Text description provided by the architects
PROJECT BACKGROUND Chengdu Sunac Lifestyle Experience Centre is located at Dujingyan Chengdu, the foot of Zhaogongshan, Yutang Town. Dujiangyan, the beautiful back garden of Chengdu with rich natural resources and profound historical values, has been awarded the honour of UNESCO World Heritage SITE in 2000. Zhaogongshan, the main peak of Qingcheng Mountain, the location of Qingcheng’s “Dongtian Blessing Land”, which is characterised by unmissable picturesque natural environment and outstanding ancestors and local residents. AECOM proposed the concept of “one mountain, one flower, one world”. Inspired by Chinese garden design, and integrated with local natural sceneries, cultural features and living style of Dujiangyan and Chengdu, the landscape design is to create a sense of place which allows visitors can feel the rich cultural and natural heritages while wandering around the site. 0VERALL CONCEPT: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HEART AND THE SENSES To integrate amongst the local history, culture, nature and people experience all together, AECOM designed an intriguing journey with five particular moments, Exploring Mountain (The Entrance), Hidden Canyon (The Foreground), Seeking Blossom (The Atrium), Discovering Ambiance (The Backyard), and Wilderness (The Return). These moments were based on the traditional Chinese Garden philosophy, to enchant the site with charm and imagination and to create excitements through “movement and scene interplay”. EXPLORING MOUNTAIN (THE ENTRANCE) A set of 4 feature walls stands at the entrance in different heights to create an elegant and grand arrival, which responds to the surrounding natural reserve, capturing visitors’ imagination of the site immediately. The tilted rooftop works nicely with the narrow stone-crafted passage to form a hidden but luxurious arrival experience, luring people to further explore this mysterious place. Wandering through, interweaving with nature and the concept of Zen, visitor will be represented by an unmissable poetic scene with a sheet of water flows down slowly and smoothly onto a weathered feature rock, and a bonsai red maple tree comes into the scene to create an unforgettable moment separating the outside world. HIDDEN CANYON (THE FOREGROUND) Moving forward, a wingding and charming “mountain canyon” is waiting to be discovered. The design team creates a “semi-hidden space” through a series of feature walls, stones and plants to portray a concept of “Hidden” with artistic sense. The setting of walls frames a narrow space creating a sense of space of “secret canyon” to magnify human senses to the surrounding. SEEKING BLOSSOM (THE ATRIUM) Wandering further through, the landscape climbs down gradually, and the sound of water-falling becomes clearer and louder. As one comes out from the canyon, an open view of the atrium with a well-detailed water cascade is now fully served. A set of bespoke well-crafted petal steps leads the way to the top of the cascade with green islands floating around spontaneously. The display atrium is located at the top of cascade, it is a tranquil water feature but also an open-air mirror to allow the reflection of the Showroom settling in. The design of petal steps was inspired by the flower petals falling onto the water. Petals scatter on the water creates a series of moment of ripples. A feature tree, Ilex purpurea – Hassk, with a bespoke planter is set on the heart of the mirror pool to create an unmissable focal point 360 degree. DISCOVERING AMBIANCE (THE BACKYARD) Walking over a stone arc-bridge is the Backyard. It is a garden with varies sculpted landforms to recreate surrounding natural landscape. Tight corners and sleek ridgelines are the representation of simplicity, aims to calm visitor’s mind to enjoy this purity landscape. WILDERNESS (THE RETURN) One follows back the granite steps to the pine garden and set off their way back home. The return path is companied by a peaceful pine garden and a dancing waterfall on either side of the footpath, one can again enjoy the pleasant time surrounded the nature before returning to the reality. ORIGINAL INTENTION IS ACCOMPLISHED WITH INGENUITY Crafting this stunning landscape design isn’t the only objective the design team would like to deliver. Through landscape design, bringing the nature and local culture together, this project is also like a media to get human and nature a bit closer. The success of this project delivery also demonstrates the abilities of AECOM: Imagine it. Delivered! The control of detailing needs to be as precise as possible for this type of small-scale project. Design team studied on materials as well as the possible workmanship and worked closely with Sunac and construction team. The team visited and coordinated the details on site until the project completion. There was one interesting moment during the construction stage, the team went into the mountain in order to find a set of “perfect-match” feature rocks for one important view! AECOM, Sunac and the construction team devotes to details. In order to have the best possible design, teams constantly refined the design and its details and monitored the construction procedures periodically. Taking the petal steps as an example, the concept of the steps is to create a poetic walking experience to the Atrium. Each petal is designed as a bespoke unit. Therefore, the design requires a high quality of detailing in both design and practical aspects. The team experimented the details, the sizes of each petals as well as the gaps amongst steps from 2D to 3D, and then again worked with the construction team on site back-and-forth to adjust and set the step on the right spot nicely and reasonably. Under a tight design schedule and construction period, Dujiangyan local climate and the expectation of high-quality design, design team worked closely with Sunac to set out a detailed project schedule, including weekly coordination meetings and on-site visits. Through this proactive communication strategy, the team was able to update and cross-check the progress with Sunac in a timely manner. This approach was vital during the construction period, the team responded proactively to pro-vide design solutions without delaying the overall schedule. Sunac Chengdu Lifestyle Experience Centre Phase One was finally opened to the public in June 2019, AECOM successfully delivered a high-quality design to Sunac. Now visitors can enjoy Dujiangyan’s heritage, nature and lifestyle through this exquisite landscape design. The project has become a benchmark for Sunac for other world-class cultural and tourism projects in the region. SUNAC CHENGDU TOURISM TOWN • LIFESTYLE EXPERIENCE CENTRE PHASE ONE