Vipshop Headquarters’ Lighting Design by GD-Lighting Design

Vipshop, the world’s leading discount retailer and the first e-commerce enterprise in Southern China listed on New York Stock Exchange, has set its new global headquarters in Pazhou Internet Innovation Zone, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, China. The office complex erects on Pazhou Island, which provides a panoramic view to the brilliant Pearl River and cityscape.

1. Exterior lighting that outlines the building

Composed of a podium and two towers, the building connects all three plots of the angular site, and emphasizes horizontal layers of working spaces. The architectural form is distinctive, but the volumes appear slightly apart at night. For this reason, as conceiving the lighting solutions, GD-Lighting Design hoped that lighting could integrate all functional divisions into a whole in a harmonious and holistic manner.

Neat and horizontally-structured glass curtain walls give the office complex a unified appearance. Therefore, lighting is arranged along and around horizontal layers of the exteriors. Hidden in grooves of facades, lighting fixtures produce fascinating effects at night, and highlight the outline of the building.

 

2.Moderate interior lighting

Horizontal spatial organization and vertical circulation systems of the building maximize the area of working spaces, and the layering of functional areas generates diversified, orderly structural expressions. As an enterprise that emphasizes dynamism and flat management, Vipshop calls for flexible offices.

Since the all-glass curtain walls have strict requirements on lighting, GD-Lighting Design team clearly understood that they needed to carefully avoid the glare of floodlights, which shouldn’t affect working activities or destroy interior transparency either. Based on comprehensive considerations, the designers determined that the overall lighting design and installation should avoid curtain wall areas.

Considering that materials of interior spaces have various influences on lighting, the team asked for material samples and experimented on them with different color temperatures and illuminance, intending to minimize the influences that spatial materials exert on lighting and creating comfortable experiences for a long time.

 

In line with the demands for flexibility of workspace, the design team adopted 5,000k lighting fixtures which feature a cool tone and adjustable lighting. Lighting fixtures are hidden in the space to the greatest extent and are subtly arranged at void areas and special functional areas, hence producing a transparent spatial atmosphere while also generating people-friendly visual experiences via the flexible combination of strong and soft light.  

3.Integration of interior and outside

The building contains many pleasant communal areas, which extend outwards and integrate with outdoor terraces. The rooftop of the podium provides various leisure facilities such as infinity swimming pool, basketball court and barbecue facilities, which are available for employees and clients of Vipshop. This area offers an expansive view to the fascinating Pear River and cityscape, and embraces charming night view as the building is lit by lights.

Project name: Vipshop Headquarters

Location: Yuejiang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, China
Client: Vipshop (vip.com)
Architectural & interior design: gmp Architekten
Curtain wall design: SuP
Lighting design: GD-Lighting Design, Schlotfeldt Licht
Chief lighting designer: Wang Yanzhi
Lighting design team: Zheng Qinglai, Kong Weiliang, Ren Hui
Photography: CreatAR Images
Completion time: July 6, 2020
Gross floor area: about 165,000 m2