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This innovation centre in Huizhou, China, designed by Shanghai-based architects AIM Architecture, is about as space age as you’re likely to get. Dubbed ‘The Innovation Lab’, this big and bold project showcases how design and technology can sit side by side. The lab was designed for China Resources Group, one of the country’s largest industrial conglomerates with a wider reach within a diversity of industries. It is safe to say it’s unlike any lab of the past and most certainly is one of the most dynamic ones of the present.

The project aim was to provide specific training and new perspectives to provoke innovative ways of thinking and sharing of information. The architect’s challenge was to organise this expansive vision within a limited space – a single storey building of about 700 square metres.

“Flow and flexibility were imperative. The design needs to move with the people and concepts working inside it. Creating spatial generosity and flexibility – different kinds of partitions enable several group trainings and small workshop situations,” said the design team.

AIM Architecture went in search of a solution that inspired the mindset of future users. “We inserted a volume that organises the space with skin that folds, slides and extends outwards,” they said.

The entry into the space gives the first clue to the savvy technological interior that unfolds during the journey. An expansive techy wall, dotted with tiny illuminated squares, demands the attention of the visitors. It’s a playful interactive screen that houses a training program, encouraging engagement between the visitors and the space.

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The large open plan floor is divided into different zones from the Energy Centre, the technology core of the project with its aluminium sides, to their futurist interior of the Data Hub with its large touch screens and movable whiteboards. The design team have employed a range of furniture styles that suit a flexible workspace. The Workshop, data sharing or casual spaces to hang out in are organised via colour codes, keeping the areas separate but allowing visitors to flow throughout the spaces and recharge where necessary.

“The space is a visual reminder of the creativity and innovation that follows an open mind and forward thinkers,” said the architects.

The CR Lab is a place for the advancement and exploration of ideas, big and small. Intimate moments are created through the surrounding curtains that act as space dividers. Soft fabric serves as a contrast amid the hard aluminium and TV screened partitions.

The strong linear lighting is simply spectacular, an installation in and of itself. The glowing lights are set into an acoustic ceiling, defining the space and giving it an edgy space-age feel. With the room’s stark colour palette of black and white, it’s a bold and daring design statement.

Science has never looked so cool, at least not outside of the movies. Here we get up close and personal with brain-power and the very sweetest of techy design.

See more projects by AIM Architecture on Yellowtrace here.

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