David Wei, a co-founder of Hatch Architects, with locations in Shanghai and London, discusses his beginnings as an architect, the importance of fostering joy in the built environment and the emergence of sustainability as a serious design topic in China.

What led you to your interest in architecture and the establishment of Hatch Architects?

DAVID WEI: While pondering what to study in university, I learned that architecture involved both technology and art. During my undergraduate years in China, I loved reading all kinds of magazines, where I found so many interesting architectural projects across the world. Out of insatiable curiosity, I wanted to go abroad to explore the world. After graduation, I went to the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL for a diploma program. It was this experience that truly led me to creative thinking. 

David Wei.

I ended up spending eight years in the UK for studies and work. In 2007, I founded Hatch Architects with three partners in London. ‘Hatch’ means incubation. Architecture is a container of life. We hope to incubate delightful experiences through good architectural designs. In 2011, Hatch opened an office in Shanghai.

When designing public buildings, how do you create spaces that foster a strong sense of community, and what strategies do you employ to ensure continued engagement with building users?

A sense of community is fostered when a space provides value to its users. For Hatch, a fundamental design principle is to create a space where people can be happy.

Cover and above: The Anji Tea Farm frames the surrounding landscape so as to immerse visitors in the tea-making process.

In our project at Anji Tea Farm, we did in-depth research and adopted a restrained approach by submerging part of the building below the ground while preserving the skyline of the tea farm. We added a vista window that frames the landscape, which instantly obscures the boundary between the interior and the outdoor space. By doing so, we created a cozy, pleasant space where visitors can take photos, enjoy tea drinks or take a break while enjoying the view of the tea fields.

Another example is the Zeekr Center, for car brand Zeekr, at Taikoo Li in Chengdu. Its second floor serves as a shared space for all Zeekr owners in China. In the space, we employed materials that reflected the local culture and history, such as bamboo, grey brick and serpentine. Car owners can use this space with an office, forum and bar. The space satisfies their needs for social activities and events, making it feel like their own.

As you work on both brownfield and greenfield sites, how do renovation and adaptive-reuse projects challenge and influence your design strategy, and what are the main opportunities and challenges when working with existing buildings?

Renovation of existing buildings takes place because the original space and facilities can no longer satisfy people’s needs. As the trend of greenfield site development in China is now giving way to renovation projects, we can learn much from Europe. Previously, when I worked in the UK, I participated in multiple renovation projects. These projects can be divided into two categories: projects for cultural conservation, which need special attention and projects not for cultural conservation, which allow for bolder innovation in facade transformation.

For car brand Zeekr's store in Chengdu, Hatch designed the centre as a community space where car owners can use the space for purposes beyond retail.

The biggest challenge in renovating an existing building in China could be adapting it to current construction specifications. We need to spend a lot of effort to solve problems in firefighting and escape, atrium roof openings, structural reinforcement, vertical traffic and many other aspects. Working on an existing building is even more complex than designing a new one. It’s not like a piece of white paper that allows unrestrained creation. Instead, it’s more like writing on a given topic. You need to find a way to breathe new life into the building within multiple constraints.

How do you balance the city’s urban-scale with the smaller-scale spatial requirements of individuals in buildings? What are the key considerations and design principles that allow you to achieve this balance?

One of Hatch's core values is to design for happiness. We aim to bring happiness to users whether we work on large- or small-scale projects. But the scale of a project does require different considerations. For large-scale projects, our primary consideration is the urban context, which involves multiple aspects including urban landscape, outdoor public space, historical and cultural legacies, urban transportation, traffic within the site, and the balance between different individual buildings.

The International Digital Sea Investment and Exhibition Center draws on local history and culture of the Fengxian District with its design.

But at the end of the day, everything goes back to a micro-scale that involves people. In a small-scale space, we pay more attention to the experience of people with considerations given to furnishings, lighting and materiality. We regard this practice as ‘the final millimetre for an architect’, as it is this which forms a pleasant space that appeals to visual, tactile and even olfactory senses.

What role does sustainable practice play in the design and construction processes?

I participated in some zero-carbon architectural projects when I worked for Foster + Partners in the UK. China has also proposed its carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets. The national vision for sustainable development is also reflected in architectural design and construction, which requires us to fully consider reducing energy consumption throughout the entire process. One of the examples is our recent project AVIC Shanghai Industrial Park.

At the beginning of the design, we proposed more than 20 measures in green architecture. For example, we improved the local microclimate through master planning and energy-saving interventions like adopting a geothermal heat pump, a rooftop solar power system, a sunshade-integrated curtain wall system and a rainwater recycling system. We procured materials from the closest available sources to minimize carbon emissions. In addition to environmental sustainability measures, we also emphasize individual physical and mental experiences in the space as the wellbeing of users is also a vital aspect of sustainability.