London-based firm will create a 660,000m虏 urban district

London-based PLP Architecture has unveiled plans for a 660,000 sq m 鈥渇ashion city鈥� in the Chinese city of Ningbo.

The development, dubbed N+, is a creative hub designed to attract major luxury European fashion houses to the area, which is one of China鈥檚 largest clothing manufacturing bases.

PLP intends N+ to cater for every stage of product evolution, and says it will provide a curated environment, design school, R&D incubator, and cultural venue.

The scheme will feature a dense high-rise district, and a cultural district with a theatre, museum and yacht club along the waterfront. The 256,565 sq m Hutong district will offer boutique hotels, designer concept stores and fashion villas designed as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Chinese Hutong buildings. The east of the hub will form the fourth and final area 鈥� known as the campus district.

N+ will encourage brands to curate a series of events, activities and experiences using strategic spaces within the masterplan known as 鈥楥ontentboxes鈥�. The ultimate Contentbox is a continuous 24,000m2 catwalk (The Ring) which floats above street level and connects each of the masterplan鈥檚 four distinct districts. 

Lee Polisano, partner at PLP Architecture, said: 鈥淎s an entire urban district designed specifically for the fashion industry, this is a project of unprecedented scale and ambition and addresses the challenge of designing a city, something that is relatively permanent, for fashion, which is quintessentially ephemeral.

鈥淔or European brands seeking to realize the unique opportunities that Ningbo presents, the four N+ districts will enable direct engagement with consumers in a way that has never before existed. It鈥檚 hugely satisfying to design a city where education and creativity can foster business success in a tangible and modern way.鈥�

Jamil Dada, chairman of The Fashion Hub which is delivering the project, said: 鈥淭his is a very important project that can only exist in China, at this crucial moment as it transitions from a manufacturing base to a design power house.鈥�

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