Sky Dragon Apartment Complex Mainland China   This is first known self-sufficient ecological residential apartment building designed for mainland China. The building is an answer to the present state of seven story walk-up apartment buildings common to mainland China. The building features an inclined roof which acts as a walkway to reach any floor level up to seven stories. Tenants walk from the main road or parking area, through an underground, naturally lighted tunnel, and onto the inclined roof walkway. The walkway allows them to visually locate their level and simply walk directly to their apartments without tedious stairways common to all Chinese low-rise apartment buildings. The roof contains a constructed wetlands for recycling black and grey water and garden spaces where tenants can grow their own vegetables. The vegetables are feed by a grey water irrigation system. Large, circular photovoltaic panels convert sunlight to electricity to supply power to the entire building. The roof garden also contains seating areas for recreation activities and contains areas for game boards, bar B-Q grilling, wading pools and small waterfalls. The roof is an oasis from the normal hustle and bustle of the work day.     Each apartment ranges from two bedroom to five bedrooms in size and every apartment features a front and back "yard" balcony space planted with grass, plants and flowers. Rooms and different "zones" within each apartment contain raised levels and wall-to-wall storage cabinets which blend with the interior walls. Exterior apartment walls to the south and north are triangulated floor to ceiling glass doors and windows creating a serrated plan pattern which allows more light to be reflected inside and more resistance to winds. The giant globe at the front of the building contains suspended floors inside which contain gymnasium, recreation areas, conference rooms, library, swimming pool, sauna, whirlpools, bathrooms and changing rooms. Small glass plugs in the spherical roof structure let in controlled amounts of natural light and create a "Starry Night" ceiling effect of small glimmering light points at night. A waterfall pours off the walkway balconies of this golden orb and falls into the natural lake below. The lake water is pumped and recycled back up the balcony for continuous recycling. Gold, anodized aluminum sun canopies at the roof level act as shading and rain protection devices to the floors below. Each floor of the building is slightly wider than the previous floor width as you go to the upper levels. This allows rain and moisture to fall free of the balconies below thus preventing moisture build up which is a very common problem to the area. The exterior finishing material is anodized aluminum and textured reflective tile both used for their maintenance-free qualities.

© 2001 tsui design and research, inc.
no content displayed on this site can be used or copied
without written permission from tsui design & research, inc.
Contact the Webmaster