Text description provided by the architects
The project is located in Longcheng Area, Longgang District, Shenzhen, China. It is an important open space for the comprehensive development of urban renewal in Huilongpu District. The village houses once located in the lowland are replaced by high-density residential. Old residents will move into some of these new homes. The newly opened subway station and good educational resources also attract young families to settle. Here the high-dense residential areas and villagers' houses coexist at a proper scale of community amenities. The living atmosphere is matured with rich existing cultural context. The existing park and adjacency to the mountains offer a good healthy setup. However, the only old community park can no longer meet the increasing residents' various needs for outdoor public space. A new two-lane road will be built between the newly developed high-density residential area, new community center and the existing community park. The fragmented space between the new street and the existing park, as well as the one between the new street and the new development become the only new open outdoor space that can be used by the public. How to integrate the fragmented space through design to meet various needs and connect old and new residential areas with the existing park, becomes particularly critical. Responding to the urgent needs and complex interface, we focus on designing valuable space for people and activities, responding to the local history and culture, and the functional requirements of the surrounding buildings. To simplify the complexity, we build a community center green corridor according to the context. The corridor works as the spine of the site, connecting residential areas and the park. Taking advantage of the opportunity to solve the height difference between the old community park and the new urban roads, a series of small, functional, and flexible pocket spaces and a brand new park streetscape are built for both old and new residents. "Life Scroll" Community Center Green Corridor: A Concise and Powerful Multifunctional Community Public Space Sequence The new Community Center is at a site of a non-regular shape across the road from the existing community park. It includes buildings for cultural activities, fitness, commercial, community management and service, police office, elderly day care and ancestors' commemoration. Among them, the west side of the cultural and fitness room is also one of the main entrances and exits of the newly developed high dense residential area. The main design strategy here is to integrate the fragmented space through a green corridor for leisurement that is parallel to the new buildings. It creates space for outdoor activities that is intertwined with the building function. From west to east along the green corridor are Cultural Living Room, Residential Entry Pocket, Gathering Plaza, Green Reading Room,Fitness Court. These space sequences are like an opening scroll providing people with various and flexible outdoor community living areas, to encourage their various activities such as commemoration, walk, exhibit, reading, communication, exercise. The boundaries of the Central Green Corridor are mainly defined by the tall and straight canopy trees and lighting poles, spacious seats, and dark gray pavement strips. The edges are for rest and stay, and the central corridor is intended to be left empty, allowing future users to define and use flexibly. The Gathering Plaza in the center of the green corridor opens up to the street, where the building side has a waterscape that emphasizes the main entrance of the Cultural and Fitness Center building. The fountain and falling water is both the focus of sight and the spatial boundary. Here people can organize large community activities with the Cultural and Fitness Center building as the background. At the ends of the east and west sides of the green corridor, there is each a big vigorous hackberry tree. The big planter bench under each tree with lush green plants on the back, may become the most lively place to enjoy the cool breeze in summer. ▽ ：， Central Green Corridor: the central area for activities, and the edge for rest Using the green corridor as the spine, the landscape design connects the functions and forms to the surrounding buildings, to form a series of functional pocket spaces. The westernmost triangular area is adjacent to the community police and community service offices, and ancestral hall, where the array of trees and the planting belts reformed it to a rectangular space. The slightly sunken small square in the center and the scattered benches raised from the ground like scrolls create a Cultural Living Room for discussion and small outdoors gatherings. The grand staircase and escalator between the Cultural Living Room and the Gathering Plaza are the main entrance to the newly built residential area. To balance the function of convenient passing and staying in the limited space, we proposed that one side is mainly the passing stairs facing the front square, and the other side is mainly the seating terrace facing the future ancestral hall. With the green trees and eco-terraces collecting rainwater, the entire entrance becomes a garden like Residential Entry Pocket, while still welcoming the general public. To the east of the Gathering Plaza, between the Cultural and Fitness