Located in Shenzhen, OCT Bay has a combined site area of approximately 1.25 square kilometers including equal parts new urban center and nature preserve. SWA provided both master planning and landscape architectural services for the entire site. As a new urban cultural and entertainment destination, OCT Bay provides urban amenities, entertainment components, public plazas, park space, resort destinations, and ecological preserves. The 685,000-square- meter wetland and nature preserve provides habitat for dozens of species, and is considered China’s only inner-city coast mangrove wetland. SWA’s design provides exterior spaces that are organized as a spatial hierarchy of intimate spaces, medium size courtyards and large public plazas to accommodate both daily and special events. The site design serves to enhance and compliment architectural themes through material, scale, lighting and water features.
South Waterfront Greenway
A bold new plan for the area along the Willamette River includes a 1-1/2 mile extension of the City’s downtown’s parks and the reclamation of the river’s edge for public recreation. Working closely with the City of Portland, developers, and natural resource advocates, the design team devised a rational plan that places access and activity in targeted nodes wit...
Avenida Houston
For many visitors, the George R. Brown Convention Center serves as Downtown Houston’s gateway. Ahead of hosting the Super Bowl, city officials sought to transform the convention center’s uninspiring eight-lane drop-off into a pedestrian plaza for civic enrichment, art, and leisure. SWA took on this ambitious 140,000-square-foot redesign, converting five city b...
Dongguan Delta City
The Dongguan District is located at Binhai Bay in China’s Pearl River Delta, strategically situated between Shenzhen’s airport and the city of Guangzhou. An international competition asked for ways to capitalize on the heavy flow of traffic between them while also addressing extreme environmental risks: the World Bank ranks the Pearl River Delta at the top of ...
Shekou Promenade
A gateway for China’s open-door policy, Shekou has revitalized its fragmented and hazardous coastline into a dynamic six-kilometer promenade that masterfully captures the area’s cultural and natural essence.
The promenade repurposes the disconnected former industrial waterfront into a celebrated open space system with new recreation programs...