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 and culturally enriched landscape spaces infused with Shekou’s authentic character. The redesign caters to visitors of all ages, offering amenities such as nursing rooms, shaded rest spots, and engaging playgrounds. Imaginative ‘mountains,’ undulating landforms, waterfront plazas, native gardens, and versatile trails harmoniously coexist with the existing fishing facilities. The repurposed Shekou lighthouse, now a captivating focal point of the Memorial Terrace, is embraced by a leisure terrace, an urban tidal pool, and carefully selected native plantings. Together, these elements create a unique environment that serves as a living tribute to Shekou’s past, present, and future.
While much of China’s past has been obscured by contemporary development, Shekou’s waterfront stands as a thriving mixed-use urban core that showcases the region’s rich industrial and natural heritage.
Xingfa Quarry Park
Just north of Beijing, between the Great Wall and Yanqi Lake, the Xingfa Cement Plant once fueled China’s construction boom, operating for over two decades before its 2015 closure under the National Air Quality Action Plan. Today, an adjacent quarry that once provided raw materials has been remediated as a 107.5-hectare terraced park that anchors an accompanyi...
Wusong Riverfront
Kunshan, China, located near Shanghai, has experienced unprecedented population and business growth in recent years which has resulted in environmental degradation and the need for the city to reshape its identity. SWA’s proposal aims to create a new waterfront district providing businesses as well as residents with public amenities and viable open space. The ...
The Clearing: Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial
This project was designed to honor the 20 children and six educators who were slain on Dec 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Designers Dan Affleck and Ben Waldo created a competition-winning design for a memorial space which is both open-ended and unifying in how it is experienced, honoring the full spectrum of emotions this tragedy evokes. They wanted...
Marina Central Park
What if we transformed one of L.A.’s least used freeways into one of the county’s largest urban parks—reconnecting a historically divided community and drastically expanding affordable housing in an underserved district?