Wenzhou Medical University International Exchange Center by Atelier FCJZ

Wenzhou, a city whose name evokes a mild and inviting climate, served as a key inspiration for the Wenzhou Medical University International Exchange Center. The project began with a vision of fostering a closer connection between people and nature, emphasizing outdoor living and flexible interaction with the landscape. The site, enveloped by continuous tree canopies, provides a serene environment that naturally encourages engagement with the outdoors. This unique context shaped the project’s core objective: creating a built environment that harmonizes with its surroundings while offering spaces for study, social exchange, and cultural engagement.

Fragmented Unity

To achieve this integration, Atelier FCJZ adopted a strategy of fragmentation and layering. Rather than designing a single monolithic structure, the exchange center is composed of eight four-story buildings, each dedicated to a distinct function: four dormitory blocks, an activity center, a library, a teaching building, and a lecture hall. This fragmentation allows the complex to maintain a human scale while providing clear functional zones, creating a dynamic interplay between architectural volume, landscape, and communal life. By breaking down the program into discrete units, the design promotes social interaction and encourages exploration within the campus, giving students and faculty a variety of environments to study, relax, or engage in extracurricular activities.

Four Layers of Spatial Experience

A distinctive feature of the exchange center is its four-layer spatial system, extending from the heart of each building outward. At the core is the central courtyard, an open outdoor space that anchors communal activities. Surrounding this courtyard is the air-conditioned indoor zone, providing controlled environments for learning and work. Beyond this, transitional “Gray Spaces” take the form of verandas and areas under extended overhangs, blurring the boundary between indoor and outdoor realms. These semi-indoor layers are shielded from the elements by deep eaves, inspired by traditional Chinese timber architecture, and adopt an umbrella-like section with a ten-meter cantilever. This spatial layering fosters fluidity in daily life, allowing users to select spaces appropriate to their activities or the weather, whether for quiet study, casual conversation, or larger public gatherings.

The Continuous Canopy

The eight buildings are unified through an abstract, continuous “tree canopy,” achieved by aligning their eaves along a single horizontal plane. This canopy integrates the structures into a coherent architectural landscape while maintaining openness. It is punctuated by three large courtyards—two enclosed on all sides and one on three sides—and by narrow 50-centimeter “sky slits” between each building. These slits allow sunlight, ventilation, and rainwater to enter the Gray Spaces, enhancing natural lighting and creating microclimatic comfort beneath the eaves. The canopy, combined with the generous overhangs, encourages movement through semi-outdoor spaces while maintaining visual and environmental connections with the surrounding tree canopy, fostering a heightened awareness of the site’s natural conditions.

Flexible Public Spaces

The exchange center is designed to support diverse activities in both small and large-scale settings. Overhanging eaves between adjacent buildings create open-air halls that serve as venues for concerts, sports events, and communal gatherings. This flexibility allows students and faculty to adapt the environment according to their needs, whether they are seeking privacy, collaboration, or participation in larger community events. The design encourages users to embrace a lifestyle that blends indoor and outdoor experiences, emphasizing interaction with the environment while promoting well-being. Insights from ophthalmologists at Wenzhou Medical University informed the architectural decisions, highlighting the benefits of exposure to natural light filtered through tree canopies and roof overhangs for ocular health.

Materiality and Structure

The project employs a widely adopted concrete frame system, maintaining the material’s natural texture as a dominant aesthetic feature. Concrete provides structural stability while complementing the natural setting through its neutral tone and understated presence. This choice reinforces the visual connection between the buildings and their surroundings, allowing the landscape and canopy to remain the primary focus. In addition, the concrete surfaces convey durability and permanence, ensuring that the exchange center will continue to serve the university community for decades to come.

Promoting Social Interaction and Well-Being

The careful articulation of buildings, courtyards, and transitional spaces facilitates meaningful social interaction and student engagement. The layered spatial arrangement encourages circulation and gathering while offering multiple degrees of privacy. The semi-outdoor Gray Spaces, shaded by deep eaves, create comfortable transitional zones for impromptu meetings or relaxation. Courtyards provide open-air spaces for organized events or casual leisure, reinforcing the centrality of communal life in the campus design. By fostering connections between the built environment, nature, and the people who inhabit it, the Wenzhou Medical University International Exchange Center exemplifies a holistic approach to campus architecture.

A Model for Climate-Responsive Campus Design

By responding directly to Wenzhou’s mild climate, the project promotes a lifestyle that encourages outdoor activity and environmental awareness. The continuous canopy, deep overhangs, and spatial layering combine to mediate solar exposure, ventilation, and rainfall, creating a comfortable microclimate throughout the campus. At the same time, the design integrates cultural references, such as the use of deep eaves and umbrella-like building sections, with modern architectural principles, resulting in a campus that is both contextually grounded and forward-looking.

Conclusion

Atelier FCJZ’s Wenzhou Medical University International Exchange Center demonstrates how architecture can simultaneously address environmental, social, and educational objectives. Through fragmented unity, four-layered spatial organization, and a continuous canopy that harmonizes with the surrounding tree cover, the design establishes a dynamic, flexible campus that promotes interaction, well-being, and connection to nature. More than a collection of buildings, the exchange center is an immersive environment that encourages students and faculty to embrace a lifestyle attuned to climate, landscape, and community, making it a model for future climate-responsive, human-centered campus design.

Photography: Fangfang Tian