AIA UK Building Tour Series 2023 - Infinitus Plaza by Zaha Hadid Architects
Photo credit: Liang Xue
Our Building Tours are back! This series is once again inspired by the exceptional projects which were recognised at the AIA UK 2022 Excellence in Design Awards. We are excited to bring you a mix of live and virtual tours.
When: NEW DATE - Monday 31 July 2023 @ 12:30 (UK time)/ 19:30 (Beijing time)
Where: Online
CES Credits - Estimated 1.5 LU for AIA Members
Speaker
Satoshi Ohashi, B.Arch., AIA, JAA, Director, Zaha Hadid Architects
Description
Join us for a virtual tour of Infinitus Plaza by Zaha Hadid Architects, a winner in the Professional - Large Projects category.
Infinitus Plaza is the new global headquarters of Infinitus China. Incorporating work environments designed to nurture connectivity, creativity and entrepreneurship, the new headquarters also includes the group’s herbal medicine research facilities and safety assessment labs as well as a learning centre for conferences and exhibitions.
Arranged around central atria and courtyards, echoing the symbol for infinity “∞”, the design creates a variety of shared indoor and outdoor spaces that build the strong sense of community (Si Li Ji Ren) which defines Infinitus’ corporate culture.
Situated within Guangzhou’s humid subtropical monsoon climate, Infinitus Plaza has been designed and constructed to LEED Gold certification and the equivalent 3-Stars of China’s Green Building Program with its life cycle carbon emissions calculated at 15.3% embodied carbon and at 84.7% operational carbon emissions.
Speaker Bio
From 1988 to 1993, Satoshi Ohashi was director and project architect for ZHA’s Tokyo office where he worked on the design of the practice’s early works, including the first built project, Moonsoon Restaurant.
Satoshi has been a very close collaborator of Zaha Hadid since they started working together in 1987. In 1988, he set up and managed the (now closed) ZHA’s Tokyo office. He has worked on the practice’s early work in Asia, including the Moonsoon Restaurant interior. Over the past decades, ZHA has steadily grown in Asia, with Satoshi overseeing the implementation of our Beijing and Hong Kong offices. After the Tokyo office closure in 1993, Satoshi relocated to Beijing where he began ZHA’s successful collaboration with the leading private real estate developer, SOHO China.
In recent years, he has delivered several large scale projects in China: Leeza SOHO, Galaxy SOHO, Wangjing SOHO and Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza, etc. He has been directing projects such as Shenzhen Tower C, OPPO Global Headquarters, Beijing New International Exhibition Centre, Chengdu Unicorn Island Future City, Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, Zhuhai Civic Art Centre and Xi’An Jinghe Culture and Art Centre. He is the Director of China that has expanded the ZHA repertoire with currently over 25 projects under construction, and presence by continually delivering highest quality and highest performance projects in Asia.
Satoshi has brought to ZHA extensive global experience, having worked across New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. He is currently the director responsible for ZHA operations in China, and based in Beijing, overseeing the Beijing office, expanding the ZHA repertoire.