Shanghai Mangoo Hub by Benoy

Mangoo Hub

The project is located on Binjiang West Bank in Shanghai’s Xuhui District (also known as the West Bund), along the popular media port strip. Behind the Mangoo Hub project is Shanghai MANGO-XIANG Culture Investment Company, whose goals are to create an integrated entertainment centre that is smart, technologically advanced, and entertaining. Mangoo Hub will include 5A office buildings, associated businesses, media and cultural space, and a media plaza.

When the structure is complete, it will be a brand-new smart entertainment and cultural commercial complex able to host holiday celebrations, high-end publishing, brand crossovers, IP production, video creation, art exhibitions, industry incubation, copyright trading, and talent development. The masterplan continues its multiple three-dimensional connection of the nine-square blocks of the media port by maintaining motor traffic running smoothly on the ground floor and improving pedestrian connections in the public platform on the first floor.

Open public spaces are enhanced through the use of plazas, green strips, lighting and urban sculptures. At the same time, Mangoo Hub also acts as a corridor connecting the subway station on the west side with the anticipated entertainment area by the river. The total construction area of the project is 79,692.15m2. The above-ground buildings consist of a 100m tall (21 storey) commercial office tower (Building A) and a 60m high (12 storey) commercial office tower (Building B).

For the Hunan TV (Mangoo TV) show Escape Room, Benoy has built the Micity Escape Room Flagship Store, a 40m high media centre (Building C). On the southern side are two 17.65m high two-storey annex buildings (Buildings D and E), a 23.95m tall four-story office building (Building F) and a central sunken plaza. Benoy has given careful consideration to the businesses below ground level by arranging a grid format with easily accessible connections to maintain a smooth flow of foot traffic and visibility.

To enhance vertical traffic, ground connections at the east and west entrances have also been set up to facilitate the flow. The exterior of the complex defines the urban view, while the interior surrounds the public space. All areas of the ground and first floors and underground commercial floors are connected by large, scenic steps and lifts, which will allow people to fully experience and utilise this high-quality public space.

The owners together with the team engaged in in-depth consultations and exchanges for the initial designs, to come up with clear settings and mutual understanding for the overall character of the project to incorporate commercial, cultural and public attributes, in order to formulate detailed plans. This initial stage of planning established a strong starting point before confirmation and full implementation of the final plan and execution.

The overall design artfully connects the public spaces of the project with the West Bund and provides an essential space for entertainment and leisure. In terms of the physical architectural form, the spaces feature interspersed and overlap between office towers, combined with refined commercial dimensions to create a multi-experience complex. Each individual building within the complex is unique with its own personality which makes for this landmark architecture of intense urban character.

Design Concepts
The architectural grouping of buildings emphasise the concept of organic integration. By having a small volume that focuses on the grey space produced by overlapping tower connections, the architecture is freed from traditional concepts which offer a new way to enjoy in- and outdoor areas, blending the definition and offering an inclusive, richer and more enhanced experience.

This also enables people to use the space and enjoy it from more perspectives than one with its innovative and refreshing take on creative structures. The building was also constructed with an emphasis on human scale. On the urban scale, the relatively simple dimensions give the building an equal and friendly dialogue with surrounding structures. On the human scale (the one or two storeys within people’s line of sight), the architecture’s friendliness and warmth are enhanced through the addition of fine details.

Media Centre C
The media centre is situated in the south-eastern corner. It was originally tentatively called the “Mango Box” and act as the core concept for Mangoo Hub. It was eventually decided on as Micity Escape Room Flagship Store for the Mangoo TV show Escape Room. This individual building is refined and compact, which is exactly what makes it the focal point and central building of this project.

The building area occupies about 5700 m² and is 40m high. The main entrance has been designed with 13m high stilts, while the façade highlights the simplicity and minimalism of the building with a design language of geometric lines. Supported by two reinforced concrete columns, the interior is composed of six storeys, each 4.5m high, with 9m of atrium space on the top floor creating a visually striking entrance hall.

