SWA participated in a competition reimagining 19-kilometers of the Guipan River waterfront in Shunde, China. While the Pearl River Delta is one of the fastest growing regions of Southern China, one of the many casualties of this growth was the delta itself. Presently, Shunde has a growing flooding problem enhanced by channelizing, condensing, and containing the river system. What was once a healthy delta with countless braided river ecologies has now been constrained into 3 river systems. SWA’s design for the Guipan waterfront reflects the local Linnan waterway and “mulberry-and-fish-pond” agricultural system as the typology of new wetlands and park spaces, expressed as a series of wetland filtration ponds. The larger setting for the waterfront park is the 72-square-kilometer master plan previously developed by SWA and focuses on five unique zones: Urban Park, Wildlife Park, Recreation Park, Office Park, and Wetland Park. The concept focuses on restoring the constructed wetlands as the armature for a multimodal city while restoring the wildlife habitats for the larger Pearl River Delta. The plan develops individual islands as pedestrian-scaled mixed-use villages that are linked by a proposed environmental infrastructure of greenbelts, water corridors, rail, trails and a multilayered transportation system. In order to maximize edge surface area and increase opportunities for exchange, the 19-kilometer Guipan River project proposes a braided system of fine-grained waterways to increase filtering capacity and reconnect the new planned City of Shunde to the river. SWA’s design for the site maximizes the social and economic value of the river by emphasizing and expanding its inherent qualities of place, ultimately creating a comprehensive and connected waterfront to rehabilitate and reestablish the Pearl River Delta as a healthy ecological landscape.
North Bund Riverside
North Bund Riverside Park, located on a prominent 2.1 km waterfront along Shanghai’s Huangpu River, is the first project of its kind in Shanghai to address contiguous waterfront open space. The goal of the associated international competition was to find innovative solutions to transform a post-industrial waterfront with historic elements into a viable active ...
Nantong Waterfront
A prominent riverfront city in Jiangsu Province, Nantong has long been shaped by its proximity to the Yangtze River, Hao River, Tonglv Canal, and Rengang River. The establishment of Nantong Port in 1904 and subsequent wharf construction drove decades of industrial growth, but as shipping operations shifted downstream to deeper waters, older docks in this area ...
Bayfront Parks Master Plan
Bounded by the scenic Hudson to the east, Jersey City is lined with high-rise towers and waterfront parks offering views of Manhattan. To the west, the often-overlooked Hackensack features wetlands, industry, and degraded post-industrial sites. The Bayfront Redevelopment Master Plan aims to transform a formerly contaminated 100-acre site on the Hackensack Rive...
Hangzhou Hubin
West Lake in Hangzhou, China, one of the world’s most romantic places and as familiar an icon as the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, has been designated by the United Nations as one of the World Cultural Heritage Sites. Seven hundred years later, the city that served ancient emperors as a capitol boasts a population of over three million and is still a...