Hainan Forest Wetland Park

The Vanke Forest Wetland Park is part of Vanke's forest series of hillside housing in the Sanya area of Hainan, a product line deliberately distinct from Sanya's coastal residential character and built around a healthy forest lifestyle. Houses and villas are scattered on both sides of a stream valley, and the natural hill body and valley become the focus of the landscape design. The wetland park built on the existing valley pursues two goals: to improve the experience of the existing road system, and to define the key landscape spaces that will guide future development. Through repeated site walks and analysis of the architectural masterplan, the team proposes treating the original lake as the centre of the landscape and as the visual focus of the hillside villas, naming it Little Heavenly Pool. The existing dam is reused to carry a ring-shaped landscape bridge floating over the water; opposite it, in the water, sits an art installation of lotus flowers, and the bright-white installation and the bridge together form a single ring. The landscape concept is not invented but emerges from repeated site readings that show the team's understanding of the existing terrain and planting, and that determine which areas to preserve and which to adjust. As a result, the design retains a large number of existing trees and shrubs and, through planting composition and the addition of landscape structures, produces a series of natural, characterful spaces while keeping the visual experience coherent from end to end. In the original betel-nut grove, a winding path follows the terrain, and among the palms stand white bird-cage structures that are at once small sculptures and rest pavilions for visitors. Beside them, the wetland stream is planted with aquatic vegetation, and an elevated waterside path floats above the water; walking there, breathing fresh air, the visitor feels in harmony with nature. The stream's richness also lies in the way its water level shifts through the year, giving residents different surprises and experiences in every season.