The Shenzhen Meilinguan Area Urban Design International Consultationis about to be launched. Pre-registration of intent is now open to the world’s excellent design institutions, and the official announcement will be released soon. The International Consultation aims at gathering global wisdom and advanced ideas, so as to collect creative and excellent design schemes for the future development of Shenzhen Meilinguan Area.
Project Overview
On August 26, 1980, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was established. In June 1982, the Special Zone Management Line was set up. By 2008, there were 16 highway crossing checkpoints along the land of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Management Line, of which Meilinguan Checkpoint was completed and put into use in 1995. Since New Year’s Day in 2008, all “second-line” checkpoints in Shenzhen had stopped handling border passes on site. On July 1, 2010, with the approval of the State Council, the scope of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was extended to the whole city, marking the development of Shenzhen into the “Big Special Zone” era. After the demolition of the Merlin Inspection Building in 2015, traffic improvement was carried out, road alignment and traffic organization in the checkpoint area were optimized, pedestrian bridges across the east and west were newly built, and environmental landscapes were improved.
Meilinguan Area is an important area of internal and external integration of the original Special Zone. It is also an important strategic node connecting Futian District and Longhua District. This Area has been incorporated into the core area of Shenzhen City by the city-level land space planning, and the current functions of the Area have been difficult to adapt to the new development needs.
In order to fully realize the strategic value of Meilinguan Area and implement the high-standard construction requirements of the city government, the Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources of Shenzhen Municipality, together with the People’s Government of Longhua District, Shenzhen, launched the Shenzhen Meilinguan Area Urban Design International Consultation, guiding the high-level planning and high-standard construction of the Area with an international perspective, forward-looking thinking and innovative design.
Scope of Consultation
The scope of this international consultation includes three levels, namely the scope of planning research, the scope of urban design and the scope of conceptual architectural design of the hub core area.
The scope of planning research extends to Yinhu Mountain in the east, Yulong Road in the west, Da’naoke Mountain – Yinhu Mountain in the south and Minle Road in the north, with a total area of 3.78km2 and consider the overall relationship with surrounding areas, such as Minle Village, Huanan International Logistics Center and Shenzhen North Railway Station.
The scope of urban design covers the core area of Meilinguan Area, extending to the boundary of Xinghedandi and Fengze Villa in the east, Niuzui Reservoir in the west, Nanping Expressway in the south and Longhua Boulevard – New District Boulevard – Jinlong Road in the north, covering an area of 1.10km2.
The conceptual architectural design scope of the hub core area shall be delineated by the participating institutions according to their respective urban design plans, and the requirements shall be no less than 20 hectares and include an interchange hub with four rail lines.
Schematic Diagram of Scope of International Consultation
Work Description
The international consultation includes three parts: planning research, urban design and conceptual design (detailed design) of the building in the hub core area.
Registration Requirements
This international consultation adopts the method of global public registration without qualification requirements.
Any team familiar with China’s national conditions and similar design experience will be given priority about the following aspects:
Have rich experience in urban and architectural design projects in large urban hub areas；
Have research ability and experience of solving complex urban traffic problems；
Have the experience in environmental creation and public space design.
The consortium is allowed to participate in the competition and the number of members of the consortium shall not exceed thre
If a consortium participates in the competition, its members shall not form a consortium with other participating units alone or in other names to participate in the application. Each member of the consortium shall sign the Consortium Agreement with legal effect and clarify the lead unit and the division of work of all parties.
Individuals and individual combinations are not accepted in registration.
Rules
The international consultation is divided into three working stages: “registration and prequalification”, “scheme design” and “achievement review”.
Registration and prequalification stage: The sponsor shall establish a pre-qualification committee according to law, comprehensively consider the company’s creditworthiness, relevant performance of the company, team strength, etc., and select 6 shortlisted units in pre-qualification stage (without ranking) and 2 candidate units (with ranking) to enter the scheme design stage.
Scheme design stage: the six shortlisted institutions complete the scheme design according to the requirements of the international consultation assignment and submit the complete achievements of urban design scheme to the sponsor.
Achievement review stage: the sponsor will conduct scheme review through expert review and other methods, select one winning scheme, two preferred schemes, and the other three shortlisted excellent schemes, and award corresponding amount of bonus respectively.
Pre-registration
The official announcement of this international consultation will be released soon. Interested teams are welcome to pre-register.
Contact
Sponsor: Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources of Shenzhen Municipality, People’s Government of Longhua District, Shenzhen
Organizer: Longhua Administration of Planning and Natural Resources Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality
Contact Information:
Ms. Li：+86-13632658134 (Business and Procedure Issues Contact)
Mr. Yang：+86-15999607859 (Project and Technical Issues Contact)
（UTC+8 9:00-12:00,14:00-18:00, Monday to Friday）
Reminder
The pre-registration form does not serve as a formal registration submission or a basis for formal registration. All the contents involved in the pre-announcement of the International Consultation will be subject to the official announcement.
