Wuzhong Swan Lake

Green Infrastructure for a Growing City

Swan Lake Park (Wuzhong) designed and constructed between 2012-2017, is a 24 hectare urban green space that poetically combines 11 hectares of water with 13 hectares of hard and soft parkland landscaping.

The parklands around the lake connect directly to Wuzhong’s urban centre by a boulevard “canal,” a 5.5 km continuous route, along with a variety of paths and water craft waterways. The park combines a large range of cultural and sustainability initiatives seamlessly integrating all functional elements in a holistic design which offers a natural escape for passive recreation and relaxation, as well as active leafy pedestrian streets for continuous walking, cycling and boating.

The 150m long curvilinear undulating Dragon Bridge is a spectacular, sculptural feature of the park. The bridge connects the island to the Southeast Precinct, and is a unique and symbolic structure with distinct cultural references.

Swan Lake Park acts as the ‘green hub’ for the new city, where people and nature can inhabit, coexist and thrive. The park reflects JPW’s core belief in creating contemporary, connected, and sustainable public green spaces with respect to local culture and heritage.

Location
Suzhou, China
Status
Completed 2017
Client
Wuzhong Guotai Development
Type
Landscape

The Island Precinct is a central attraction to the parkland. Its caldera-like contour evokes the forms of regional mountains and creates elevation. The landform rises up in the centre and hollows out at the peak allowing for a range of activities to take place within and around the mini-mountain. The island features terraces with seasonal planting and water features, an elevated skywalk and viewing platform, sensory gardens, an amphitheatre, boardwalk and floating pontoon café with ornamental water garden. 

Swan Lake Park in Wuzhong exemplifies the potential for landscape architecture to provide recreational, ecological and social benefits in places of rapid urbanization. Across twenty-four hectares, the park combines experiential spaces nested within circulation connections and large-scale sustainability initiatives. The collaboration of the design team is evident in the high quality of the design and its execution. The project carefully crafts a huge variety of precincts and connections as well as green infrastructure.

Jury Citation

Winner 2019, International Category – AILA National Landscape Architecture Award, Swan Lake Park

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JPW acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and honours their continuing connection to lands, waters, skies and communities.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging – as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work; and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation on whose land our Studio is located.