T20 Tower, Paris, Lisbon and Shanghai-based practices Jacques Ferrier Architecture and Sensual City Studio have turned what could have been an ordinary ?office plus car park? into an opportunity to radically reassess the surrounding urban district of Xujiahui in Shanghai.

· A radical reimagining of a densely urban site on Shanghai busiest intersection

· The project features elevated planted pedestrian walkways above the street

· An ?urban oasis? from which to observe the dynamic scene below
Photography: Jacques Ferrier Architecture / Photo Luc Boegly
The resulting structure, on the site of a former hotel, combines office, civic, commercial and cultural space with green ribbons of public walkways, connecting the streets and buildings of China?s busiest intersection with peaceful arteries from which to escape the tumult. The design explored ways in which the project could become a generous catalyst for the wider environment, building pedestrian connections, walkways and bridges above the transport interchange as an extension of the building; in doing so, renewing the local infrastructure. Through extensive analysis, Jacques Ferrier, founder of Jacques Ferrier Architecture, and Pauline Marchetti, co-founder of Sensual City Studio, identified the need for enhanced pedestrian connectivity at the intersection and incorporated this into the building?s car park. Photography: Jacques Ferrier Architecture / Photo Luc Boegly
The radical intervention creates raised and planted wa...