Beijing Yihe Jinmao Mansion

Beijing Yihe Jinmao Fu sits in the western suburbs of the city, a region long celebrated for layered peaks, lakes and springs that evoke the watery landscapes of the Yangtze delta, and the historic setting of the Summer Palace, the richest and best-preserved imperial garden among the Three Hills and Five Gardens. The project translates that scene into a space of under 4,000 square meters, using natural scenery to evoke imperial-garden atmosphere and condensing the character of the capital into a compact demonstration site. The first encounter is an inner courtyard behind a glass curtain wall, where a viewfinder frame draws the eye toward a collection of sculptural scholar trees. Because the sales gallery is a partial renovation, larger trees could not enter the courtyard; the team selected small-caliper, sculptural specimens and positioned each for optimal viewing from multiple angles. The courtyard acts as an extension of the interior, with side entrances for quiet seating and conversation. Passing through a bamboo grove reaches the core rear landscape, organized around a curved pergola and arched bridge encircling a central water. The archbridge echoes the Xiuqi Bridge of the Summer Palace, with its curvature tuned for pedestrian comfort and its parapet replaced by the classic leaning bench known as a beauty's seat. The central water borrows the One Pond Three Islands concept from the Summer Palace, where the large Kunming Lake was divided by dikes into three islands. In this compact demonstration site, the water occupies a significant portion and is experienced from multiple sides: the covered bridge, the show flats and the rear garden. Lotus float on the layered water surface; three green islands rise from it. From the show flats, the curves of bridge and pergola interweave with layered planting, and the figures on the bridge become part of the picture. A sample courtyard uses yuanbao-shaped stones as a spring source symbolizing endless wealth; the sound of falling water guides residents from urban noise back to daily life. The rear garden is more naturally relaxed, with winding paths through open under-canopy space anchored by scholar trees, red maples and Japanese maples. The innovation lies not in form or material but in attention to plants and nature itself: freer terrain, more sculptural branches. The 3,944-square-meter landscape aims to preview the future community's living scenes, continuing the Yihe garden-making craft and creating a space where nature and artifice merge, as if made by heaven itself.