The Motor Studio is located in the 798 Art District of Beijing, a city whose severe pollution problem demands a serious, considered proposal for what sustainability means in the context of the city. The arts district context suggests an opportunity for a synergetic cultural approach to programming and content. The Motor Studio sets up a dialogue between these two primary contextual factors - the environment and creativity - to establish the trans-disciplinary composition, character, and behavior of the place.

Every building is a local articulation of exchanges — material, energetic, social, informational — that extend far beyond their site. The Motor Studio is an experiment in rearranging this set of relationships, to provide an atmosphere of pure air and ultra-low energy consumption. The three main pollutants that will be addressed with the ventilation system are particulates, ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This will be accomplished through a variety of strategies:

- A vivarium, a plant-filled volume with an intermediate climate between outside and inside.
- An air handling unit (AHU), a volume that connects outside to inside, with high-level air filtrations using HEPA filter, active carbon filter and biofilters.
- A solar chimney that returns air to the city cleaner than it was before.
- A run-around heat recovery in the chimneys serves to precondition the intake air.
- A radiant floor system provides space heating and cooling.
- A high efficient geothermal heat pump system make use of the fact that the ground remains at a constant temperature year-round.

Dynamic Energy Simulation (click)

Input by IEN Consultants

• Customized AHU configuration.


• Heating, cooling and ventilation systems detailed design (construction drawings).


• Building heating and cooling equipment sizing based on building energy simulations.


• HVAC system control strategies.

Year of completion: 2017
Project scale: 1,500 m² (Gross Floor Area)
Environment benchmark: PM2.5 ≤25μg/m³
Energy benchmark: 80kWh/m²/year
Client: Hyundai Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd
Contractor: HEC
Architects: 2x4, Approach Architect
Environmental Consultants: Transsolar (design) & IEN Consultants (execution)