The announcement is published on AIMIR’s website now. If you want to know more following details regarding to this competition, please feel free to contact AIMIR. What’s more, you’re more than welcome to touch base with us if you need architectural visualization.
“The smell of books is overflowing，The mountains and the sea are connected by stars”——The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Quality Campus Launch Scheme has now begun. The Official announcement of the new construction of 9-year school in Songgang Commercial Center urban renewal unit of Songgang Subdistrict is hereby issued.
Project Name ：New construction of the comprehensive practical activity education base for primary & middle school students in Bao’an District
Pre-Qualification Application Submission
Submission Deadline：UTC+8 17:00, March 17, 2023 (Tentative)
Submission (Mailing) Address：Service Hall at NO. 40 Hubin East Road of Bao’an District of Shenzhen, Business Hall of Shenzhen Trading Group Co., Ltd Bao’an Branch.
Tenderee: Bureau of Public Works of Bao’an District, Shenzhen
Education concerns the interests of the State and the Party. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China puts “implementing the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and strengthening the support of talents for modernization” in a more important position, highlighting the basic, leading, and overall status and role of education in the new era. The Bao’an District Party Committee and Government always adhere to the “first strategy” of giving priority to the development of education, and spare no effort to provide education that satisfies the people, providing strong support for the realization of “good nursing for kids, good education for students” and assistance for urban development, further strengthening citizens’ sense of gain and happiness for high-quality and balanced education, and further improving the influence and demonstration of Bao’an Education.
The new construction of the comprehensive practical activity education base for primary & middle school students in Bao’an District is located in Yanluo, Bao’an. At present, the planning of Yanluo Subdistrict clearly proposes to build Yanluo into a “Bay Area Core City” that “faces the world, leads the future, and demonstrates nationwide”. In the future, Yanluo Subdistrict will become an international demonstration urban area with excellent space quality, complete supporting facilities and high level of international services. With the goal of “making education become the core competitiveness of Bao’an District”, Bao’an District Government implements the “14th Five-Year Plan” for the development of education in Bao’an District as the direction, and fully promotes the construction of educational facilities in the Yanluo Subdistrict.
The project hopes to select the best among the excellent design schemes through open and fair design bidding, which can not only implement the educational development concept of Bao’an District, but also integrate and coexist with the surrounding urban environment and face the future. After the project is completed and put into use in the future, it will help to fully exploit the advantages of local characteristic resources, strengthen the cooperation between schools and social resources, create characteristic practical courses and promote the construction of large social practical courses for primary and middle school students.
Project Overview
The project is located in Yanluo Subdistrict, Bao’an District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. Yanluo Subdistrict is one of the ten Subdistricts under the jurisdiction of Bao’an District, and it is the core area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The plot is located in the northeast of Yanluo Subdistrict, and the project site is located in Hedoushan Road, Yanluo Subdistrict, the east side of North Yanchuan Industrial Park and entrance of Luotian Forest Farm.
Project Location
Aerial Schematic Diagram of the Project(South View)
This project is a new construction of comprehensive practical activity education base for primary and middle school students in Bao’an District, with a land area of 15,729.88㎡ and a tentative total construction area of 51,876㎡. The main construction contents of the project include practice halls, living service rooms, management rooms, teaching staff dormitories, open floor, underground garages, equipment rooms and outdoor supporting facilities.
Tender Content
The scope of tender for this Project include but not limited to : scheme design, initial design and budget estimation preparation, green building design consultation, prefabricated building design, sponge city design, utilization of construction wastes and recycled materials, water and soil conservation scheme design, assisting in estimation for preparing feasibility study, design for building information modeling (BIM), construction drawing design, as-built drawing preparation, information collection, construction application and approval assistance, and relevant design services such as on-site construction cooperation. Must take the responsibilities for repeated modification works raised due to failed in acquiring the approval from the owner or government authorities, and other relevant works instructed by the employer.
Capital Source
The project is funded by 100% government investment.
Tender Process
The project adopts open tendering (prequalified tendering), including Stage 1 Prequalification, Stage 2 Design Competition and Stage 3 Final Evaluation. The conceptual proposal in the first stage of prequalification and the bidding scheme designing the second stage of scheme bidding shall be in the form of sealed bid.
Application Requirements
The bidder applicant must be an independent legal person or partnership or other organization
Applicants must be class-A qualification/certificate in Chinese architecture design and construction industry (Construction Engineering).
