Greater Wangjing Technology Business Central Park by AECOM
Public Landscapes / Public Landscapes / China / Built in 2018 /
www.aecom.com
Beijing’s Greater Wangjing Technology Business District has unveiled a significant new Central Park. This 5-hectare, linear park is overlooked by offices, mixed-use development, residents, culture and education to become a vibrant new destination and landmark attracting global hi-tech, creative and innovative industries.
The design concept, “Starry Wangjing, Green Corridor”, responds to the district positioning for hi-tech industry and creates a feature-focused, experience-oriented and technology-advanced urban park. The park is defined by four-thematic experiences to embrace the mix of surrounding users integrating the creative expression and innovative experience for employees, residents and visitors. “Starry Wave” is the main landscape connector running throughout the whole length of the park, linking together all major park functions. The four-themes, technological, business, artistic and ecological features to promote innovation, memorable visits and events, a sense of community and resilience to a changing climate.
An Urban Exhibition Hall and Music Fountain within the Technology zone introduces users to park features such as solar energy pavilions for phone charging, or kinetic paving that illuminates energy-saving LED lighting.
At “Starry Night Plaza” a memorable public space includes an innovative reflective steel pavilion that serves for frequent markets and activities for park visitors to explore, learn or shop, particularly at evenings and weekends.
The architecture of “Four Seasons Hall” creates an artistic setting for community events, supported by an outdoor amphitheater and sculptural pavilions and art terraces.
An ecological park incorporates sports, play and active programs surrounded by four-seasonal and low-water demand planting. Sculptural grading gently guides stormwater along lushly planted swales to raingardens throughout the park. Rainwater is purified, collected and stored and re-used for irrigation. The stormwater management controls total run-off at around 75-85% providing an exemplar case for Beijing’s “sponge city” initiative. Further enhancing resilience to a changing climate, the planting selection incorporates salt-tolerant plant species chosen to tolerate high-density CBD runoff where many contaminants and de-icing salts are prevalent.
“Starry Wangjing, Green Corridor” is a pioneering new park for Beijing. This prominent business district location, combines contemporary design using high-tech features, green buildings and innovative landscape structures, complimented by naturalistic planting and a leisurely green space. The park responds to Beijing’s increasingly erratic flash flooding and hot summers through it’s sponge city, renewable energy, water saving and ecological planting selections.
project location, scope and size: A New Gateway Landmark
Greater Wangjing Technology Business Central Park is a globally significant, 5-hectare linear CBD park which forms a new gateway landmark for Beijing. The site is located at the intersection of the Beijing Capital International Airport expressway and the northeast fifth ring road.
site and context investigation: Urban Renovation Brings Challenges
Wangjing district, as an international contact station since ancient times, is now a booming economic business center for contemporary Beijing, witnessing tremendous development and changes in the past two decades. It transformed from village to a new High-Technology Business Center with the aim to establish an active, innovative, environmentally sensitive civic space, serving residents, local citizens and international visitors.
design intent: “STARRY WANGJING, GREEN CORRIDOR”
The challenge of the project is how we redefine this multiplex green public space not only to meet high-density functional requirements, but also reflect regional development characteristics. The design concept, “Starry Wangjing, Green Corridor”, is thus inspired by the prosperity of the surrounding high-tech industry, which attracts native and abroad talents from various fields including arts, finance, Internet and other creative industry. The project creates a feature-focused, experience-oriented and technology-advanced pioneering urban park, which conceived four main subjective design themes to support various forms of creative expression and innovative experience both for working and living.
design programme: Starry Wave and Four Design Themes
Starry Wave is the main landscape avenue running throughout the whole park and connecting five urban blocks. The name describes the source of inspiration for this avenue which is achieved by the special materials and paving methods. The avenue incorporates luminous stone which absorbs and stores solar energy during the day and emits light at night. The four-thematic experience places are linear distributed around the Starry Wave from west to east responding to adjacent land function.
Nebula Square at the west entrance which is surrounded by innovative technological companies. Through the combination of design and technology, an interactive fountain and interactive LED screen create opportunity for social interaction in the cloud age.
