, programme and experiences that add meaningful value, experience and delight to the lives of the community. When completed the Hyperlane will provide a valuable contribution to the local urban environment that considers human comfort, safety, accessibility, scale, programme equality and diversity that brings a bold injection of vibrancy to the daily lives of all the creative and arts community. ©Aedas The Site The site was formally a series of derelict walled in spaces used for unplanned parking and offered zero social or environmental value to the area or community. The perimeter walls resulted in the student accommodation area being physically and socially disconnected from the university campus, with only a small number of narrow degraded alleyways allowing access. It was these alleyways, crammed with life, people and food sellers that offered a clue to the creative and artistic energy that laid under the surface of the community. Each alleyway was an expression of the students; the walls displayed bold and vibrant urban art and graffiti. ©Aedas The student accommodation area offered more ideas to the community’s current lifestyle with an environment full of vibrant visual art. The tarmac streets were brought to life with colourful graphic painting and the shops, stores and outside dinning was compacted in small scale clusters and pockets. Connective Vision The vision was to create a hyper connective, multiple level linear social platform that responded to the unique and characteristics of the students. The design connects in every direction, creating a barrier free sky park and pedestrian network which stretches over 2. 4km, linking the new Chengdu fast train station to the university while allowing for direct north / south permeability from the student accommodation to the university campus. The hyperlane creates a critical platform for social, transportation and blue/green infrastructure! People and Nature The landscape design is founded on the principle of creating a balanced system that responds to both the humanistic and environmental needs of the project. A series of youth community-oriented networks, connections, social spaces, performance, and creative arts progammes and activities interplay along the entire 2. 4 km. The vision for the project was to bring nature and natural systems into the heart of the design, so planting species selected are predominantly local and look to encourage insects, birds and wildlife to the urban corridor. Each layer of the design responds to the adjacent demographic, providing both recreational space, connective network, cultural and exhibition areas and place for people, to connect, gather and simply hang out.