the copper exterior of Copper Blockhouse
Photography by CreatAR Images.

A Multiuse Shanghai Building Fuses Shelter and Shipbuilding

Shelter and shipbuilding inspired Copper Blockhouse, a sleek fortress of a multiuse building in Shanghai by Wutopia Lab.

Wutopia Lab chief architect Ting Yu’s painting shows the concept for the Copper Blockhouse commercial building
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Wutopia Lab chief architect Ting Yu’s painting shows the concept for the Copper Blockhouse commercial building, its shape borrowed from the air-raid shelter that previously occupied the Shanghai site.

A Commercial Building Made of Copper

Sketchup software models show the heart of the 1½-acre creative-industry campus for Shanghai Jiayun Investment Management Development Co.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
Sketchup software models show the heart of the 1½-acre creative-industry campus for Shanghai Jiayun Investment Management Development Co.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Sketchup software models show the copper-and-glass exterior and steel-framed windows of the 4,360-square-foot project, the heart of the 1½-acre creative-industry campus for Wutopia client Shanghai Jiayun Investment Management Development Co.

an Autocad rendering shows a small hut inside a building
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

An Autocad rendering shows the small hut inside the building, which would be made from stainless steel and house a café.

workers building the structure of Copper Blockhouse
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Over the course of nearly two years, workers built the struc­ture, placing insulation sheets between copper plates.

copper plates covering the steel frame of a structure
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Those plates sheathed both the inside and outside of the welded structural steel frame, a process similar to shipbuilding.

The Making of Copper Blockhouse

  • 24 designers, construction workers, site managers, and specialists led by Wutopia Lab chief architect Ting Yu
  • 2,900 linear feet of stainless steel
  • Eight months of design
  • 18 months of installation
  • 17,760 linear feet of copper
The open main hall of the Copper Blockhouse
Photography by CreatAR Images.

The open main hall of the Copper Blockhouse is used for product launches, presentations, and exhibitions for Shanghai Jiayun Investment Management Development Co.

a stainless steel hut housing a small café
Photography by CreatAR Images.

The stainless-steel hut contains a small café, kitchen, and restroom.

floor to ceiling shelves lit by LEDs
Photography by CreatAR Images.

There are 1,670 square feet of floor-to-ceiling shelves, lit by integrated LEDs.

the microcement floor in Copper Blockhouse
Photography by CreatAR Images.

The floor is coated in microcement.

the copper exterior of Copper Blockhouse
Photography by CreatAR Images.

Yu refers to the exterior as the “full metal jacket,” also the name of Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War film from 1987.

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