Starry Plaza is the functional center of the whole public space. The design retains the element of technological experience to bring visitors the continuity of the spatial experience, but functionally emphasizes more on business service. Large outdoor events or other temporary exhibitions can be held here, such as car exhibition, pop-up fashion retai, family markets, outdoor lectures and even product releasing of the peripheral technology companies. The body-inductive interactive music fountain is surrounded by a stainless-steel curved pavilion. Another special-formed VR gallery on the south side will showcase cutting-edge technology in Beijing virtual reality.
Strong artistic atmosphere and elegant landscape environment aim to provide some outdoor relaxation places in public spaces, such as informal sports venues, landscape galleries and outdoor theaters, so that people can reduce stress while working and living.
The “Four Season Hall” is a low-energy earth-covered building, which provides users with space for winter city interaction. Originally used for a sales house, the facade was renovated to into an interactive LED screen which has become a new cultural landmark. The art amphitheater provides a place for seasonal exhibitions in Chaoyang district which expands the academic and artistic influence to society and community.
When the last two plots extend to the residential area, the design is based on a quiet micro-terrain space to create some small ecological places for rest and viewing. An arch bridge that echoes the colors of the surrounding building’s facade passes through the rain garden next to the skating site and becomes the central attraction of the area. The perforations and lights at the bottom of the bridge form a “Starry River” effect. The circular hills surrounded by cherry blossoms are the commanding heights of the entire park, providing visitors with the best view of the park during the cherry blossom season.
resilience design strategies and approach: LID and Resilient City
Being a large green space in the area, sculptural grading gently guides stormwater along lushly planted swales to raingardens throughout the park. Rainwater is purified, collected and stored and re-used for irrigation. The stormwater management controls total run-off at around 75-85% providing an exemplar case for Beijing’s “sponge city” initiative.
Planting selection was critical with hardy, salt-tolerant plant species chosen to survive and absorb harsh high-density CBD runoff where many contaminants are prevalent. Rainwater purified by ecological facilities will be collected to reuse in daily green irrigation.
materials and installation methods,
Starry wave: Starry Wave is the main landscape avenue running throughout the whole park and connecting five urban blocks. The name describes the source of inspiration for this avenue which is achieved by the special materials and paving methods. The paving of this special road is composed of one special eco-friendly materials called luminous stone. It collects and stores solar energy during the day, and naturally emits light at night.
environmental impact and concerns,
Technological innovation is expressed in many landscape details such as energy saving LED lighting, solar energy storage and charging bench, power generating pedal brick and luminous paving. Solar charging pavilion provides great convenience and flexibility for commuting people to have a rush meeting or a short rest.
collaboration with the client and other designers,
The “Nebula Square”, in the center of Creative Green Gallery, uses LED interactive screens, characteristic sculptures and musical fountain to create a striking park entrance. The LED interactive screen is transformed from the south façade of the building, which can broadcast events, publish information with mobile apps, even interact with the changing form of the fountain. The interaction graphic and the LED façade renovation are designed by the partner architecture company. The VR Gallery showcase cutting-edge technology of virtual reality in Beijing. The special arch shape is made of stainless-steel plates bent and spliced, and then manually polished into a matte surface. The VR equipment and display content are provided by the partner technology company and regularly updated and maintained
other significant issues
Follow-up public surveys carried out over a 12-month period post-completion revealed the popularity and success of the park’s programs and open spaces. Increasing diversity of events and activities have taken advantage of indoor and outdoor venues for business, community, commercial and academic meetings, tours and events. Starry Wangjing has provided a stage and platform for discovery and interaction relevant in the cloud age.
Name of the project:
GREATER WANGJING TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS CENTRAL PARK
——STARRY WANGJING, GREEN CORRIDOR
Project category (Public Project, Infrastructure, Residential housing park, Private garden, Hospitality)
Public Project
Role of the entrant in the project:
Landscape Conceptual Design and Detail Design
Other designers involved in the design of landscape (if any):
Qindong Liang, Xu Wang, Miao Deng, Xing Zhao, Jing Wang, Feinuo Zhao, Dan Jiang, Jing Zhao, Yao Lu, Kristiana Leniart, Jiayi Wang, Qingkai Wang
Project location (For publicly accessible projects please include exact address. For Private gardens place write Country or State):
Qiyang Road, Wangjing District, Beijing, China
Design year: 2015
Year Built: 2018