Project leader is required to be Grade One registered architect in China. For consortium, project leader must be staff from the leading member.
This project accepts consortium bidding, and the bidding partners in the consortium must meet the following requirements:
If bidding by a consortium, the leading member must be class-A qualification/certificate or above in architecture design and construction industry (Construction Engineering).
One consortium shall include no more than 2 members (including the leading member).
Members of the consortium may not register individually or as part of another consortium.
The consortium partners must sign a Consortium Agreement and clarify the head unit, division of labor between the two parties in each design stage, and design cost allocation ratio, distribution method, and other aspects.
Individual or teams of individuals will not be accepted.
Design Fee & Compensation
The fixed lump sum shall be CNY 10.479687million (about US$1,521,400) (tentative price for design cost).
The project offers compensation. The compensation standard is set as follows: No compensation for bid winner who will be issued with contract; CNY 200,000 (about US$29,000) for the bidders ranked No. 2 and 3 who entered the final evaluation stage but not the bid winner; CNY 100,000 (about US$14,500) for the bidders ranked No. 4, 5, 6 and 7 who confirmed as the formal bidders but failed to the final evaluation stage; and no compensation for the rests. The total compensation of CNY 800,000 (about US$116,100) (tax inclusive) shall be paid to unsuccessful bidders by the tenderee.
Winner
Award of contract
The bidders ranked No.2 and 3
RMB 200,000 each (about US$29,000)
The bidders ranked No.4, 5, 6 and 7
RMB 100,000 each (about US$14,500)
Tender Schedule
Stage
Date
Item
Registration and Pre-qualification
3rd Mar—17th Mar 2023
Issue pre-qualification announcement and
accept registration
10th Mar 2023(before 17:00)
Query deadline
13th Mar 2023(before 17:00)
Clarification, amendment and answering period deadline
17th Mar 2023（before 17:00）
Deadline of pre-qualification application document submission
27th Mar -30th Mar 2023
Pre-qualification review & result notice
28th Mar -7th Apr 2023
Shortlisted bidders submit original version of stamped Tender Participation Confirmation (e-signature & stamping accepted)
Design Competition Phase
28th Mar 2023（Tentative）
Release official tender document and design Brief
14th Apr 2023（Tentative）
Survey and Q&A session (meeting form to be notified separately)
5th May 2023（Tentative）
Query deadline
10th May 2023（Tentative）
Clarification, amendment and answering period deadline
15th May 2023 （before 17:00）（Tentative）
Design deliverables submission deadline
17th May 2023（Tentative）
Scheme review (sealed bid)
Final Evaluation Phase
undetermined
Final evaluation
Winning result announcement
Note: All the time mentioned above is Beijing time UCT+8. The Tenderee reserves the right to adjust the schedule.
The announcement is published on AIMIR’s website now. If you want to know more following details regarding to this competition, please feel free to contact AIMIR. What’s more, you’re more than welcome to touch base with us if you need architectural visualization.
As one of the largest competition in 2021, we’ve published the International Architectural Design Competition for the Urban Design of Shenzhen Longhua Super Commercial Zone of Business District on Renmin Road. Not long after that, we’ve received the project request from our old friend, Zaha Hadid Architects. They decided to enter the competition along with a couple of other architect companies. Therefore, they need 3D architectural renderings to present this vision.
On May 2022, Zaha Hadid Architects’ plan is shortlisted among 43 design entities. We are more than thrilled to see this result, and feel proud to be a small part of this splendid journey. In this blog, we’d like to share the process of how we create three still renders and a five-minute animation in ten days.
Longhua Super Commercial Zone in Shenzhen: ZHA’s Design
Longhua District is located in the core part and central development axis of Shenzhen city. With Shenzhen to be a demonstrative pilot zone of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, this super commercial zone should be integrated with commercial services, innovative creation, state-of-the-art technological services, and other good life services.
Therefore, the key element in their vision is the expression of an “urban network structure”. This is a golden triangle connecting three significant areas that provides unrestricted walking space for people and creates non-vehicle transportation. Our project focuses on the close-up shots.
As described, we’ll divide the process into still images and animation in this article. Now, let’s start with the exterior renders.
3D Exterior Rendering Process
#Stage 1: Project Information and the Scope
ZHA team had prepared all relating materials about this project to help us understand the whole vision, which includes:
The masterplan. Although the view needed are partial views, ZHA team still shared the masterplan. In this way, our 3D artists are able to have a holistic understanding of this project.
The camera angles. They had clearly showed the camera angles wanted with the form of screen shots of the model. In total, there are three exterior street views from different spots in the masterplan.
