Nanjing Greenland International Commercial Center is an urban high-rise project containing two major sites, A1 and A2. The 450-meter main tower, Zifeng Tower, with its concentric rings of mixed trees and linear water features, is the focus of the A1 site. The landscape design encompasses existing parks as well as the adjacent historic features in order to present an environment that is totally integrated with its urban context.
As a historic and recognizable urban feature, Drum Tower and its concentric rings of mixed trees are the focus of the A2 site. The landscape radiates from the central tower, forming a pattern that ultimately extends onto the A1 site. Sidewalks along North Zhongshang were widened to include an urban parterre garden consisting of hedges, colorful perennial flowers, and seating that emphasizes the street’s importance. The parterre celebrates the commercial vibrancy of the street and allows easy and convenient pedestrian movement between the ground floor retail stores and the adjacent street. A diagonal axis, originating from the Drum Tower circle, extends northward across the site and forms a generous pedestrian pathway that includes linear water features. The double rows of trees along the main streets are established in order to emphasize and strengthen the streetscape.
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...
Beijing Finance Street
Awarded after an international competition, the Beijing Finance Center Master Plan creates an international destination in West Beijing. The project, which includes a mix of uses—housing, retail, hotel office, and cultural facilities—is focused in terms of the landscape design of a central park known as “The Heart” of western Beijing. SWA’s w...
Burj Khalifa
Playing on the theme of “A Tower in a Park,” this shaded landscape creates a compelling oasis of green, with distinct areas to serve the tower’s hotel, residential, spa and corporate office areas. The visitor begins at the main arrival court at the base of the tower, where the “prow” of the building intersects a grand circular court—a “water room” defined by f...
La Plaza Cultura Village
Located within El Pueblo, the birthplace of Los Angeles, La Plaza Cultura Village is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development totaling 425,000 square feet of retail, apartments (20 percent of which are low income units), cultural facilities, and public open space. Two large, surface parking lots have been transformed into a vibrant community that builds upon ...