Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis by Jiahua Xu

Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis by Jiahua Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum in Architectura Competition Category.

AesArchitectura· 2025

Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis

by Jiahua Xu

Client: Archtic

Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum Winner in Architectura Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #164415

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis

Centrum Communitatis "Lilong Arcade" tramitem angiportum traditionalium Shanghaiensium et spatium porticus reddit ut locum publicum modernum. Consilium spatia aperta, flexibilia et facilia aditu creat conventibus communitatis, actionibus cotidianis, expositionibus et commercio sociali. Memoriam urbanam localem et modum humanum reveretur, dum locum lucidum et hodiernum praebet ad usum culturalem, coniunctionem viciniae et vitam publicam.

The Recognition

About the Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum

Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis victor est Praemii A' Design Award Aeneum, honoris multum aestimati formis egregiis, creandi ingenio, sollertia et acumine insignibus dati. Victores Aenei opera perita et mire creandi sunt, quae experientiam, imaginationem et solertiam auctorum suorum confirmant. Exspectatur Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis rem multum aestimatam, admiratam et carissimam, notabiliter professionalem et novam fore. Haec forma Aeneo victa optimas consuetudines artis, scientiae, formandi rationis et technologiae amplectitur et in cura minutiarum excellit. Lilong Arcade Centrum Communitatis necessitates egregie explet, cupiditates tangit, sensus capit et curiositatem allicit.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: "Lilong Arcade" embraces the concept of integrating public spaces with historical features while meeting modern needs.
Flexible layouts maximize space usage, blending fixed and mobile areas to accommodate diverse community needs.
The facade design marries historical elements with modern materials, maintaining harmony with the surrounding architecture while creating a welcoming, vibrant environment that supports public engagement.
Dimensions & Packaging: Plot area:937m²

Gross Floor Area: 1677m²

Overall outdoor activity: 478.6m²

Citizen activity center: 154.6m²
F&B Retail: 202.5m²
Elderly activity center: 110.3m²
Healthcare: 288.5m²
Children's activity and Daycare: 374.3m²
Sports: 288.5m²
Flexible: 258.4m²
Tags: community, social, civic, activity, wellness, urban, historic district, flexibility
Production Technology: Since the reconstruction cannot break through the existing building 3D boundary, the original building height is reused in accordance with the principle of economy and practicality.
The small column span shallow beam are used to achieve span of 4.5-6 meters.
An atrium is set inside the building to enhance the lighting while eliminating the sense of space cramped.
The visual corridor perpendicular to Main Road naturally extends to the depths of the base, leading the direction of the axis network system.
Design Challenge: Since the reconstruction cannot break through the three-dimensional boundary, the building height cannot be greatly increased. As for the problem of insufficient building height (about 3.5 meters), the small column span shallow beam and partial height treatment are used to achieve: the conventional column span is 4.5-6 meters, and the local span is increased to enhance the permeability of the space.
Research: The project is located in Changning District, Shanghai, with a profound cultural heritage of foreign culture and local traditions.

The facade of the project building adopts a modern eclectic arcade form, which pays tribute to the traditional style. The arcade not only gives the building a timeless beauty, but also increases the transparency by providing a gray space for citizens to interact.

The exterior wall of the building adopts light-colored bricks to be unified with the surrounding style, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows fill the interior space with natural light, enhancing the openness and transparency of the building.
Inspiration: The design concept of "Lilong Arcade" aims to adopt the "arcade", an architectural motif with publicness and sharing, to integrate historical features while showing the contemporaryity, making the building a natural extension of the walkable street system.
The project revolves around the principles of serving the people, adapting to local conditions, and flexible adaptation, creating a rich and high-quality service and activity space for citizens in the limited existing space.
Project Duration: The project started in April 2024 in Shanghai and finished in August 2024
Operation Flow: To fully realize the functionality of various spaces in the limited space, a combination of fixed space + flexible space is adopt. That is, in addition to the spaces that rely on equipment such as the service center, community canteen, ect, most of the activities and learning places are optimized into flex spaces through operation. This not only helps the space allocation within the project, but also helps promote the fair and efficient allocation of public resources.