After winning a design competition in 2017, SWA undertook two projects within the Guicheng Riverfront park system, a defining blueway and leisure loop belt. The two completed parks – South Bank Waterfront Park and Eco-Island Park – are designed with distinct programmatic elements and characters based on the riverfront’s surrounding land use and urban settings, assisting the region in its transition from transportation and industrial uses to a more leisure-based orientation.
The three-kilometer-long South Bank Waterfront Park encompasses several distinct character zones, offering leisure, recreational, and event spaces for diverse users in surrounding residential communities as well as Nanhai’s financial district. The design was inspired by Foshan’s riverside history and dragon boat races, as well as by a phrase from a renowned poem: “A hundred barges are vying forward; a thousand boats are competing across the river,” These thematic elements were incorporated into the landscape, creating a distinctive series of outdoor places, water features, and furniture.
Eco-island Park is located on the west bank of the Pingzhou River, outside of the city levee system. The park seeks to establish balance within a dynamic river environment, accommodating rapidly fluctuating flood waters while establishing a restored riparian landscape. The park provides a valuable urban destination with passive recreation opportunities through a network of trails, viewing decks, restored beachfront, and children’s play environments to provide an immersive experience for a wide range of park users. The design also established a network of lakes and wetland waterways to filter stormwater and relieve hydraulic stresses on the park.
Kula Belgrade
The landscape of the St. Regis Belgrade creates a dynamic public space at the nexus of several major roadways and the city’s bike and pedestrian waterfront path. Drawing from Belgrade’s urban culture, natural context, and layered history, the design introduces a central urban waterfront space at the heart of Kula Belgrade, celebrating a new destination for the...
San Pedro Waterfront Connectivity Plan
Spanning over 460 acres and 8 linear miles of waterfront, the Port of Los Angeles is among the most important pieces of infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere—the largest container port in the U.S., a linchpin for global logistics, and an industrial hub critical to San Pedro and L.A. County at large.
Today, the Port is imagining a more connective, acc...
Shenzhen Bay
Situated just across the bay from Hong Kong, the city of Shenzhen has transformed from a small fishing town of 30,000 to a booming city of over 10 million people in 40 years – and has grown over 200 times its original size since 1980. Along the way, the character of Shenzhen’s bayfront was radically altered. Over 65 km2 of marsh and shallow bay were filled to ...
Suzhou Center
The Suzhou Center is a landmark urban space within the Suzhou Central Business District that embodies the spirit of the city of Suzhou as a gateway for intersecting old and new cultural and historic heritage. The successful combination of high-density development and ecological conservation will allow for Suzhou to transition to a garden city where state-of-th...