The sunken plaza by Hangzhou Wuchang Metro Station is the gateway of the entire Sky City TOD. This plaza is linked to Hangzhou Wuchang Metro Station and will be the major pedestrian traffic node for commuters once this metro station is up and running. This sunken plaza is the first scene with an open sky that the commuters will see when they exit the metro station. The “Sky City” image will be their mental picture for the rest of the journey.
Most of the plaza adjacent to the metro station is a vast empty space intended to accommodate the high volume of pedestrian traffic. The mission of this project is to create a “sponge space” that has the capacity to accommodate pedestrian traffic but also acts as the “oxygen generator” through the forest-like greenery & garden with seasonal changes. This sunken plaza also has a lot of user-friendly design that welcomes people to stay and linger.
In the north and east sides of the sunken plaza is the main office tower building of this parcel. To reach these two tower buildings, users could take the escalator located on the north side and the west side of the sunken plaza. The sunken plaza itself is directly connected to an underground corridor which is the major commuting route to the metro station.
The sunken plaza is a rectangular space, and three sides of the plaza will be used as commercial and F&B spaces. If there are good commercial and F&B stores located here, the plaza will be activated and become a vibrant urban space. In this plaza, besides the space reserved for circulation & alfresco, all the space will be the “green sponge” to serve the function mentioned previously.
The two “green sponges” (the cluster of greenery) have planted multi-stems Chinese Hackberry (Celtis Sinensis) and the treetop will be the skyline the passengers see when they walk out of the metro station. The multiple layers of shrubs in these two “green sponges” make it look like a botanic garden. Fixed seating & bar tables create a place for people to relax and lounge. The light fixture installed by the planting provides a sufficient light source at night if people would like to stay here.
The area of the sunken plaza in Parcel C17 is around 1,400 square meters and this space will carry the capacity for 30,000 commuters in the 1.34 million GFA transit-oriented development of Sky City. This plaza is the overture of the Sky City and it’s highly anticipated to be the major node of this mega TOD project and will serve the commuters, office workers, and residence in a sustainable way.
Project location: Hangzhou Wuchang Metro Station, Hangzhou, China
Design year: 2019-2021
Year Built: 2021