CityLife is located on the former site of Fiera Milano. The fair&#;s primary axis, called Domodossola Axis, was the main pedestrian walkway to the pavilions dividing the site diagonally between Largo Domodossola and Piazza Amendola. This axis is maintained in the CityLife masterplan as a visual connection and further enhanced by the underground metro. BIG&#;s site acts as an entryway to the axis, split in two parts.

In Cloud Valley, the barriers between nature and buildings will be removed. The porous structure of the urban fabric will create generous green courtyards with natural light and ventilation throughout both plots. Each courtyard will be programmed to host specific public activities. Sports events, art exhibitions and product fairs will be hosted in the technological park spread between the buildings.

Wrapped with adaptive façade louvers that are oriented according to sun angles and building geometry to minimize solar gain, the façade will become a fingerprint for the building, with a specific imprint that exists only for the O-Tower, and only in Hangzhou. The fingerprint façade will reduce solar gain by up to %, providing significant savings for cooling loads and better thermal comfort for OPPO staff, while at the same time reducing glare, reflectivity and light pollution.

The pool program is composed of a circuit pool, a diving pool, a play pool and a relaxation pool. The basins are differentiated as pockets along the promenade of the lap pool. Together they form a lake in the landscape, a continuous waterscape that embraces an island in its core. The pool basins are conceived as a concrete relief imbedded in the landscape. The views to the landscape are framed precisely by the façade of the above programs: the monolithic drum compresses the opening down to eye level, controlling views rather than dispersing them.

The first building completed within the masterplan is The Honeycomb, designed in response to the Bahamian lifestyle. Each home has a giant balcony forming an outdoor living room with a summer kitchen and a pool sunken into the floor. The floor slab dips down to accommodate the body of water. The weight of the water is carried by the four meter high partition wall between the homes below serving as a room high concrete beam. The fourth wall of the pools is made from acrylic aquarium glass. Swimmers become fully immersed in the view of the marina