COFCO

The new Demonstration Centrer is located at the entrance of the Eco Valley area in Beijing. The center shows the newest technologies for sustainable growth of vegetables, fruits and flowers. COFCO aspires a Demonstration Center where agriculture, ecology and leisure come together. In the center visitors can experience and enjoy the production and taste of fresh food and flowers throughout the year.

The special entrance and wetland garden form the high and spacious heart of the building. From this central hall the volume terraces down to the agriculture and leisure zones. The building has been divided into different rooms with a specific landscape theme. A routing system is designed, inspired by a Chinese knot, in such a way that short or long routes can be made. In the central hall lies a wetland garden with in the heart a central plaza. Beside the wetland, there is a flower kingdom with spectacular flower hills and hanging plants ceiling, a restaurant on a flower hill, a theatre, a self-picking garden a vegetable kingdom, and a high-tech agriculture demonstration zone.

"The building is a proud building; a transparent sculpture of steel and glass based on a standard Dutch greenhouse type."

Client: COFCO group
Project: Agricultural demonstration center
Location: Cofco Eco Valley, Beijing, China
Programme: 34.000m2 High-tech Food and Flower production, wetland, restaurant
Landscape design: Niek Roozen Loos van Vliet Landscape Architects
Agriculture and Greenhouse technology: Wageningen University
Planning: design 2013-2014, construction 2016