Center, commercial and children day care, a 12-meter-wide Green Reading Room Corridor connects the plaza to the outer stairs on the east side of the Cultural and Fitness Center and the walkway on the north. On the west side of the corridor, under the protruding eaves and in front of the stairs, there are benches facing each other, possibly for parents to sit and wait and chat when waiting to pick up their kids. On the east side of the corridor, a long zig zag table aligned to the window rhythm on the building facade under the shade of canopy trees. It provides a cozy short-term stay space likely to enjoy a cup of coffee and glance at a book. The easternmost part of the Central Green Corridor is adjacent to the planned commercial and the Elderly Day Care Center. Therefore, we designed the Fitness Court to provide opportunities for all ages to exercise together. From commercial sunbrellas, furniture and features to pavement, we added some bright orange-yellow color for more vitality. Here, you can play street table tennis, play Tai Chi, and compete to see who can jump higher and farther. You can also rest and watch around on swing chairs, benches, coffee tables and chairs quietly. "Joyful School Route" Park Street: A Green and Safe Street with Vibrant Boundaries This newly built two-lane community road between the new Community Center and the existing community park will also become the major way for the new residential area and the surrounding existing residential area to go to the surrounding middle school, primary schools and kindergartens. Therefore, giving priority to ensure safety, the design uses the rich interfaces on both sides of the road as much as possible to add some vibrant pocket space. As a whole, it builds a safe, green and playful "Joyful School Route" park street. First of all, the trees with stretched branches and the raised bike lane and sidewalks separate the walking and biking people from the car lanes, creating a safe and pleasant walk and bike experience. The use of different permeable materials separates the bike lane from the walkway, and helps rainwater infiltrate as well. On the Community Center side, the design adds strolling paths and rest benches in the green belt space between the central green corridor and the sidewalk. In this way, the greenery of the Central Green Corridor also opens to the street, becoming a pleasant streetside green place. These green belts are built at the lower elevation that help rainwater infiltrate. A narrow metal steel channel with overflow is at the lowest point there. It outlines a solid boundary and also becomes a linear flowing waterscape during rain. At the higher side of the channel, a manual pumping device is installed. When there is no rain, children can pump water into the metal channel. Maybe they have the opportunity to learn about the community water history and water circulation story during play. On the park side, the height difference between the new road and the original park gave the northeast boundary of the park an opportunity to be updated together with the new street, making it a part of the "park street" in the community. On the retaining wall at the northeast corner of the park facing the road, a sign with the name of the park was added to increase the visibility of the entrance. The main entrance at park north uses a combination of steps and a seating terrace to deal with the height difference. It opens up the park entrance more to the street and becomes a new space where you can stay. At the same time, we update the original small and damaged stone veneer tree planter and ground pavement. The new design style and materials match the entrance. It improves both the growth environment of the ground cover and the original trees in the planter, and also makes the sitting more comfortable. Right after the renovation was completed, the community held an open-air movie night here. The previous roadside parking and cluttered green space west of the north entrance are transformed into Play Pocket. The swing benches are popular resting places on the street, and the balance equipment is on the side for children to play. "Square Water Court" residential entry: a peaceful and green home-way experience Half of the courtyard on the second floor of the new residential area is public, and the other half is private. The first portion is the public Skylight Atrium, where the plants in the planting box and the green canopy of the two trees from the first floor create different layers of a quiet and cozy sky garden. In front of the Entrance Hallway, the second portion, two green pines and waterscapes stand on both sides to welcome residents home. The third portion is a private entrance water garden, with the connected tree canopy as the roof and the dark still water as the ground. The quiet and peaceful atmosphere there is in sharp contrast with the surrounding urban high-rise buildings and noisy environment. The book scroll inspired sculpture, benches, water features, and long planting stripes are interspersed with each other, creating circuitous paths and spaces for sitting, stay and walk. To the east of the water court, the planting is inspired from a long scroll of landscape painting. The different textures of soft green leaves and flowers with natural shaped small trees lead to the building unit entry, expanding the natural and cozy atmosphere from the court.
Editor's Pick
