Series garden furnitures are assembled by discarded food containers; concrete residue produced during factory construction is reused to build gabion walls; compost barrels repurpose gardening waste into fertilizer… We use recyclable materials as much as possible. Jiushengmei Kitchen WasteTreatment Plant shoulders the social responsibility of popularizing renewable energy to the public. It guides residents towards a low-carbon life and provides people with unique rest space and enjoyment.
The project is located in Qixia District of Nanjing, and is currently the ONLY environmental waste treatment plant in the main urban area. It undertakes the daily task of processing 200t of kitchen waste from all restaurants in Qixia District and generate electricity. After fully listening to customers’ needs, there is no doubt that the design team is facing an enormous challenge.
Integrating the concept of “low carbon recycling” into the design and construction of ecological gardens is necessary. How can we use the appropriate landscape language and materials to highlight the uniqueness of the background landscape of the kitchen waste factory, and help the “ugly” waste factory transform into a charming garden?
Based on the limited budget proposed by clients, we have to create low-cost and low-maintenance landscape designs on the premise of ensuring function and landscape effects.
After the project is grounded, we believe that it will become a unique environmental education base in the area to welcome the public. Therefore, it is a necessary obligation for the design team to show clean energy technology to the public visibly and interestingly.
Inspired by the waste treatment process, the design team figuratively likens the factory to a honeycomb, with the waste carriers working hard like bees to transport kitchen waste to the factory. As a result, the recycling, reduction and harmless disposal of kitchen waste can be realized here. Then, our landscape language is inspired by the shape of hexagonal carbon structure and the shape of honeycomb. Carbon is the fundamental element throughout the process of organic matter treatment of kitchen waste, while the honeycomb symbolizes the theme of ” Bees Make Honey.” We also incorporated a circular surface pavement composition to show the recycling of material and energy derived from kitchen waste.
Based on this, we fully considered the function, space and materials. We hope to create a landscape that integrates “Environmental Protection, ” “Education” and “Fun.”
3.1 Environmental Protection
Food containers related to kitchen waste (4,979 wine bottles, 5,635 cans, and 1,707 plastic bottles) and construction waste are collected to create the garden.
The compost bucket integrated with the Logo Wall is the main scene.
We follow the high carbon sequestration, low cost, and easy maintenance principles to plant vegetation. In addition, we also use large areas of permeable gravel and bricks to filter and seep down rainwater as much as possible.
3.2 Education
A garden structured around four areas: “Collection”, “Purification”, “Decomposition” and “Regeneration” and collectively tell a logical story of science. We have also created an educational picture book that showcases the garden, which is open to the public, providing the knowledge of kitchen waste.
In addition, a variety of vegetables commonly eaten by locals are planted in the vegetable garden, echoing the landscape theme of the project.
3.3 Fun
Evergreen trees provide a lush backdrop for the garden; the gallery of colored bottles formed by bright yellow, dark red cans and plastic bottles intersperses with the garden; the water jumps on the beer bottle plunge wall made of green wine bottles, colliding with the glass bottles, creating a piece of pleasant music…They bring a wild and energetic spatial feeling to visitors.
We have innovatively integrated “The Neglected Decomposers”, such as compost bins and waste food containers, into the landscape design. These elements are portrayed as the main characters, with the aim of changing people’s traditional cognition of “heavy pollution” and “dirtiness” of the garbage industry. Furthermore, this approach significantly reduces construction costs. Throughout the design and construction process, we focused on the landscape regeneration of kitchen waste and the demonstration of clean energy technology and ecological landscape strategies. It’s an exploration of a kitchen waste treatment plant landscape design.
Location: Qixia District , Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China
Design year: 2020
Year Completed: 2022
