Located in a rapidly growing tech and innovation district in Zhengzhou, Zhenghong Grand Plaza reflects a shift in Chinese commercial development toward youth, cultural experiences, and integrated public realm design. Spanning 9 acres along a key corridor in the city’s Commercial Business District, the plaza frames a new RTKL-designed mixed-use center that gives form to four distinct areas.
Long, sinuous paving bands lead visitors through a sequence of elliptical water features embedded with 256 sensor jets and sunken lighting. Using recycled rainwater, the plaza cuts total water consumption by 70%. An 800-seat oval amphitheater carves below grade, with terraced planting beds and seating forming a shaded bowl for performances, screenings, and gatherings anchored by an LED screen and flexible stage. Nearby, China’s first outdoor steel-wood composite skatepark supports youth activity and active recreation.
Along the retail frontage, multipurpose zones accommodate vendors, sport courts, and temporary programming. Throughout the plaza, public artworks curated by Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel introduce playful color and geometry—most notably a faceted rabbit sculpture with touch-activated multilingual greetings.
Culver Steps and Main Plaza
As cities consider the future of their streets in light of pandemic-inspired innovations and federal infrastructure investment, placemaking solutions can help communities achieve more value from public rights-of-way.
In Culver City, California, landscape design born of collaboration from the public and private sectors has resulted in a lively and access...
World Trade Center Seoul
Along Yeongdong-daero, one of Seoul’s major arteries, SWA’s winning design for the World Trade Center Seoul integrates triple rows of plane trees on a raised platform with adjacent clusters of ginkgo, oaks, maple, and pine, forming a green corridor that connects the World Trade Center Seoul to the planned Gangnam Intermodal Transit Center (GITC), Hyundai Globa...
Williams Square
For decades, Williams Square has been the walkable “living room” for Irving, Texas’s Las Colinas community. The plaza’s iconic bronze mustang sculptures, designed by artist Robert Glen, are among the state’s most iconic landscape features, speaking to the state’s identity and history.
SWA’s engagement with the plaza is longstanding, dating back to the 1...
Zobon City Villas
SWA provided landscape architectural services for this residential condominium site in Shanghai. The open space layout is comprised of three gardens, each creating a unique environment for the tenants. The Huangpu Abstraction garden is the public face of the project and is expressed with a 2.5m tall stacked glass fountain. The Sky Garden is the center piece of...