Two Projects of VIRTUARCH Win Active House Awards
VIRTUARCH’s winning team for two Active House Awards
We are thrilled to announce that VIRTUARCH has won two awards of the 2 projects win the 2022 Active House Award. Dehong International Chinese School in Beijing is awarded the Active Pioneer Award for its outstanding design for Educational projects. The One Clariant Campus in Shanghai has won the Active Platinum Award as the best Corporate Headquarter and R&D project.
Group photo of the Active House Awards 2022 ceremony with price winners, jury and experts.
On May 19, the grand ceremony of Active House Award 2022 was held in Shanghai. The Active House Award recognizes projects combining the well-being of building users and environmental sustainability with the architecture life, realizing the balance of health, resources and the environment through improving active performance of buildings. This year’s competition was focused on comfort, energy and environment of active places.
Daniel HEUSSER, president of VIRTUARCH, introducing the award-winning DEHONG Beijing project
“We are very honored to win these prizes. The Active House Awards are very much in tune with VIRTUARCH’s consistent focus on people-oriented projects. As architects and project managers, we understand that buildings can’t always be perfect; too various the many parameters going into a building design may be. At VIRTUARCH, however, we always strive at making the buildings as perfect as possible for the people using them, improving their comfort and supporting them in what they want to do in these buildings: to learn, to work, to create, to manufacture.” said Daniel HEUSSER.
Daniel HEUSSER receiving the prize of Active Pioneer Award on behalf of his team
Helen JIANG and Daniel HEUSSER introducing the spirit of the DEHONG project designed to have great learning environments for K-12 students
The Dehong campus in Beijing is truly special due to the planning restrictions forcing VIRTUARCH to plan 45% of all areas underground. VIRTUARCH took this disadvantage as an inspiration, using its ability to transform complexity into quality, designing a highly interconnected, flexible and open learning landscape beautifully illuminated through sunken courtyards, shed roofs and skylights.
Dehong Beijing International Chinese School received the LEED Silver Certification for sustainable educational projects and the Chinese 2 Star Certificate of Green Building Design.
Spider chart analyzing the qualities of the project under Active House Awards criteria
The main entrance of Dehong International Chinese School, Beijing
The central hall with skylights
A Chinese sunken courtyard
Accepting the Active Platinum Award on behalf of VIRTUARCH
The second project of VIRTUARCH having been awarded is the One Clariant Campus in Shanghai. It was awarded the LEED Gold Certificate in 2022 and VIRTUARCH was the architecture consultant and interior design company for the project, in charge of designing the new state-of-the-art headquarters and R&D center and leading the workplace change management process on behalf of Clariant. VIRTUARCH’s design integrates innovative R&D functions, the regional headquarter, conferencing and social functions in a bright, contemporary building with an elegant, friendly look and feel. Great emphasis was given to the advanced design in terms of workplaces, but also in terms of sustainability. The use of Building Integration System greatly helps the campus reduce its energy consumption.
One Clariant Campus, a 10-storey Regional Headquarter office building with a 4-storey R&D facility hosting Clariant’s Regional Innovation Center
Spider chart analyzing the qualities of the project under Active House Awards criteria
Central “Piazza” in 10th floor
The Work Café with streamlined lighting
VIRTUARCH is happy to have been recognized as one of the leading companies realizing high-quality sustainable projects in China and across Asia. VIRTUARCH continues implementing its strategy of BUILDING BETTER FUTURES.Â
A theme dialogue: Design and thinking about active architecture
