April 21, 2018 – April 22, 2018
GOA·Hangzhou

The first GOA Opening Day in 2018, “GOA Opening Day with SEU”, was held as scheduled.
The Opening Day presented a lot of highlights. GOA’s architects had an in-depth discussion and interaction with students from Southeast University about a series of interesting topics, including the growth of “seasoned employees”, development plans for “newbies”, timeless architectural designs, practical tips on architectural design, GOA Headquarters Building and ALILA Wuzhen.
At 12:00 a.m., 40 students from Southeast University arrived at the canteen to enjoy the lunch prepared for them. After that, they had a tour around the work environment at the Hangzhou office of GOA. 



At 1:00 in the afternoon, the welcome meeting was held, and He Jian, one of the founders of GOA, addressed the meeting.



Xu Qi and Zhang Qilin, Principals of GOA, gave students an overview of GOA, its development, and its personnel development program.

After that, QingZhou, Senior Project Manager with GOA, talked about the design of GOA Headquarters Building, which was the first stop of the tour.

The designers gave an overview of the project, including construction techniques applied, design highlights and challenges arising during the construction process. They shared their invaluable experience, and to interact with them, the students asked questions about the design concept and technique details of the project, and shared their own ideas and thoughts. 

After a fruitful learning trip, the students had a delicious dinner. After that, they checked into the hotel arranged by GOA, marking a perfect end of the first day of activities.

On the morning of the second day, the students left for the second stop of the tour, ALILA Wuzhen. At 10:30 a.m., the information sharing meeting started. Zhang Xun, GOA’s Principal, talked about the project of ALILA Wuzhen. Starting with a discussion of “what we have”, “what we want”, and “what to do”, she talked about the full process from conception to implementation, how each step was linked to the next and completed, and what a professional architect should do to address challenges arising during the design process. 



Later, Zhang Xun, along with several other Principals and designers, led the students to the site of the ALILA Wuzhen project, where the architects gave a detailed account of the shape, functional areas, and design details of the project. Despite the unpleasant weather alternating between a scorching sun and a heavy rain, the students’ enthusiasm for the tour was not affected in the least. 



After the tour, the students had lunch at Yile Dining Hall. Then, it’s the final Q&A session. As the students had acquainted themselves with the architects, they were totally at ease asking questions about architectural design, as well as the status quo and future development of GOA. The architects patiently answered all the questions, and the atmosphere was amicable, friendly and harmonious.

We will continue to present good architectural designs,
With our respect for history,
Curiosity for culture,
Passion for architecture design.
We look forward to meeting you on our next Opening Day.