Office: GOA (Group of Architects) | ArchDaily

The Earth Valley Theater / GOA (Group of Architects)

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nestled in the valleys of Mingling Mountains near Yixing, China's "Pottery Capital," the Earth Valley Theater is a pioneering 9,200-square-meter open-air venue dedicated to human-avian interaction. Designed as an integrated "total work of art" (Gesamtkunstwerk), the project transcends traditional boundaries between architecture and landscape. Conceived as an alternative to traditional, anthropocentric enclosed aviaries, the theater functions as a piece of responsive land art that facilitates genuine interspecies cohabitation and autonomous avian flight.

Banyan Tree and Angsana Suzhou Shishan / GOA (Group of Architects)

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:00:00 +0000

As a Suzhou proverb goes, "The Shishan (Lion) Mountain gazes back at Huqiu (Tiger) Hill," where its towering grandeur looks eastward toward the five peaks crowned by Huqiu Hill and the ancient city beyond. Urban expansion has encased this area within the downtown while preserving a piece of landscape within Shsihan Park. Surrounding this park, landmark buildings rise in harmony with nature. Nestled at the southern foot of the hill, the project stands bordered by the canal to the south and backed by mountains to the north.

Hangzhou Daguan Primary School Xiangfu Branch / goa

Andreas Luco — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Commencing its operations in September 2023, Daguan Primary School (Xiangfu Branch) is a significant component of the Xiangfu Bridge Historic District Renewal initiative in Gongshu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The school was constructed under the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) general contracting framework, with GOA’s significant involvement in every stage, from conceptualization to implementation. “The design of educational architecture should go beyond basic functionality, with the space acting as a dynamic medium for rich behaviors, establishing an environment that encourages spontaneous exploration.” ZHANG Xun, Lead Architect, Senior Principal of GOA.

Hangzhou Asian Games Technical Officials Village / goa

Andreas Luco — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 02:00:00 +0000

The Hangzhou Asian Games Village is constructed for the 2022 Asian Summer Olympics, which will be held in Hangzhou, China. It includes the Technical Official Village, Athlete Village, and Media Village. Eleven international teams were involved in planning and designing the Hangzhou Asian Games Village. In this project, GOA undertook the Technical Official Village. The Technical Official Village is located in the Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou, near the Olympic Sports Center and the Qianjiang Century City, with the Qiantang River to the west. The location contains both substantial urban resources and an abundant natural landscape. In addition to its accommodation functions during the Asian Games, the Technical Official Village also serves as a dynamic international hub for neighborhoods after the event, establishing a precedent for Hangzhou’s future communities that incorporate local and global features. The design adopted Hangzhou's natural environment, such as mountains and tea fields, as prototypes and transformed them into modern architectural language by employing abstract geometric forms to introduce the integration of regionality and internationality.

Qushui Shanwan Boatyard Hotel / goa

Collin Chen — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A boat brimming with autumn hues,
Ten miles of lake glitter spread wide.
The water deity halts me to behold,
Sunlight in waves shimmer and unfold.
——ZHANG Xiaoxiang, “Hindered by Wind Below Peak”

Hangzhou East Railway Station Garden International / goa

Collin Chen — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Individualized and multifaceted business parks contribute to the diversification of urban spaces. In such a design topic, we always identify the site's uniqueness and its relationship to the city, then use them as guidelines to develop a comprehensive design. – LING Jian, Executive President & Principal of GOA

Yada Theater / goa

JojoJi — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Yada Theater is located in Yangxian Xishan of Yixing, a county-level city of Jiangsu Province in China's southeastern region rich in cultural and natural resources. Since the Song dynasty, Yixing has been the capital of Chinese pottery production, known for its clayware. In addition, it contains China's largest bamboo forest, a significant tourist attraction. In the contemporary context of urbanization, Yangxian Xishan is a successful rural revitalization practice of Yixing. It is the first small town development to achieve territorial openness and self-operation, and Yada Theater is the cultural landmark of the town. Adjacent to Yangxian Lake, the site is in a hilly terrain covered by 400 hectares of primitive bamboo forests. Mountains, bamboo groves, and lakes comprise the local landscape system. Within this unique geographical condition, Yada Theater incorporates existing ecological aesthetics into its design. It develops a new approach to a cultural venue by integrating architectural morphology with nature in a manner that embraces modernity while conserving regional identity.

Jiande Cultural Center / goa

Collin Chen — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 22:00:00 +0000

Site: the Merging Belt Between City and Nature. Jiande is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta region on the southeast coast of China. Most of the Jiande is covered by hills and mountains, with the Xin’an River winding across. Jiande Cultural Center by GOA sits in the heart of the city. It is a merging belt of the city and nature, nestling between the newly developed Qiandong CBD in the north and a stretch of undulating hills along the Xin’an River in the south. Along the riverbank, the site expands 600m long from east to west and 60-140m deep from north to south, facing a 280m-wide water surface. As a city-scale cultural complex, this project includes four venues: a public library, a museum, and two activity centers that serve different groups of people. The entire project encompasses an area of approximately 31,900㎡ above ground level. Within such a long and narrow site, the large-volume architecture becomes a significant figure of the waterfront landscape at the endpoint of the extending urban axis. This curvilinear site presents both design opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, it maximizes the landscape interface at the water edge. On the other hand, it constrains the program organization of such a city-scale construction. Under such a specific condition, generating a monolithic landmark image and satisfying the functional demands while maintaining its spatial transparency and avoiding visual blockage become the design starting point.

