750 SQM, BUILT 2011
THE RATIONAL ICON_ Designed as a permanent show gallery & tourist information center for China's largest developer Vanke, MOD's design for the TRIPLE V GALLERY is located along the Dong Jiang Bay coastline in Tianjin China. The client's program called for 3 main spaces: a tourist information center, a show gallery & a lounge for sales discussion. Requiring their own entrances, the tourist center and the show gallery had to be orientated towards separate existing pedestrian pathways and also operated independently.
By stretching it in three directions, we were able to orient it to different views and accommodate a trio of uses. Sitting on a concrete plaza, the gallery's zig-zag form and rugged Corten steel shell provides visual relief of an otherwise flat landscape.
Two of the building's upturned corners signal the entrance portals, whilst the third corner provides a view towards the seafront. In both plan and section, the design appears to set the gallery in motion. From the outside, the building could almost be a sharp-prowed ship slicing through the plaza.
On the inside, space flows gracefully from the corners to the center, where the client displays information on development for sale. Materials are paired in contrast to each other such as Corten steel and glass on the exterior of the Triple V Gallery, white-oak walls and ceilings with cement floors in the interiors.
An extension of the show gallery, the lounge area is where discussions are conducted. This space takes advantage of the panoramic views of the coastline and comprises a sculptural bar counter. Tectonically, the building responds to the coastal setting and is finished in weather-sensitive corten steel panels on its exterior and timber strips on the interior walls and ceiling for a more natural feel.
“The design of Vanke Triple V Gallery by MOD not only responded magnificently to the nature of the project brief but also breathes life to the contextual surroundings that appeals to all. We are very impressed at how MOD integrated the various design disciplines, i.e. architecture, landscape and interiors to provide a coherent holistic design.”
