Project Overview

MixC Ningbo is a newly opened experiential retail destination in the heart of the city’s Central Business District.

The brief for the multifaceted development was to create a sanctuary within the bustling city. The concept looks to enhance the quality of experiential developments in Ningbo, introducing new levels of engagement spliced through private and public spaces. Animating the building and its surrounding streetscapes, the scheme features both active and passive forms of entertainment and experience.

Highlights for MixC Ningbo include the city’s first Ferris wheel within a retail development, a 24-hour public ‘Sky Walk’ and an innovative placemaking strategy that draws on the rich history of Ningbo’s architecture, namely in the form of the city’s historic sloping roof buildings.

The connective layer of the scheme is the multi-level ‘Sky Walk’, a 24-hour, open-air public realm that runs through the heart of the destination. The elevated walking street connects with a grand staircase welcoming visitors from street level as well as other strategic nodal points both internally and externally. The design enhances the pedestrian network across the site and also enables visitors to uncover new pockets of experience throughout their journey.

Within the development, visitors can enjoy an environment that promotes social engagement, discovery and exploration through a series of themed areas that are aimed at young families, children, youth, culture and lifestyle.

Project Commissioner

China Resources Land

Project Creator

Lead8 Hong Kong Limited

Project Brief

The brief was to create a destination that prioritises a community-centric approach alongside commerciality, ultimately delivering a sanctuary in the city.

The conceptual design evolved through several design rounds with elements of the historical architecture and extensive pedestrianised boulevard through the development the major considerations.

The development has aimed to prioritise the needs and experience of the surrounding population within the design. Delivering a highly connected and accessible 24-hour public realm at the heart of the scheme highlights MixC Ningbo’s vision to integrate with and benefit its community.

As a sanctuary within the city, the destination brings to life the concept by delivering open civic spaces, amenities for the community and a design that captures the imagination and heritage of Ningbo. The concept looks to enhance the quality of experiential developments by designing places for families, open civic spaces for the community and capturing the imagination of Ningbo.

Project Innovation/Need

MixC Ningbo goes beyond the idea of your typical retail centre with a design that is human-centric and conceived with experience in mind. Notable features include its 24-hour ‘Sky Walk’ that runs the length of the building in the form of an open-air rooftop promenade, and an inbuilt Ferris Wheel coupled with an innovative placemaking strategy to create a compelling and surprising proposition for visitors.

Drawing inspiration from Ningbo’s heritage, the architectural design celebrates the city’s historic sloping roof buildings. The main entrance showcases a striking house-shaped curtain wall façade and the steeped lines continue across the building’s architecture.

The multi-level ‘Sky Walk’ is the connective layer. Accessible at all hours, the outdoor public space runs through the destination’s heart as an ‘elevated walking street’, leading to the city’s first Ferris wheel within a retail development.

The architecture has been purposefully terraced to create unique commercial opportunities along the main road frontage and entrance to the Sky Walk. Enriching the material palette, glass, stone, wood and landscaping are used across the exterior – bringing a textured aesthetic to the terraced design. The reduction of glass on the façade ensures the design concept is maintained while energy consumption is limited.

Design Challenge

The key objective of the design was to create a destination that prioritises a community-centric approach alongside commerciality. The design had to balance these two ideals to ensure the end result would go beyond the typical retail mall and transform into a true asset for the community.

A project of this scale always presents challenges given the size and scope of the consulting teams. MixC Ningbo incorporates major structural installations such as the Ferris Wheel which required multiple iterations and specialist consultants to ensure the height of the wheel and the integration of the structure were optimal to the design.

Sustainability

The ‘Sky Walk’, a defining aspect of the development introduces a large landscaped public realm back into this bustling district within the city. The outdoor public space replaces green landscape on the site, bringing an open-air garden area for the community to enjoy at all hours of the day and night. The designs transforms the development beyond a retail development into a community asset bringing landscape back into the district.

As mentioned above, the material palette is enriched with glass, stone, wood and landscaping across the exterior – bringing a textured aesthetic to the terraced design. The reduction of glass on the façade has been a balance to ensure the design concept is maintained while energy consumption is limited.

Extensive skylights bring in abundant natural light, aiming to dramatically reduce the development’s artificial lighting requirements and the building’s total energy consumption.