Resilient riverfront park melds inherent site beauty with new low-impact landscape
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationChongqing, China
ClientChongqing North District (Agriculture, Forest and Hydrology Management Department)
Size39.54 acres (site); 39.54 acres (landscape)

Located along Chongqing’s Jialing River, this new linear public park offered unique challenges: a 30-meter annual river fluctuation, steep topography, and low-impact maintenance of a continuous riparian corridor. Adjacent new urban development, with attendant needs for green space, called for a flexible and resilient approach to the park’s landscape and infrastructure.

The design for Golden Shoal (also known as Jin Hai Wan) Riverfront Park took the overlapping layers of terrestrial, aquatic, and cultural and natural heritage into account. SWA wanted to provide an accessible, playful riverfront within a long and narrow stretch of land: one that would be both ecologically and socially resilient. Water quality is maintained through controlled release at all park levels, preserving existing topography and plantings against erosion. The resulting park design blends the site’s riparian and industrial heritage with a new layer of elements, while building in new access to the river and its adjacent lands for an emerging district’s residents and visitors.

Related Projects

Dubai Expo 2020

From October 2021 to April 2022, the City of Dubai hosted the World Expo: a large-scale International Registered Exhibition that brings nations together with universal themes and immersive experiences. It comprises an entirely new city, built on a 1,083-acre site between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Expo site is organized around a central plaza linked to three mai...

Nickerson Gardens Playground

Originally designed in 1955 by architect Paul Revere Williams, Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit apartment complex in Watts, South Los Angeles — the largest social housing project west of the Mississippi. Core to Williams’ vision was an emphasis on shared open space, but its central playground, neglected for years, fell into a state of disrepair. In collaborat...

St Johns Riverfront Design Incentive Strategy

As part of a larger effort to establish its downtown as a center for business and culture during a period of unprecedented growth, the City of Jacksonville was in need of a design and investment strategy for its underused waterfront along both banks of the St. Johns River. The design team’s approach entails both a large-scale and a node-based strategy, identif...

Halperin Park

Halperin Park (previously known as Southern Gateway Park) caps Highway 35 in South Dallas directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo and the Oak Cliff neighborhood. The park’s design effectively reconnects the neighborhood, which was cleaved by the highway’s construction many decades ago.

Recognizing the reunification’s significance, the cap park design introd...

Dubai Creek Harbor

Dubai Creek Harbor is a progressive and innovative new neighborhood that aims to respond to environmental concerns with professional, best-practice measures that will ensure an environment that is healthy, accessible, and environmentally responsible.

The storied history, culture, and nature of Dubai Creek serves as the inspiration for the design of Duba...

San Diego Embarcadero

The redevelopment plan for the waterfront and port facilities adjacent to downtown San Diego included translating community and economic requirements into a specific planning program. Emphasis was placed on urban design, circulation and parking, landscaping, environmental planning, and engineering considerations with a set of comprehensive implementation guide...

Nickerson Gardens Playground

Originally designed in 1955 by architect Paul Revere Williams, Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit apartment complex in Watts, South Los Angeles — the largest social housing project west of the Mississippi. Core to Williams’ vision was an emphasis on shared open space, but its central playground, neglected for years, fell into a state of disrepair. In collaborat...

Litou Mountain Park

Within Guanlan Forest, an ecological heart of Shenzhen, Litou Mountain Park takes inspiration from the clothing design and production processes of Dalang Fashion Town. The town is a future gathering destination for fashion’s rising talents and a center for art. Blending nature and textiles, the project situates the park at the front of the fashion fronti...