When Green Architecture Meets Eastern Aesthetics: Longfor Xi’an · Future Pupil Cloud River Ode Offers a Unique Answer

By takingU Profile Glassas the “architectural canvas”, Longfor Xi’an · Future Pupil Cloud River Ode outlines a residential model that combines cultural charm and technological texture in the core area of the High-tech Central Innovation District (CID). As the northwest benchmark of Longfor’s “Cloud River Ode” series, the project does not simply useU Profile Glassas an enclosure material. Instead, through technological innovation and design integration, it turns this new-type building material into a core element carrying the concept of “understated luxury lifestyle”, redefining the facade language and living experience of high-end residences.

I. Design Integration: MakingU Profile Glassthe Carrier of “Landscape Scroll”

Stepping into the homecoming route of Longfor Xi’an · Future Pupil Cloud River Ode, the 51.2-meter-long white marble gateway is the first visual focus, andU Profile Glassis the key “brushstroke” of this “architectural scroll”. Drawing inspiration from the Scroll of a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains (a famous Chinese landscape painting of the Northern Song Dynasty), the project’s design team abandoned the heaviness of traditional stone curtain walls and adopted an innovative technique of overlappingU Profile Glasswith silk cloth. CustomizedU Profile Glass(with a single piece size of 1.2m × 3.8m) serves as the “scroll frame”, while the inner layer of silk cloth is printed with landscape patterns. When natural light passes through the hollow layer of the U-shaped glass, the diffuse effect created by light refraction makes the ink-wash landscape of rivers and mountains on the silk cloth seem to “float” above the gateway. With the change of sunlight angle, it presents a dynamic artistic conception of “morning mist gently surrounding the scenery and twilight dyeing the river”.

This design is not merely a pursuit of aesthetic expression, but also implicitly echoes the Eastern philosophy of “negative space” (the artistic concept of leaving blank areas in a work to enhance implication). The semi-transparent property ofU Profile Glassavoids the straightforwardness of fully transparent glass and breaks the dullness of solid walls, enabling the gateway space to strike a balance between “transparency and concealment”. Passers-by outside can faintly catch a glimpse of the scenery in the courtyard, stimulating their sense of exploration; when residents enter, they can complete the mental transition from the hustle and bustle of the city to the tranquility of home through the light and shadow transition. In addition, the natural stone feature walls sourced from the Taihang Mountains on both sides of the gateway form a material contrast with the U-shaped glass. The rough texture of natural stone complements the delicate transparency of U-shaped glass, endowing the “landscape” theme with both the profound sense of nature and a modern, lightweight style.

II. Technological Empowerment:U Profile GlassUnderpins the Residential Core of “Low Consumption & High Comfort”

If design endowsU Profile Glasswith “aesthetic appeal”, then technological innovation grants it “core performance capabilities”. The hollow composite vacuum U Profile Glassadopted in the project is not an ordinary commercially available product, but a custom-developed specialty type jointly created by Longfor and Zhejiang Xiangjie Green Building Technology. Its core indicators far exceed the conventional standards of the industry.

What is more noteworthy is that the structural characteristics ofU Profile Glasshave also helped the project save significant construction costs. With a flexural strength of 38N/mm² and a compressive strength ranging from 700N/mm² to 900N/mm², it can be directly used as a semi-load-bearing component, reducing the usage of metal keels. Compared with traditional stone curtain walls of the same area, theU Profile Glassfacade of this project saves 30% of keel materials and shortens the construction period by 25%. At the same time, it avoids the potential detachment risk of dry-hung stone systems and enhances the long-term safety of the building.