Banyan Tree Gate | Goldmark City, Vietnam | Eden Landscape

Eden Landscape designed the entrance gate for Goldmark City project inspired by a Banyan tree.

Goldmark City is a new urban zone of Hanoi which is a complex of 10 blocks with a high density of population. The mission of all designers for the project was to create new modern-style and active living space for the whole residents.

Before the urbanism, the banyan tree used to be one of the most popular trees in Vietnamese society. Every village was “landmarked” by a banyan tree, well and temple which have gone deep into every Vietnamese memories. Whenever they saw the shade of the tree they knew that they had already come home. 

The fusion of cultural tradition and modern materials helped to create a new concept for designing the entrance gate in Vietnam. The gate was comprised of 6 (a lucky number in Vietnamese culture) giant steel modules with planting part in the middle. Every module was considered as a trellis for climber plants. On top of the modules are 6 bunches of green trees which together with leaf vein plates create a large green canopy. Whenever the residents or visitors travel through the gate, they always feel fresh and relaxed.

The scale of one module is 9600x9600x8200 (mm). Each steel tree was divided into 3 parts which were composed by I150 and I200 steel bars combined with D40, D60 steel module. The individual steel bar was powder coated with black and green color and coupled with each other by bolts and nuts. The top part was applied CNC water jet cutting technology to make a large canopy inspired from leaf vein. The reinforced concrete planting box was carefully calculated to be suitable for the growth of trees and maintenance of the watering system. Instead of manual irrigation, we used a drip irrigation system with a remote control which was set up inside the module to provide enough water for the growth of the tree and also help to save water.

All selected landscape trees are tropical native or perennial species, easy to take care and stable in the condition of pruning requirements. The range of species chosen includes: ficus benjamina , bougainvillea spectabilis, crinum amabile, hymenocallis speciosa, crinum amabile, alocasia macrorrhiza, alpinia  purpurata, petrea volubilis, ficus microcarpa, bougainvillea spectabilis, cissus sicyoides, tristellateia austral, quiqualis indica. The selected shade tree was ficus benjamina – a good growth species, having a green canopy, clean, fewer pests, less broken and easy to prune. The shade trees were kept stable by holding system coupled with a steel module. Climber plants with dropping roots helped to create a lively ecosystem.

Design firm| Eden Landscape
Location| 136 Ho Tung Mau Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Client| TNR Holdings Vietnam

Photography | Nguyen Viet Du

About Damian Holmes 3253 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/