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PRP Plans Shanghai Surprise

24.06.2002

PRP Architects’ contribution to the international stage continued last week as they welcomed a delegation from China to view high-density housing in London’s Docklands.

Earlier this year PRP were invited by a Chinese government-backed agency as the only UK company to enter a masterplanning competition to design a 450,000m² residential space in a town near Shanghai. Other entries were from Chinese practices and a Sino-French consortium. A fact-finding trip to the area in May proved to be an important cultural trading of ideas and an opportunity for PRP to advise on China’s housing development. As part of the winning team, PRP have now been selected to work with China’s Design Institute on the masterplan.

PRP’s expertise in urban regeneration has enabled them to produce an innovative masterplan to satisfy local planning restrictions on a site with a long history of rejections. Using the practice’s ongoing exchange on projects with Bill Dunster, designer of the award winning BedZED scheme, proposals were submitted to find low energy solutions to large-scale housing projects.

The site will incorporate 3,000 units of mixed value housing, a school and a kindergarten. Commercial facilities have also been included to encourage employment opportunities. A nearby river, which is currently a major trading route, will be partly diverted and used for leisure as part of an open space.