architect: Martha Schwartz Partners

location: Beijing, China

year: 2016

Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP), an award-winning landscape architecture firm with more than 35 years of global experience, has just announced completion of a 60 hectare LEED Gold project candidate located in the Beiqijia Technology Business District of the Changping district north of Beijing, China. Commissioned by Beijing Ningke Real Estate, the forward-looking mixed-use development is an ambitious large-scale district in Beijing, through which a full community was created incorporating contemporary architecture and designed landscapes, with a focus on sustainability.
"This project is groundbreaking because design was considered to be as important as function for this large-scale development," said Martha Schwartz, principal of MSP. “This allowed for a level of creativity applied to an entire community that we think is unparalleled in the region.”

photo by Martha Schwartz Partners
photo by Martha Schwartz Partners

The project’s landscape is subdivided into three programmatic zones including commercial/retail/ office, central park/ common area and residential. A striped ground plane pattern permits differentiation within the zones. The ‘strips’ of this pattern become paving, planting or bespoke street furniture, lighting and entry gateway features that forge a memorable identity throughout the site. The green heart of the project consists of a public Central Park open space that sits adjacent to a series of sunken gardens, framed by raised gardens of perennials, hedges and ornamental grasses. People can sit along the edges or lounge on chairs placed among trees and grass. To the north along Qui Bei Road Promenade is the Eco Zone, a linear landscape with the ecological function of collecting and absorbing storm water runoff from the impervious surfaces of the site. Seating, an area for strolling, and a sculptural gateway structure draws people into the open space. Below the Eco Zone, courtyard gardens and landscapes surround offices with individually designed outdoor spaces. The residential zone is located at the southernmost band of the site for greater privacy. It offers smaller scaled garden rooms, semi-enclosed by hedges or feature walls to provide intimate landscape experiences. A dynamic, engaging and brilliantly colored children’s play area caters to multiple age groups with a variety of seating elements.

photo by Martha Schwartz Partners
photo by Martha Schwartz Partners

Since LEED Gold accreditation was desired, parameters were observed in the landscape strategy to address sustainable urban drainage, proposed harvesting and reuse of stormwater run-off, plus reduction of urban heat island effect by increasing the green ratio. A long, curving water feature separates, like a scythe, the private residential zone from public buildings. Designed to utilize harvested, treated rainwater collected from the site, this large-scaled water element is a focal point and creates a relaxing experience for residents and visitors alike. Microclimates of the different zones were managed by screening north-westerly winter winds and south-easterly summer winds, which are further cooled by passing over the large shallow water feature. The site includes a demonstration zone completed in 2013 with an accompanying show garden. This allowed a testing ground for materials and plants and permitted the fine-tuning of the design and construction of bespoke furniture and structures.

Project Data

name: Beiqijia Technology Business District
location: Beijing, China
client: Beijing Ningke Real Estate
landscape architect: Martha Schwartz Partners
architect: RTKL
size: 60 ettari
environmental rating: LEED Gold
completion: 2016

Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) is a leading international design practice whose work focuses on activating and regenerating urban sites and city centres. Situated at the intersection of public realm, urban design and site specific art, MSP has over 35 years of experience designing and implementing installations, gardens, civic plazas, parks, institutional landscapes, corporate headquarters, master plans, and urban regeneration projects. MSP works with city leaders, planners and builders at a strategic level so as to advocate for the inclusion of the public landscape as a means to achieve environmental, economic, social and environmental sustainability. MSP’s work demonstrates a deep commitment to the urban landscape as it performs as the platform for sustainable cities that are healthy across all aspects, sectors, and domains of urban life. With its head office in London, UK, MSP is engaged in projects and consultation around the globe and has to date worked on projects in over 20 countries and four continents. The core team of design professionals consists of landscape architects, architects, urban designers, horticulturalists, field implementation specialists, and senior project managers, with backgrounds from Europe, North America and Asia. This diversity in disciplines and backgrounds affords MSP the agility to work across all scales and cultures, and allows its team to be nimble in even the most challenging urban and social contexts. In addition to its core team of professionals, MSP collaborates intensively with many internationally known architects and external consultants, expanding the breadth of the practice and enabling effective response to any scale of planning or design problem. MSP has continually been recognized for its contribution to the urban landscapes of the world and to the field of landscape architecture. The firm has received many international award recognitions, including the ASLA Landmark Award, the British Association of Landscape Industries Award in the Regeneration Category, the Chicago Athenaeum Award for Best New Global Design, the ASLA Honour Award, the Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.