Jing ‘An

As the only connection, between the pedestrian and the sales office, the landscape design of Jing’an Century catalyzes an experience of wandering in nature. The site, a sales gallery for Yanlord Jing’an, is located in one of Shanghai’s core central districts and will be developed into residential apartments surrounded by cultural institutions, offices, and commercial developments. The landscape area is only 30m by 20m right next to busy streets with no natural scenery around. To transform the small yet fully exposed space, our landscape design draws inspiration from the classical Chinese garden to create the illusion of a larger and greener space with layered plantings and a reflective water feature. Our design team believe that landscape design should complement the architecture and its context. Natural elements—like forest, river, and light—were presented fitting with the urban aesthetic to celebrate the architecture and to evoke a a sense of peace and pleasure.

As the site is relatively compressed and starved for green space, this design leverages its constraints and inspiration to lead to four stages of a visiting experience. Much attention was initially given to fostering a strong yet dynamic connection between the building and its landscape, optimizing the layers of curved planters, and composing forced perspectives. Visitors are guided to walk through the choreographed landscape sceneries before entering the sales gallery.

The purpose of the opening stage, the arrival, is to define a setting to celebrate the architecture. To make a compatible impression, we expanded the architectural visual language by applying a similar material to the feature wall along the public walkway. Two featured walls following the sidewalk leak an opening to bring spatial fluidity to this area as a whole. Thus, the arrival experience not only offers a sense of urban context from the street but also forecasts a surprise factor within the courtyard.

The second experience, the journey, aims to add a representation of mother nature for long-term benefit. By leveraging landform, the design creates a multi-dimensional volume of greeneries in this limited space and facilitates the feeling of being in a forest wonderland. As visitors walk into the forest court, they can feel a softer and more relaxed environment with a simple and elegant taste. The planting at the entrance announces the opening and guides people through a meandering waterscape. Moving over halfway, the courtyard is lightened up by the water reflection engaging visitors to take a closer look at the courtyard.

At the end of the forest court, the ornamental garden, the landscape of sense, immerses the visitor in the beauty of the landscape and creates an illusion of urban escape. With recycled gravel floor and well-composed perspectives, the visitor becomes aware of the crunching walk underneath, the sound of gurgling water, and the misty forest from afar. Together, the orchestration of light, water, and texture make the space full of peace and mystery.

On the west side of the meeting room, we created a sloped terrain to fence off the parking lot. Here, our aim was to create a space whereby the visitor feels enclosed by nature. By adding broadleaf plants like Alocasia and Blue Ice Cypress, the design team played with different tones of greens to enhancing the comforting effect through the outdoor scenery. When chatting in the meeting room, one can get a real sense of nature as the Chinese Tallow trees cast their shimmering shadow on the carpet.