Hi-Tech Development, Zizhu

Gafcon, Inc. is leading the visionary master planning and development process for 3,200-acres along the Huangpu River located 18 miles south of the Bund of Shanghai, China to enhance and grow a vital urban center. This complex project is being delivered in three phases: Purple Bay, Innotown, and Orchid Lake Hotel, all in various stages of development.

Purple Bay will support the development of a growing urban center featuring multi-generational yacht homes and condominiums; 5,100 micro housing units; international private schools for 3,000 K-12 students with dormitories for 2,000 beds, as well as teacher housing; a community center; 800-room resort hotel with indoor waterpark and indoor kids’ zone; a 500-room business hotel; aquarium; botanical garden; sculpture academy; rowing club; equestrian center; retail; marina; library and think tank; medical clinic; senior housing; a subway station; and overhead gondola.

Innotown will provide the business, technology, and university hub with an active marina and walkable downtown center. It will also feature housing set aside for business/technology talent, a winter sports center, conference hotel, and additional markets and retail.

Orchid Lake Hotel, a 5-star business-class luxury resort and conference center along the Huangpu River, will feature conference, reception, and workspace as well as an executive lounge, 360-400 guest rooms, a spa, and gymnasium. The hotel, located in the Orchid Lake Ecological Community of Zizhu High-tech Zone, adjacent to Orchid Lake in the north and Huangpu River green belt in the south, will incorporate the surrounding natural landscape and beauty of both the River and the newly built Orchid Lake, as well as botanical and sculpture gardens.

Gafcon, Inc. continually seeks innovative ways to engage our clients so we can anticipate their needs and create value through knowledge sharing. This incredibly vast and complex project has been made possible through extraordinary collaboration among Gafcon, Inc.’s partners, who include Gensler, BIG, McCullough Landscape Architecture, Moffat & Nichol (marine engineering), OdySea (aquarium operation), and many others. Together, the team has redefined the way they approach developing an international community, providing the foremost experts in the fields of housing, aquariums and attractions, education, and other features that will set Zizhu’s community apart, and influence the way future master-planned communities are developed across the world.