The Huaxin Business Center completed this year has surely become the landmark building in Caohejing. Huaxin Business Center has been designed by Scenic Architecture Office. With Matsu furniture in the office spaces, Huaxin Business Center has become the medium between human and nature. It is a work collaborated by both architecture and nature. Here the structure, its adherent material, and the branches and leafs of trees interweave together to present atmosphere of each space. It is under the organization of time (or path) that these spaces (room and courtyard) realize an environmental experience where time and space interact.

Architecture Work between Nature and City
Huaxin office complex locates to the west of Guilin road, with a green land at the south of its entry. This green land owns 6 old camphor trees and opens to the urban main road -- these two facts become the starting point of the design, and hence to lead to two basic strategies of the business center: One is to elevate the main body of building up to second floor in order to maximize the open green space on the ground; Second is to establish an intimate and interactive relationship with 6 trees while protecting them in the site.
The completed building is composed by four independently suspended structures that are linked by bridges. 10 pieces of combined steel and concrete walls support the upper structures, they are all covered by reflective stainless steel panels, which contain all the vertical ducts and reflect the surrounding green environment. These walls are thus cleared up and help the suspension effect of the upper volumes. A ground floor atrium is enclosed by transparent glasses in-between three structures. It introduces sceneries and natural light by all-around transparency and skylight, and makes the spatial interaction between inside and outside.
Approaching second floor through the stair in the atrium, a new spatial order will be unfolded along the path. Four suspended volumes that were realized by steel trusses stretch themselves horizontally with “Y” or “L” shapes among the old trees. The twisted and tensioned aluminum strips assembled the translucent walls of these volumes, which present the truss structure in an indistinct way and become containers and boundaries of a series of interior and exterior spaces. When wandering across these translucent walls, the visitor will alternatively encounter rooms, courtyards, bridges and different sceneries guided by them. The branches and leafs of the trees traverse the building freely and become touchable friends.

Pure Beauty Exists in the Furniture & Space
Huaxin Business Center has cooperated with Matsu on equipping a series of furniture for the space. Lenco+ work desks and Starf office chairs are used in the Work Area; Nimbus Line C and Modul R super-simplistic illumination designs are used in the bar area and VIP tea house to showcase the pure beauty of the space; Mapel chairs in the reception area and the Lenco+ desk screen are both orange which gives some liveliness to the space with the Croce round tea table.
What’s worth mentioning is that Njord is perfectly presented at Shanghai Huaxin Business Center. Its leg and seat are in crude wood color; its soft wool felt is in perfect harmony with the space’s natural and rustic style. When the sunlight penetrates the semi-permeable “pink wall” made from twisted corrugated aluminum bars, the entire space is properly filled with sunlight. You can hold one cup of tea, watch the hidden beauty of the scenery and creat a totally relaxing atmosphere for negotiation and discussion.
Njord has been designed by Scaffidi& Johansen which has won numerous design awards in the West, including Red Point Award and IF Award. The glass-shaped edge of the back’s top gives you the comfort of an armchair. Njord is light and flexible. Its weight is only 4.5kg and makes you easily place the overall space layout.