Taikoo Hui Green Roof and Plazas by ArquitectonicaGEO

ArquitectonicaGEO: Significant open space was required for the massive development, sited on only 12.1 acres. A multi-level intensive green roof and landscaped plazas, provide a public park, food courts, and gathering areas. The 2.0 acre third floor roof garden over the retail mall structure functionally and visually links the office towers, hotel/residential tower, retail mall, dining establishments and cultural center. It also forms a plateau that opens to vistas of the city around it, removing cars from the outdoor experience, and introducing a peaceful yet dramatic component to the design. The 0.55 acre fourth floor roof garden serves the hotel and residential units, continuing the aesthetic and environmental benefits of the green roof system. The nearly 3 acre street level landscape and hardscape tie the development to its surroundings, and to the underground train station, below grade parking and service areas, with decorative atrium and vent perforations in the landscapes that bring light and air below ground.

Conceptual rendering highlighting two office towers, hotel/residential tower, cultural center, retail mall with 2 levels of roof gardens, and street level improvements.

Photo showing completed office towers, cultural center and mall with 3rd level roof garden and streetscape improvements.

Conceptual rendering of the 3rd floor podium level roof garden over the retail mall complex. Access is provided via grand staircases at either end, and by escalators and elevators within the glass entrance atriums.

Photo of the completed 3rd floor roof garden, with large trees and curved awning shading the dining area. 4th floor hotel pool garden under construction. Elegant walkways provide opportunities for strolling or sitting in the midst of the city.

Street level landscape with perforations that provide light and ventilation to parking garage, retail mall and metro station functions below ground.

The 3rd level roof garden functions as a park and pedestrian-oriented street to connect the office towers, hotel, cultural center, restaurants and retail mall. Pavement-level skylights glow at night, and bring light to the mall by day.

The day time roof ‘streetscape’ with large trees shading benches and dining areas. Lush vegetation lines the undulating central atrium spine.

The same view at night is enlivened with lighted trees, pavement up-lights and benches with recessed lighting that makes them appear to ‘float’ in space.

The undulating central atrium spine rises up with enhanced lighting where escalator lobbies provide access to and from the retail mall below. The square entrance atriums glow like jewel boxes in the distance.

A rich variety of tropical and semi-tropical plant material lines the undulating central atrium spine.

Dense plantings at various heights provide ambiance and a feeling of shelter, yet are open enough to allow users a sense of security and ease of orientation.

An outdoor massage pavilion provides a secluded setting amid a calming water feature in the 4th level hotel garden.

The sweeping rooftop garden provides a serene park in the sky, a place for relaxation and socialization, a respite from urban life for the community at large.

Overall Master Site Plan showing ground level plantings and street improvements, 3rd floor roof garden with atrium spine, and 4th floor roof garden with pool deck.
This 4.92 million SF Mixed-Use Development project in China’s third largest city contains a bank, office and hotel/residential towers, cultural center, retail mall, green roof and at-grade plazas. The highly choreographed development improves economic sustainability for the developer, allowing a very dense mix of uses due to the creative incorporation and maximization of landscaped open space. The green roof and street level plazas provide a highly aesthetic, restorative amenity for users of the complex, and the community at large. Sustainability elements address Human Health, Environmental Service and Economic Viability.

The intensive green roof system, with soil depths as great as 6.5 feet, supports a wide variety of large trees and other densely planted native or adapted material, providing more significant environmental services than traditional extensive green roof systems. Large trees provide greater air filtering capacity and carbon storage to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and greater cooling effect through evapotranspiration and shade. The green roof works in conjunction with high albedo, locally available concrete pavers to insulate the retail mall structure below, extending the life of the building, and reducing the building’s energy use and its contribution to urban heat island effect. Towers 1 and 2 received LEED Gold Certification from the USGBC with at least 4 points contributed by landscape design and innovations for each tower.

The green roof planting beds capture, slow, and treat storm water runoff by reducing impervious surfaces. Runoff is directed towards the planters, allowing only minimal hand watering in order to support plants that were selected and grouped for their adaptability to the site conditions, climate and design intent. Plant material and engineered soils were supplied by local sources.
The regeneration of human health and well-being is addressed on many levels. The site is inviting, elegant, accessible and user-friendly due to easy orientation from the surrounding structures, imparting a feeling of security and serenity. The roof gardens and street level landscapes are visible from many levels of the complex and the adjacent buildings, allowing natural, restorative views into the site from the surrounding city. The roof garden includes peaceful, shaded sitting areas, as well as vibrant dining areas, with art and media connections to facilitate mental restoration and social interaction. Many of the plants provide fragrance for humans, and pollen or nectar for wildlife, and several have cultural importance in the Asian community.

Open space is pursued three-dimensionally, with a richly landscaped ground plane experience, connected by monumental stairs leading to a roof garden park above the retail mall podium, introducing the metaphor of a geological landscape, rather than a building. At night, the stairs are enhanced with blue lighting to simulate a waterfall, further enhancing the imagery. A wave-like glass atrium spine flows along the length of the elevated park in an undulating, tectonic fashion, further enhancing the experience of geologic formation, and allowing shafts of natural sunlight to visually connect the four levels of retail activity within, reducing the sense of enclosure below ground. From the park, one can see beyond a lush landscape edge to the city skyline and the surrounding neighbourhood, while still participating in the active and passive open spaces. The podium roof garden can be accessed from the street level and the mall, providing integration of the green roof park with the street-level landscape, and all other development components.

Project: Taikoo Hui Green Roof and Plazas
Location: Guangzhou, China
Date of Completion: September 2011
Landscape Architect: ArquitectonicaGEO
Design Architects: Arquitectonica
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti Engineers
Graphics: Graphia International Limited
Architectural Lighting Consultant: L’Observatoire International (LOB)