Shenzhen, a city widely acclaimed for its cosmopolitan allure, thrives on perpetual change, while its diverse geographical tapestry lends it an unparalleled allure. In this dynamic landscape, Shenzhenites embrace both opportunity and challenge, leading lives that are bustling yet deeply gratifying. Taking on this project, our aim was to craft a fresh residential experience, one that seamlessly reintegrates inhabitants with the natural world. After a day of relentless work, they can unwind completely, enveloped in a living space that’s tranquil and harmonious with nature.
To embody the pioneering concept of Shenzhen as a forest city, the design incorporates a continuous and evolving series of three-dimensional green spaces, seamlessly integrating residential entrances, street-level commercial areas, and residential gardens. This dynamic arrangement resembles a vibrant natural artwork, enriching the streetscape with vivid colors and diverse textures, while infusing the city with vitality and poetic beauty.
People can leisurely stroll through the valley spaces created by the three-dimensional greenery, freely navigating between the various scales of valley pathways. Simultaneously, the shaded spaces supported by Royal Poinciana provide a comfortable experience of walking beneath the green canopy.
Vertical valleys
At the project entrance, we’ve created a series of unique pathways reminiscent of homecoming through vertical valleys. The original site along the street spans approximately 60 meters with a depth of around 30 meters, featuring a 1.5-meter elevation difference between the residential entrance and the adjacent municipal street. To address this, we’ve utilized three-dimensional flower beds extending from the ground to the first-floor roof, breaking the original scale of the entrance space with dramatic elevation changes and achieving vertical extension of space. This design technique of raising the sightline not only creates multi-level viewing perspectives but also organically integrates the originally oversized and rigid entrance into three distinct natural interfaces beneath the mainstream lines.
Residents can stroll through the valley spaces created by the three-dimensional greenery, wandering between pathways of varying scales. A few elegantly shaped hollies are strategically planted to obscure sightlines, creating a secluded and winding effect, enhancing the pleasant experience of passage.
The pavement design of the plaza continues the curved elements of the vertical interfaces, lending a sense of fluidity to the space while also effectively dispersing the originally overlapping pathways on the plaza. The distribution of three-dimensional greenery clusters forms natural green barriers between vehicle drop-off points, pedestrian pathways, and emergency fire access routes, ensuring both independence and connectivity among them, thus adding to the overall sense of harmony and beauty.
Forest Corridor
Due to the priority of municipal greening planning, the street-facing commercial plaza is separated by a long green isolation strip, resulting in a lack of connectivity with the mature commercial facilities on the south side. To address this issue, we introduced green patches in the design, replacing the original single municipal greenery isolation, thus creating numerous small-scale passage spaces. The lush forest corridor naturally guides pedestrian flow into the street-facing commercial area, with the undulating texture of the curved flower beds resembling extensions of valleys.
The plaza space adjacent to the shops has been enhanced with a series of cozy nooks and outdoor seating areas, creating spaces for relaxation and socializing. These areas are delineated by green patches, forming zones for both lingering and passage. This addition provides local residents with inviting public spaces and a more ecological environment, thus enhancing the social vitality of the neighborhood.
Tranquil Pond Shadows
The secluded pool behind the valley is a little surprise we’ve prepared for the residents. They traverse narrow pathways through the valley, then suddenly, the scenery unfolds before them – a beautiful aquatic botanical gallery. Turning the disadvantage of the fire-fighting high-rise into an advantage, the different-sized still water surfaces resemble a series of treasure showcases, providing each gracefully postured tree with its own independent stage for admiration.
This project is not just about designing living spaces; it’s about fostering a dialogue between people and nature, tradition and modernity. Through careful layout and clever design, we aim to provide every resident with a tranquil oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life, where they can experience the beauty of nature and the poetry of life. Here, every detail speaks of reverence for nature and love for life, creating a residential paradise where art and functionality seamlessly merge. We want residents to not only have a comfortable home but also enjoy a sense of inner peace and a beautiful life experience.
The Park
Location: Shenzhen, China
Landscape Architect: TROP: terrains + open space
Photographer/Image Credits: Holi