“Green Hill,” Zhongguancun International Innovation Center in Beijing by Guangzhou S.P.I Design

Built in 2024 / 2025 Built Landscapes / 2025 Entries / 2025 Other Projects / China /
gz-spi.com

Project Statement
The Zhongguancun International Innovation Center serves as the permanent venue for the high-end international forums.

Under the “Green Hill” concept, a multifunctional green urban space was created to restore ecological and social functions while integrating cultural and technological features. The site harmoniously blends with its surroundings, establishing a symbiotic city-park relationship. The landscape design adheres to height/volume/weight limits while incorporating rainwater management, energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and smart infrastructure. Beyond meeting conference needs, the project provides versatile public activity spaces designed to foster community engagement.

Project Narrative
Background
The Zhongguancun International Innovation Center serves as the permanent venue for the high-end international forums. The 5.9 hectares site is located at the intersection of Beijing’s “Three Hills and Five Gardens” area and the Zhongguancun Science City. As a crucial component of the urban green space system and an important water conservation area, it had faced significant ecological degradation and overload urban pressure.

Under the “Green Hill” concept, a multifunctional green urban space was created to restore ecological and social functions while integrating cultural and technological features.

Strategies
Reinforcing the Green Space System: The design leverages the natural resources and ecological advantages of the “Three Hills and Five Gardens” area, preserves the native plant landscape, and boosts regional greenery and ecological benefits.

Creating an Extensive Green Roof: The 1.38-hectare area, slopes varying up to 65°, and shallow soil depth of 150–200 mm of the green roof posed significant challenges in ensuring soil stability, wind resistance, and irrigation efficiency, while meeting waterproofing, drainage, and maintenance requirements. Comparative experiments with substrate and grass species through Visual Mock-Up tests determined the optimal combination for implementation.

Optimizing Sponge System and Irrigation System: The rainwater is managed through the sponge system including the green roof, permeable pavement, sunken green spaces, rain gardens, bio swales, and retention ponds, for reuse in the irrigation system. The custom irrigation modes employed for ground-level greenery and the green roof, along with small-scale weather stations and soil moisture sensors used to control irrigation timing and water volume, further enhance water efficiency.

Regulating the Microclimate: The design guides wind flow and modulates wind intensity through strategically arranging topographical enclosures and vegetation canopy density, providing cool breezes in summer and wind protection in winter. Deciduous tree species offer shade in summer while allowing sunlight in winter. Water features like mirror pools and waterfalls regulate temperature and humidity while boosting negative oxygen ions in the air.

Maintaining Native Plantings: Over ten native tree species were selected to maintain color diversity and prolong the of autumn foliage viewing period, targeting peak display during forums. Evergreen species from the Summer Palace provide a year-round backdrop. An indigenous tree was carefully preserved and transformed into a spiritual gathering space integrating seating and unique architectural elements.

Balancing between Its Dual Functions: The site provides flexible spaces for attendee discussions, press conferences, business receptions, and large-scale outdoor events during conferences, while reverting to an open urban park in daily use, which continues to meet the living and leisure needs of the local community.

Performance
The site reaches a permeable paving rate of 98.1% and a sunken green space rate of 63%. The roof water usage in 2024 was 4,000 tons, half that of conventional landscape lawns with equivalent areas. Various bird and insect species were observed here. The site provided outstanding support for the April 2024 conference and has become a daily destination for local residents, balancing its dual functions.

• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape:
Guangzhou S.P.I Design Co., Ltd.

• All architecture offices involved in the design:
MAD Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Co., Ltd.

• Other credits:
Structural Engineering: BCEG No.4 Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.
Lighting Design: Guangzhou S.P.I Design Co., Ltd., TORYO International Lighting Design Center
Other Consultants: Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Beijing Jiaotong University