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.
Buffalo Bend Park
Houston’s East End is a bifurcated community, with heavy industry brushing up against a vibrant and culturally diverse residential area. Answering residents’ call for more park space, SWA created Buffalo Bayou Bend Nature Park by converting a formerly neglected industrial site into a wetland ecosystem and public green space.
Three interconnected ponds, ...
Xiqu Opera Centre
After it was decided to locate the main concert venue on the building’s top floor to create a covered indoor/outdoor public realm, SWA designed the entire ground level of this venue for traditional Cantonese opera, including a dramatic, covered open-air landscape space. There, an urban stage facilitates movement, provides a gathering space, and enhances ...
Fort Wayne Riverfront
As a city that was built and thrived because of its location as a crossroads between wilderness and city, farm and market, the realities of infrastructure both natural and man-made are at the heart of Fort Wayne’s history. We consider waterways as an integral part of open spaces of the City, forming a series of infrastructural systems that affect the dynamics ...
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 ...