Location: Jiading, Shanghai, China.

Architect: East China Architectural Design & Research Institute.

The Western Visitor Center in Shanghai Jiabei Country Park is located in the southwestern corner of the park and serves as a resting area and transfer stop for visitors. The building needs to reflect the suburban environment and cultural connotations with regional characteristics. The long-strip structure is divided into four strips to correspond to different entrances for different transportation modals. The entrance hall serves as the center of the architecture, with other functional spaces arranged around it. The wooden roof structure matches the neighboring countryside environment and the architectural characteristics of the traditional watery towns south of the Yangtze River. White walls and black tiles set the basic tone for the thematic design of the entire Country Park. The functional spaces that require privacy adopt white walls as the backdrop, while other public spaces are directly connected with the external environment to form fluidity with a blurred boundary. The wooden grilled doors function as the partition between the inside and outside of the building.

Photo credit: Feng Shao.