Jianli Art Center / goa

Collin Chen — Tue, 24 May 2022 22:00:00 +0000

As urban history and culture are constantly evolving, historic buildings' preservation and revitalization need to integrate the spirit of the new era and new forms of business to build a vibrant and sustainable urban space. Located in the Haimen District of Nantong City, Changle Town is the hometown of Zhang Jian (1853-1926), a critical industrialist, political leader, and educator in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The cultural tourism project developed by ZOINA Group, intended to renovate the old center of Changle under the spirit of Zhang Jian and renamed it Jianli (the Hometown of Zhang Jian). GOA undertook the master plan and design of the whole project, where Jianli Art Center acts as the gateway of the old main street, the core of the whole project. The main street of Old Changle is built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Paved with grey stone slabs, it extends more than 300 meters from east to west, and the art center sits at the east end. Adjoining the art center is the old Changle Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative on the north, a century-old wooden building under preservation. Regarding the site, the design starts by answering the question of how to place a new cultural tourism construction within the local context of a small-volume historical building to carry on Zhang Jian’s spirit of “eradicating the old and fostering the new” while arousing a sense of cultural belonging.

Restaurant of Metasequoia Grove in Shan Wan Village / goa

Collin Chen — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

The Restaurant of Metasequoia Grove by GOA is located in Shan Wan village, Wujiang District, Suzhou, China. In 2020, the Chinese government launched the "Wujiang · Beautiful Village" rural revitalization proposal. Areas around Zhongjiadang, and Suzhou would be the first launching zone of the program. This proposal aims to promote local agriculture, culture, and tourism as significant drives. This project is within the proposed launching zone. GOA first locates a low-rise leisure-led complex development on the west side of the San Wan village, serving as a welcoming public living room for the whole community. Being the first developed phase of the entire project, the Restaurant of Metasequoia Grove sits at the west end of the site. It not only functions as a restaurant that can provide dining space for visitors but also as a small multi-functional banquet hall to hold various public events. This individual project aims to carry more employment opportunities and sustainable economic benefits to the area.

Lushan Times / goa

Yu Xin Li — Mon, 10 May 2021 22:00:00 +0000

The site of Lushan Times was launched in 2012 and was decided to be a complex with city-level capacity. It is the climax of GOA’s practices in this district, and also an important link in the construction of the new city. The site has a superior location, with Lushan Mountain at the back and a commanding view of the Fuchun River. On one side of the site is Changqiao Bridge, and on the other side is the cultural highland of the new city represented by the “Three Museums in One” of Fuyang (Wang Shu’s work). From a certain point of view, the building will be the only visible artifact in this landscape. It will represent the urban civilization in a certain attitude, and be integrated into this landscape scroll.

GOA Headquarters / goa

Collin Chen — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 21:00:00 +0000

Headquartered in OōEli Comprehensive Art Park, Hangzhou, the interior design of GOA is done by its own team, which follows the rigorous modulus system of architectures in the park. Meanwhile, this building manages to integrate the work scenes of large design companies into it, expressing a delicate and rich sentiment in the overall style of “Cool and Natural”.

Headquarters of Yasha Group / goa

Collin Chen — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 23:00:00 +0000

Resonant Magnetic Field
It is not merely an office building
For enterprises, the headquarters building should be able to create a resonant magnetic field between the corporate culture and the place, and become the “second home” of workers to help enterprises shape a unique “sense of belonging” and “cohesion”. For cities, given the fact of emerging tycoons in the current era and the construction of extra huge headquarters building in succession, the headquarters building has the potential to become a new type of "urban complex" if it can ensure its own operation while giving back to urban life.

Hangzhou Pule Kindergarten Yangjiadun Branch / goa

罗靖琳 — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 21:00:00 +0000

The kindergarten is located in Binjiang District, Hangzhou, covering a total area of nearly 7,800 square meters. As an area with numerous high-tech industries like Alibaba, the rising ranking of Binjiang District among all districts in Hangzhou is accompanied by the demanding standards for educational facilities in recent years. In an emerging and flourishing urban area that benefits from science and technological progress, the key challenge facing the architects was how to embody the contemporary sense of educational facility. Finally, given the tight schedule and limited costs, the architects managed to construct an "attractive" kindergarten architecture through a modular concept combined with rapid construction.

Xianghu Xiaoyao Manor / goa

Collin Chen — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 23:00:00 +0000

Xianghu Xiaoyao Manor, located in Xiang Lake Tourist Resort 20km away from downtown Hangzhou, extends to the water of the Xiang Lake in the west and connects with mountains in the northeast.

The City Delta / GOA

Collin Chen — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 20:00:00 +0000

In December 2018, a set of fabricated steel installations of 500 square meters were showcased at the front square of the Power Station of Art (PSA) in Shanghai. The creation was completed by GOA in collaboration with students from Tongji University, Southeast University and China Academy of Art. Divided into three parts, namely, “Theatre”, “Exhibition” and “Leisure”, the whole set of spatial structures also present community activities, artistic performances and parent-child games to attract wide participation and spice up the vim and vigor of the blocks in winter. When overlooked from far above, the fascinating Gravitational Field by the riverside looks exactly like a white and light-weight delta.

MUH SHOOU XIXI / GOA

韩爽 — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 21:00:00 +0000

“MUH SHOOU” originally means the last fruit left by farmers on the tree with the special intention of sharing it with animals in nature so as to pray for the harvest of the coming year. That’s just where the name of MUH SHOOU XIXI comes.

Greentown Tangshan Blue Bay Town Life Experience Hall / GOA

Collin Chen — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction
Tangshan Blue Bay Town Project is located on the southeast coast of Leting County, Tangshan City and on the north side of Tangshan Bay International Tourism Island. As a commercial center of the project, the town center is located at the southwest corner of the project base, where Xiangying Road and Haijing Avenue join at 70 degrees in a narrow and long triangle land to define the land area with functions including life experience hall and community facilities.