Project Name: PEARL PLAZA, QIANDAO LAKE PARK
Location: Zhejiang Province, China
Client: Green Town Developers
Year Designed: 2012

Qiandao Lake Park advances sustainable urbanism and celebrates the best in Chinese urban life. As the centerpiece of a new town, a lush greenway animated by a creek fed by cooling water discharge provides uninterrupted access for people of all abilities. The 3.5 km corridor culminates in an immersive multisensory plaza overlooking an infinity edge reflecting pool with a seamless visual connection to the reservoir, which poses the design challenge of a 12-meter annual fluctuation. Completed in 2013, Qiandao Lake Park (43 ha.) accommodates the recreational needs of the nearby city of Chun'an, and the needs of Pearl Peninsula New Town now under construction near Qiandao Lake with an anticipated population of 100,000. Impounded in the 1950s on the upper reaches of the Xin'an River, Qiandao Lake provides flood control and drinking and irrigation water for Hangzhou and its surrounding region in Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. The 573 sq km. reservoir is studded with 1078 islets. Water levels can fluctuate as much as 12 meters from the rainy to the dry season. Unusual in China where civil engineering usually dominates the design process, here the landscape architect led on technical aspects of the design such as establishing design elevations for crossroad overpasses to eliminate at-grade crossings and allow for an uninterrupted pedestrian experience, unusual for greenways in China. The collaborative process resulted in meeting enhanced accessibility and public safety benchmarks. Continued involvement by the design team will assure ongoing monitoring and maintenance of water features.