Premium Businesses
Commercial Annexes D, E and F take up the whole southern part of the block, placing them in advantageous positions. The business format caters to restaurants and premium businesses, taking up two storeys with a lot of space that could be divided up further in the future. A terrace is located in the first floor area to allow visitors to enjoy the modern commercial atmosphere and the pleasant environment of the West Bund.

Office Buildings
Tower A is located in the north-east of the square. Its eastern, southern and northern sides all feature riverside views. Terraces are also located on the 4th and 15th floors, which provide excellent spaces for office workers to relax and socialise as they sit and take in the beautiful scenery of the city and the Huangpu River.

Tower A is mainly to be used for corporate head offices. Benoy aims to utilise the space as the headquarters of enterprises from eastern China in the future. Tower B is located in the north-west of the block, just by the river. The Mangoo TV’s East China headquarters are also located within the premises.

Building Façade
The tower uses interspersed dimensions in its form. The façade design makes use of unitised curtain wall composition based on organic adjustments with the overall complex, and is a fusion between the glass curtain and the metal decorative strips. The vertical and horizontal strips satisfy the proportions of the glass wall and give an effect of the vertical being tall and straight, whereas the horizontal is ever-changing.

Different types of façade units have been combined in a flexible manner to give the user a unique visual experience. The continually changing widths and depths of the façade give a flowing effect, as if one were viewing a wave. Multiple storeys of commercial towers organically combine metal and glass to allow people to feel the transparency and subtle reflections of the building, whilst also giving several levels of juxtaposition against the urban scenery, making for a rich experience.

Tower Façade Design
The façade design of Tower A is a combination of three façade design languages: Usage of singular and interlacing vertical and horizontal lines. Different dimensions and façade styles are separated by unframed glass strips. Tower B uses a similar façade design. The façade on all four sides of Tower B includes interlacing façade elements.

The southern side combining this with the unique façade element of a scenic lift that emphasises passengers’ visual and spatial experiences. Sustainable development is a core in the design of the property. The measures that have gone in to promote sustainability allowed Mangoo Hub to obtain LEED CS Gold certification and Green Building Standards of China two-star certification.

Media Centre C Façade Design
The building façade of the Mango Box/Media Centre C uses bold and clean-cut surfaces against transparent glass surfaces and embossed steel plates for an eye-catching exterior. The internal space is equally unforgettable, with continuous flights of stairs forming a space that solves vertical traffic issues. Viewed at night, the dimensions form a bright focal point in the city.

Irregular glass folds reflect multi-coloured streaks of light that piece together a unique and stylish evening scene for people to enjoy. The ceiling at the entrance makes use of stainless steel reflective surfaces with wave patterns, which not only echo the sparkling Huangpu River, but also fit in with the cutting-edge new media entertainment function of the building.

Commercial Façade Design
The façade processing of commercial buildings E, F and G is expected to realise a unique office park personality. The exterior used in the office park have a cutting-edge style that lends itself to creating a business atmosphere. At the same time, in order to achieve integration for the overall project, commercial buildings E, F and G uses strips of metal plates with the same design language used in the office tower design plans.

The vision for this project was “the integration of architecture and art, the crossover of media and architecture”. Benoy has provided the overall design for Mangoo Hub, to provide Mangoo TV and the West Bund with a pleasing space that combines finance, information, socialising, leisure, scenery and business, turning architecture into media. Mangoo Hub will serve as an advanced centre for Hunan TV in Shanghai, and will also become a brand-new landmark of urban culture in Shanghai West Bund.

  • Location: Shanghai, China
  • Architect: Benoy
  • Principal Project Designer: Pang Qin
  • Project Leader: Tang Wei
  • Project Manager: Wu Wei
  • Client: Shanghai MANGO-XIANG Culture Investment Company
  • Floor Area: 79,692.15 m2 (above ground)
  • Year: 2022
  • Photographs: Courtesy of Benoy