Shanghai Baoye Center is the headquarter office building of the Baoye Group in Shanghai, located as part of the second phase of the new Hongqiao Central Business District development. The site is located at the intersection of road, rail and shipping transportation hubs, and is the last building one can see before the high-speed rail enters Hongqiao Railway Station from the south, giving the project its status as an important urban space. The architecture and interior of the Shanghai Baoye Center was designed by LYCS Architecture. The initial point of the office space design was arranged on an extension of the building, which runs through the interior and exterior, complementing each other as one. Architecture is an important foundation in interior design, and the interior design restores the beauty of the building's space, construction and materials.
The entrance lobby is a four-story, light-filled space with transparent glass at three interfaces, each spaced by a cantilevered triangular terrace where employees can take a short walk to relax after work. Combined with the green trees and plants on either side of the atrium, the sun shines through the triangular grid of light at the top, creating an experience in the atrium that feels like being in a vibrant outdoor courtyard. These elements that were originally outside are brought inside, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. At the end of the atrium is a sculptural wooden staircase that connects the first floor to the fourth floor. The staircase serves as the soul of the traffic flow and activates the connection between all the spaces, making it a unique space where people are happy to roam independently of the office space.
The first floor of Baoye Center is the exhibition hall and meeting room open to the public and communication. The entrance of the exhibition hall is opened by "Baoye's architectural world view", and the interface of reception and display is naturally connected to highlight the image of Baoye Group. In the public corridor, the dark gray color with a strong sense of modernity is used as the main color, while in the relatively private corridor of the meeting room, wooden materials are used to form the feeling of wrapping the space and distinguishing the space of different areas.
For the interface of the meeting area, energized glass becomes the best choice for partitioning. The material is transparent when energized and has a grayish opaque frosted effect when the power is off. This ensures light and visual unity in the space, while providing great convenience to users.
The second through fourth floors are the core office areas, which are designed with a construction and industrial feel as a cue to reflect the identity of a leading company in the construction industry.
Public walkway walls in the office meeting area blend two wood veneer colors to create an abstract Shanghai skyline. These materials also form the large steps' breakout space. The steps' floor combines wood flooring and self-leveling concrete, providing a space for employees to read, rest, and move.
To show the building's construction process, the ceiling features black glass and internal lighting, projecting the pipe layout onto the glass for a light-transmitting surface. Thus, the ceiling's light lines also represent the pipe layout.
The first floor is built as a humanistic home for employees. It is a collection of dining, rest, entertainment, culture, fitness and other functions. The café is the key area of the underground space, as a place for employees to rest and relax, it is positioned as a young and inclusive, flexible and interactive, and a collection of salons, classes and parties in addition to casual coffee.
The multi-function hall is based on the large space of the building, with one wall set up as a white lacquered glass and projection surface, and the other three surfaces and the center set up by rotatable and translatable partitions, which can be divided into different spatial states according to the use behavior: the partition opens into a large open space without columns, which is convenient for activities and meetings; the partition closes the space to be divided into four small spaces that can be used independently for training, discussions and other activities.