A Rhino model. ZHA team shared their initial models and soon updated parts of them. Here, they only updated the parts that had been changed. Thanks to this, our 3D modeler didn’t have to take care of the whole model again. And this is what we recommend to do when dealing with design change.
Some reference images. These are mainly for the atmosphere and mood references.
#Stage 2: 3D Modeling
As they’ve finished the Rhino models, all we needed to do was to refine them. But before we started, they shared some updated model parts with an image indicating where exactly had changed. This thoughtful behavior saved our 3D team a lot of time and reduced the workload, given that there were only ten days to deliver this project.
Starting the modeling stage, we imported the model into 3ds Max. Using tools in 3ds Max, we adjusted the lines and geometry according to the design materials. At last, the 3D models are like this:
When we shared these model drafts to ZHA team, they responded promptly with their comments. To summarize, they wanted to:
Add pavements around the schools;
Enhance the look of the highline;
Add some low type vegetation on the roofs.
At the same time, they explained the plan in the drafts. For example, they’ve marked the location of the recycling station, cultural center, and school football field.
#Stage 3: Colored Drafts
After receiving their comments, our 3D artists modified them on the models and then proceeded with the following stages, including applying materials and textures, setting lighting, rendering, and post-production.
In order to work with the key theme that is “sustainability pattern for success”, in our renders we try to drive the sustainability principles into the scene. Firstly, we chose the façade materials carefully based on information from ZHA team. Secondly, the plaza or public spaces are full of people and activities that showcase a smart city with people. Nature and planet thriving together. At last, we pay attention to the indoor spaces such as the podiums and schools, enhancing the details with a mix of activities.
When receiving these colored drafts, ZHA team marked them with their comments clearly and got back to us in a short time. This time, they wanted to:
Modify the lawn by making a separation path;
Adjust the color in the podium, make it less orange;
Change the color and shape of the metallic façade;
Accordingly, after a couple of rounds’ adjustments, three renders were ready to deliver!
#Stage 4: Final Delivery of 3D Renders
Please enjoy AIMIR’s 7k exterior renderings for Shenzhen Longhua competition!
We were tasked with creating a five-minute animation to fully introduce this project. In the storyboard. They’d like to include:
Location diagrams;
Conceptual pattern formation;
Overall masterplan;
Detailed sites;
Function analysis;
Fly-through explanation;
About the camera path, they’d like to have an approximately 2-minute introduction of the site and then integrate the street view renders we’ve completed, and at last finish with a 2-minute flythrough.
#Stage 2: 3D Modeling and Camera Setup
The next thing we did was to learn the CAD plans and the Rhino model, in order to create 3D models for the animation. During this stage, 3D models of both the object structure and the surrounding environment are built to be confirmed. Because this is an urgent project, our 3D modelers created the models for the still images and animation at the same time. Essentially, they share the same comments, such as design change and other possible adjustments.
#Stage 3: Key Frames with Textures, Lighting, and Scenes
When the 3D models are confirmed (in this project, when the 3D models for still images were confirmed), our 3D artists moved to the coloring stage. We textured the scenes and filled them with appropriate lighting and people. As soon as the colored scenes were ready, our 3D specialists immediately made low-resolution renders, which we call key frames, sharing with clients for further confirmation.
In the comments, ZHA team marked a few changes they hoped to make, which were:
Make the pavement more reflective;
For one scene, use more dramatic sunset sky with the sun coming from the back of the buildings;
Add an animated water jets in the center of the pond;
Add green roof to the school, also add red running track around the school.
Basically, these comments aimed to relate the scenes to social and leisure activities, connecting to nature, living lifestyle for different age groups. In total, we needed to give it more life and vibrancy.
#Stage 4: Rendering and Post-production
Once the colored animation preview draft was confirmed, our 3D team started to render the scenes, adding visual effects, processing transitions, choose background music and score, and other work to complete the architectural 3D animation.
#Stage 5: Final Delivery
The final animation is a five-minute-seventeen-second with a 1920*1080 resolution. And this photorealistic 3D animation was used for the presentation in the competition.
We love to work with design teams on competition projects because they are challenging and inspiring. At the same time, we keep updating the latest architectural design competition information in China on our website. If you need any more information, we’re here to help anytime.
In all, our 3D team created three realistic street view renders and a five-minute animation for Longhua project in ten days. ZHA team is no doubt efficient and well-organized, at the same time proactive. They are always clear about what they want, and feedback super fast. Since 2017, we’ve been collaborating with ZHA team for various projects, and can’t wait to start our next one!
Looking for photorealistic visuals to sell your competition ideas? Want to win your presentation with show-stopping renders? Contact our professional architectural visualization studio for reliable 3D animation services. We’ll deliver one-of-a-kind visuals for you exciting project!
