A Sanctuary for the Soul｜ Shunde Yunlu Wetland Pavilion by Change Studio

Built in 2024 / 2025 Entries / 2025 Landscape and Architecture / 2025 Public Projects / China /
chan9e.cn

The Yunlu Wetland Pavilion is an art park rooted in nature. The design preserves the waterbody and native vegetation while promoting ecological restoration, offering a gateway for people to explore and connect with nature. Here, light, time, space, and the ever-changing landscape are magnified through the designer’s lens. Visitors are immersed in an atmosphere of ecology, tranquility, and poetic beauty, experiencing the essence of nature in its purest form.

Origins
In 1998, “Uncle Bird” Xian Quan Hui leased 200 acres of barren land to plant bamboo. Over time, the forest became a sanctuary for herons. To protect them, he dug a surrounding river to d keep poachers away, leased nearby fishponds, and released over 600,000 fish, ensuring a stable food source. His decades-long dedication transformed this urban oasis into a bird paradise. Today, the Shunde government has expanded the protection zone to 61 hectares, restoring water systems, renewing bamboo groves, and reshaping the area into Yunlu Wetland Park.

At the park’s northeast corner, spanning 2 hectares, Yunlu Wetland Pavilion enjoys an exceptional natural setting. It serves as both a visitor center and an exhibition space that showcases the wetland park’s ecological resources and distinctive character.

Design Challenges
In Guangdong, herons are known as “working birds”—leaving at dawn to forage and returning at dusk. The bamboo forest to the south of the pavilion is a designated conservation area, safeguarded by the protective waterway dug by “Uncle Bird.” Understanding these birds’ habits, the design needed to be open and accessible while minimizing environmental disruption.

Respecting and Protecting Nature
Every life form, whether plant or animal, has its inherent significance. The pavilion’s placement allows immersive nature observation while maintaining a respectful distance. The site is rich in native vegetation and water bodies: seasonally shifting bald cypress, towering royal palms, and sprawling banyans. Our approach minimized intervention, preserving the existing tree canopy and understory, ensuring they remained integral elements of the journey.

Rewilding and Biodiversity
Between the architecture and the preserved vegetation lies an open, adaptable wetland system of interwoven water islands. Rooted in site-specific conditions, this design introduces a resilient sponge wetland, hosting 125 species of retained and newly introduced plants. The parking lot, hidden beneath a forest canopy, remains nearly invisible from an aerial heron’s perspective. Around the pavilion, an ecological water system manages stormwater fluctuations: during high water levels, the inner and outer wetlands merge seamlessly; during dry seasons, the architecture is reflected in tranquil waters. All pathways are elevated, reducing disturbance to wildlife while offering visitors an intimate yet undisturbed experience of the wetland’s raw and untamed beauty.

A Dialogue Between Architecture and Nature
Once this intricate ecological system was established, the architecture seemingly “disappeared” into its surroundings. Yet, it simultaneously engages in a profound dialogue with nature. The pavilion’s windows act as viewfinders, framing the most poetic moments of the landscape. Beauty is everywhere—it simply requires an attentive gaze, an openness to discovery, and a willingness to immerse oneself in the rhythms of nature for renewal and reflection.

““Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” ——Ralph Waldo Emerson

To embrace nature is a fundamental human instinct—one that nurtures a deeper love for life. Here, nature exists in its purest form, and human intervention remains restrained, refined, and elegant. This is more than just a wetland park; it is a harmonious confluence of architectural presence, artistic expression, and nature’s healing essence. A place of ecological stewardship and profound personal experience.

Project typology
Wetland Park

All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape
Change Studio

All architecture offices involved in the design
STUDIO LINK-ARC, LLC

Other credits you need or wish to write:
Lead Designers： Yurong Chen, Yi Wang, Chao Niu
Landscape Designers: Ji Li, Siyin Zhoui, Guopeng Lani, Zhan Xiei, Bo Lii, Songhua Yao、Yang Taoi, Yan Leii, Guo Changzhoui, Zhao Kai
Client Team: Yuan Yii, Zheng Mini, Wang Xiangmao, Huang Yuan, Song Pengyang, Lu Bin, Lu Xiao, Wang Yu　
Client: CR.Land Shenyang