Project Overview: Situated in the Xiong'an New Area, Hebei Province, the River Valley Substation serves as a key hub on the target power grid. This design won the 2024 5th Golden Reed Industrial Design Award · Green Design Gold Prize.

Award Citation: "Where industry and culture converge, where energy and livelihood interact — a cross-era miracle!" It is the first substation design in history to win the Gold Prize.

Core Concept: "Creating Scenery" Rather Than "Building a Station":
Traditional substations are function-first industrial buildings; this design overturns that approach with the philosophy of "designing a substation as one would design a landscape" — transforming energy infrastructure into part of the urban landscape.

For the first time, traditional Chinese garden concepts are integrated into modern substation architecture. The building facade features colorful stripes and a green roof, dissolving industrial traces and transforming the substation from an "urban scar" into a "city garden." Open public spaces, interior courtyards, and rooftop walkways are accessible to citizens for rest, exercise, and leisure. The architectural form harmonizes with surrounding residences and roads, blending into the urban fabric as an integral part of public space.

Essence of Traditional Chinese Gardens:
Winding Paths to Seclusion: Meandering courtyard walkways create a garden-like experience.
Borrowing Scenery: The green roof connects seamlessly with surrounding urban landscaping.
Virtual and Real Coexistence: Alternating glass curtain walls and solid walls create rich light and shadow play.

The River Valley Substation is a philosophical reflection on "how infrastructure should exist" — proving that industrial buildings can be both functional and aesthetic, that technical facilities can integrate into civic life, and that energy nodes can transform into urban nodes. This is both a contemporary interpretation of Eastern design wisdom and a direction for future urban infrastructure.

Year: 2024
Lead Architects: Wu Xu, Meng Yuxin
Architectural Design: China Energy Engineering Group Tianjin Electric Power Design Institute